The cost of special ed rose dramatically when it was decreed that all students must be integrated into regular classes. This not only raises the costs in taxpayer funds, but makes it costly for the other students in classes where one student’s need might include one or even two dedicated teacher's aides. In at least one case, in fact, in Concord NH where my cousin was teaching the fifth grade, the situation became so disruptive it was impossible to conduct anything like a normal class.

My heart goes out to the parents of children with multiple and terrible disabilities, but not facing the fact that special kids needs specialized equipment and classrooms and lots extra helping hands for the teachers.

OJ,

You crack me up. Of course, the $3500 figure is correct.

the bad news is that the US is now paying just over or just under $10,000/kid/yr.

That is a corruption premium of $6500 per child, which could be used for college, remedial upgrades, college, or investing in your first business.

That $6500 also represents America's internal axis of evil, corrupt school systems and narcissistic doped white suburban mice, who would rather fund a wasteful bureaucracy and overbuilt taj Mahals than see the lower middle class get an education that would show up their pampered, whiney kids.

Thank you for posting an article that proves me correct in all my assertions.

Bruno, what makes you think lower middle class kids are different than those of the narcissistic doped white suburban mice? They're all the same.

A 'corruption premium'? I like that phrase, although it is a bit too nice. Just call it skim.

In D.C., the average cost is around $10,500 per pupil per year. And I doubt if 1/5 of the senior class can spell 'corruption' properly. Heck, most of the school administration probably can't spell it, either.

$6500 a year is a lot to perpetuate the bigotry of low expectations, no?

That cited figure is within $100 of what our parish school charges for a good Catholic education. What a shock.

erp,

I disagree. The very rich in the suburbs are becoming increasingly narcissitic and (not surprizingly) Democrat.

When you earn a few hundred K a year essentially pushing electrons around, (or billing corporations $300/hr to push paper around) your property taxes spiking from $5000 to $20,000 is barely noticed - especially if it means 30 more worthless drones in your school district.

None of these Stepford Jerks care about the people across the state that are getting pushed out of their homes because their taxes are climbing from 2000 to 8000 and they just lost their $17/hr roofing job to $6.50/hr Jose. (who's kids get "free" bilingual ed. for 12 years - adding more deadweight to Big Ed)

Nope. Everything is just fine. Why, they may even go down to the town meeting tonight to support that proposal to build a gate around the community. It's getting dangerous out there.

They are not the same. Some don't know what they are supposed to do, and others know exactly what they are doing.

Look at the long term trend of those earning more than $100-150K and above. They are voting increasingly left. There is actually nothing controversial about arguing that getting really rich makes one stupid.

In today's culture, as long as you are smart in one tiny little thing, you can get really rich and forget about everything else. Who but the very rich can afford stupidity?

How many Kennedy's flying into water or skiing into trees with out a helmet do we need to see to prove the point?

____

Sorry for the Friday night rant, y'all. I support increased and controlled legal immigration, so the above channeling of Lou Dobbs was merely to make a point.

To whit, that while we may be "importing the superior culture," and experiencing a net gain, the idea that there aren't costs on the other side of the balance sheet is absurd.

The dems are becoming the party of the very rich and the very poor, and one hopes the Rs will return to becoming the party of everybody else. If they don't, some one else will.

Immigration isn't the problem.

Wages, like everything else, are a product of supply and demand. You don't want the guvmint to step in and regulate wages do you?

Any kid can become "rich" if he or she has the ambition and the brains. Yes, it's hard, harder than spending your time playing computer games or taking drugs, but many millions have done it.

The problem as we agree are the schools aren't preparing kids for the real world where opportunities abound, but making little victims out of them. People vote democratic because that's where the handouts come from.

Any thinking person must work to keep democrats out of the White House and reduce their numbers in congress. If it's McCain, then so be it.