Economic Facts and Fallacies: Public Schooling, The Three Headed Beast

 Acknowledgements  

 

I would like to personally and with immense gratefulness thank my dear educators. Those being Mrs. Gomez, Mrs. RIssolo, Ms. Sirica, Mrs. Valencia, Mr. Bouffard and Mr. Reyes, for without them, this paper would have been incomplete, full of academic heresy, unabridged paragraphs and statistical malpractice. In their efforts, I was able to deduce meaningful data, regularly cite accredited sources, cross examine my grammar and unbiasedly judge my writing style. The measure of my intellect and academic success can be accredited to them and no other. With full grace, thank you sincerely. 

 Introduction 

During my youth, I attended a plethora of public schools. Those being Beardsley elementary school, Luis Marine middle school, Geraldine Johnson middle school and Fairchild Wheeler School of Biotechnology, that of my latter years. My performance was that of a lackluster student, one who did not care about the outcome of a test score, and or that of a graded essay. To me, a D+ would always suffice, up until my junior year. I had always been under the impression that the things of high school would not affect me in my latter years, as I knew I'd attend a community college. There is still a touch of truth in that, not to say that high school is not important, quite the contrary, but in my life, I found myself content with my grades knowing that community colleges would not cast me out due to a lackluster academic career. yet I started to value my education, that and the opportunities that my school had provided. During my junior year I began to question the orthodoxy of my former beliefs, those being that I am a product of my environment. I began to wonder if it was I that failed myself in my education, my parents and or that of the educators. That is not to say that I did not partake in my poor academic performance, I most certainly made way for the lifestyle of an academic indigent that I had formerly been, but to conclude that possibly, if given the opportunity to go to school with a different system, that of a charter, then I may have obtained far greater academic success. For one to say with full sincerity and a lack of partiality that a student's success is fully derived from his own potential calls for elucidation, and if given, it could be found that it may be a 50/25/25 partnership between the educator, parent and student. 

                                                  The Three Headed Beast 

 

The political world is full of a multiplicity of “untouchables.” Those being The Department of Defense, Social Security, Medicare and The Department of Education. Though The Department of Education is not in question, the orthodoxy in which it is encapsulated by is under investigation. Oddly enough, there is an established artificial juris prudence surrounding the philosophy of Public Education in this country. This school of thought has saved Public Education from questioning and from proposals that would bear fruit giving far greater results than the current system, and at about a third of the cost per pupil. According to a study by the University of Arkansas (TDS Funding Study) Traditional Public Schools claim that funding is equated to the academic success of students, yet Charter schools in the study were found to operate more effectively and efficiently with 30% less funding dollars. Public education is not inherently worrisome, some may say that it is a necessity. There is some partiality of truth in that claim, insofar to the extent to which one would deem the efficiency of the current public education system. An outright disenfranchisement of public education as a whole would do no good, it would even hinder the world of academia. Although, an eradication of the current system at hand would bear little to no grotesquely negative outcomes. With the eradication of the current provided public education system students may see a revival in the quality of their education through increased literacy rates, higher test results and an increased understanding in arithmetic. There are three principalities that make up this untouchable system, those being the teachers union, the monopolistic orthodoxy that it deems, causing it to insist upon itself that it is the only correct solution, and finally, the good intention behind public education. But shall good intentions make way for corruption, a presumed orthodoxy that shall not and cannot be infringed upon or should the necessity that a program dictates not be based upon the intentions of itself, but of the results that it bears. 

 

      The Teachers Union: The Validity of Safeguarding the Teacher 

According to the NYSUT Teacher Tenure article “New York State United Teachers” union, tenure is of massive significance when it comes to a wrongful termination of an educator. Tenure acts as a shield against belligerent school board members, corrupt city officials and or pressures from the school itself. The writer for the NYSUT article can be quoted as saying, 

              “Tenure is a safeguard that lets good teachers speak out for their students without fear of reprisal. It is a safeguard that protects good teachers from unfair firing. Without tenure, teachers could and would be fired for virtually any reason. Just the threat would have a chilling effect, pressuring teachers to "be quiet" and not rock the boat – the goal of those who want to silence unions and the voice of teachers. Tenure safeguards students and good teaching by allowing teachers to be engaged on matters of public importance, such as opposing cuts to school budgets; advocating for students with special needs; or opposing the over-reliance on standardized testing. In a politicized environment, it's not hard to imagine teachers being pressured to pass the star quarterback; be silent in school budget deliberations or be fired because they backed the 'wrong' candidate in school board elections. What would stop a school board from dismissing a veteran teacher at the top of the pay scale simply to save money? a tenured teacher is entitled to a fair hearing if she's charged with incompetence or wrongdoing. This protection – known as due process – is a basic right enjoyed by all Americans. Its basis is the same as our judicial system: the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.” 

 

There are several keystones in this article, though it has facts in it, such as the due process clause and a safeguard against unfair firing it still entangles itself in an affair with double speech. Yet still it is full of iniquities towards common sense and necessary reproof. Unions, as popular as the NEA, NYSUT and or most any state teachers' union will make it known to their members on the importance of the Union body as a safeguard against any and all persecution. They even take out a broad range of dues to justify this protection. The union positions itself as a soldier in defense of the much-needed attacked teacher. But if there were no union who would protect the teachers, who would ensure their right to due process and most importantly to some educators, who would ensure a yearly increase in their salary. If not for the union, it would have fallen upon the teachers to hold these responsibilities as it has for years prior to the establishment of the modern teachers' union. One can look to private and or charter schools to show that teachers do not need a union, it is not a necessity that deems they will go without ill-motivated and or unprovoked firings, yet we do not find such terminations in the private sector, insofar to the extent that Union officials say that massive firings would take place if teachers were lacking of its presence. Whereas one can take heed to the orthodoxy of teachers unions, which make it abundantly clear that without unions, protections will fall, salaries will falter, and benefits will be cut. According to Success Academy's hiring profile entitlements Benefits for Success at Success Academy, they offer robust benefits and pay. Starter pay as a first-year teacher in Success Academy offers $65,000. The benefits range from provided healthcare plans, a 403b plan, 15-25 days PTO, 13 paid holidays a year and up to 8 weeks of paid childcare leave. Therefore, not only are Union leaders wrong in claiming that workers will not have a sustainable and or comfortable financial and or beneficiary life without a union, but they are knowingly wrong. The NYSUT offers an abysmal $62,902 for teachers starting their first year in comparison to Success Academy's $65,000. Even worse, the teacher who is living from the allotted $62,902 will have to pay monthly union dues for the same “rights” that private teachers see for free even without a Union presence. Union leaders understand that if they keep the teachers paying into the union, they will be provided with a continuous funding flow that keeps him or herself employed. Therefore, to the position of the Union leaders who state that benefits are better automatically with a union can be found as being inherently wrong. Not only are starter salaries higher in the private sector, but they are higher without a union. Which deems no demand upon the wage of its worker, all a teacher is asked to do in a private sector is to grant knowledge upon their students and not to succumb to the wayward ways of a tenured professional. A charter and or private school teacher may be asked to do much more, but with hard work in the private sector comes with due compensation, rather than that of the Public Education System, who compensate lackluster and academically intolerable teachers. Protectionism in public schools is seen as a Godsend by unions. In 2004, Yale University's “YaleGlobal Online” wrote  

              “Unions - another feature typical of protectionism - are one reason for the delay in expanding choice. OUS school unions are large - the National Education Association, the biggest, has 2.7m members. They funnel millions to politicians, who in turn sustain the public schools' monopoly by failing to pass reforms to open the market. These unions have never really faced what might be called an Arthur Scargill moment - the sort of threat to their existence faced by Britain's miners' union and their leader 20 years ago. They therefore always manage to convince themselves, and often others, that their work is fine. Germany's poor showing in the PISA study was such a national scandal that the phrase "PISA-Schock" entered the language. But in the US the low American score earned barely a mention.” 

Not only is it in the union's philosophy to advertise that they are the determining factor in which allows teachers to not be abused and or taken advantage of, but also, it is immensely in their interest to portray this sense of protection to their members. The logic in which the union uses, is by default misconstrued and contradictory to the American life. The author of the article can be quoted in saying, “a tenured teacher is entitled to a fair hearing if she's charged with incompetence or wrongdoing. This protection – known as due process – is a basic right enjoyed by all Americans. Its basis is the same as our judicial system: the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.” The significance of this passage can be found in the statement, “Its basis is the same as our judicial system: the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.” Do the protections of the American judicial system falter by the provisions of the constitution when introduced to the private market? It is not so; the author is knowingly introducing a commonsense clause. This would be no different than saying, “Teachers in our union are allotted the right to free speech, as it is the basis of our constitutional provision, provided by the first amendment.” Though it seems simple, to the union professionals it is a Godsend for the purpose of having their members in an echo chamber. If one sees $100 taken out of their check, they may think hastily with unpleasantness, but when a union member looks at this, they may think that it is justifiable, it is a type of insurance, for the union is protecting their rights. But is not the union in who protects the rights of the teacher, but the philosophy, integrity, provisions and allotments of these United States. A union cannot and does not grant rights, it may claim to protect them but if one is protected by the legal system, in which they cannot be presumed guilty due to the presumption of innocence until further notice, then this claim of protection falls flat against the basis of the reality provided by the provisions of the constitution.  

      The Teachers Union: Equal Pay Without Equal Results 

 

The NYSUT speaks highly about the importance of driving teachers' salaries forward through time by bargaining with the city. Practices used by the NYSUT may be sit-ins, public disproval of leadership and various forms of protest. The NYSUT by default feels that pay raises are due without increased testing scores, graduation rates, and attendance percentages. Teachers Unions negotiate on behalf of underperforming teachers asking that they see improvements in their salaries when scores do not make way for being applicable to the logic of higher salaries. The NYSUT bargains with the city of New York for higher pay and better benefits at the loss of the taxpayer despite the lowering statistics provided by the public schools. Statistics such as test scores and attendance have all decreased over the last five years. Although graduation rates have increased in the NYCPS it is a misleading characteristic of the data to suggest this as a satisfactory result. But when studying and analyzing what it takes to graduate from a NYCPS it elucidates that there is no high achievement in graduating from a NYCPS NYCPS Graduation Requirement . In contrast, graduating from a NYCPS is a wonderful achievement for many students, yet those students are ill-prepared for the colleges that they may attend. Charter school students have a far greater chance to succeed in college than those who attend a NYCPS, even with the charter school's difficult curriculum they still turnout and graduate more students. Therefore, let not the NYCPS officials, union members and or leaders be joyous of this, but ask why a school with a substantial demanding curriculum graduates more students than that of an erroneously less strengthened curriculum.  This can lead to underlying misleading data, that being said, at first glance someone could assume that NYCPS are actually on a rise in terms of how many students they are graduating, but in all actuality, it is truly Charter Schools whose graduation numbers have steadily increased over the years whilst taking in more students at a year-on-year basis. According to the collected data from the New York City Department of Education NYSUT Math Test Scores, and processed by an independent researcher, Israel Prevail, it has been concluded to support the claim that performative based statistics provided by NYCPS have lessened in effectiveness over the last five years. According to the analyzed data, that being the Public Education System Independent Study, on average there is a yearly decrease in the number of students who test above the proficiency level in NYCPS. The NYSUT would not be wrong in their conquest for higher teach salaries if their result bore fruits such as those in the private sector. Success Academy, located in multiple boroughs of New York, has provided data that yields results far greater than that of the public schools Success Academy Test Results. According to NYCPS Yearly Teacher Pay Scale, when processed and analyzed by myself and a dear math teacher who accompanied me in my due diligence, it was concluded that a New York City public school teacher will see a 3-3.25% yearly increase in their salaries due to the collective bargaining agreement by the city and the NYSUT. However, union officials persistently bargain with the city of New York to increase teacher salaries and profoundly raise their benefits. In the private sector this would be one of the most unforgivable sins. Ponder at the thought of a worker asking their boss for a raise when they have been performing subpar and putting out menial reports of their performance.  

 

            Intentions, Causations and Implementations  

There are various programs in the United States in which were established with genuinely good intentions. One of them being that of the Public Education System. What was created to educate young people, whether they are economically advantaged or those who have not a cent of wealth that hasn't come from welfare. This system has the utmost of good intentions, yet an unrivaled amount of negatively implemented causations, a grotesque homogenous body of regulation and implementations, and a lack thereof in its fruits being produced. The intentions of the Public Education system to this day have never been that of hindering a student's potential, yet it can be found that a student is hindered to the most egregious extent in public education. It is a Nobel cause to declare that those upon whom may not have climbed the economic ladder, may be disabled and or may be unable of taking academic repentance will be allotted a fair and comprehensive education in the current public education system, but what does the nobility matter if its subject is found dependent upon its lackluster provisions and entitlements that are allotted from the current system. I can be quoted as saying in my February 19th, 2025, paper “Economic Facts and Fallacies: Social Security, The American Pyramid Scheme.” as saying,  

     “The myth of good intentions is meaningful, but at what distance do we draw the societal line on how much can be taken from the taxpayer to fulfill that intention. Yes, good intentions are potentially what move a society positively in certain instances, but when and why should a society's movement be deemed and made responsible by the sole proprietor of the taxpayer, who is only losing in this situation. Good intentions do not equate to good outcomes, history will show time and time again, that only in instances where man is acting in his own interest, is where society progress most.” 

The premise of good intentions can be subjected to the same scrutiny that I put upon it in my earlier paper. The public education system has failed Americans, it has ushered in an unquestioned wave of labor unions, annually lowering test scores, academic maleficence to the students mind and a plethora of funding dollars that continue to pour in despite the lowering scores. The most insightful piece of my writing in my previous paper can be found in the sentence “at what distance do we draw the societal line on how much can be taken from the taxpayer to fulfill that intention.” American taxpayers pay the fifth most per pupil globally, yet the United States ranks 36th in literacy rates amongst all nations. Intentions may be the brain of a society, allowing it to adjust and maneuver as the economy changes, loved ones become deceased, religion falters and societal trust of government waivers, but action will always be the heartbeat in which a society is propelled. Action will continue to dictate our everyday life. Steve jobs had the intention of granting consumers a mobile telephone that is compatible with their lives, but if it hadn't been for his successful actions consumers would not have a plethora of apple products in which they are allowed to enjoy by the actions of Steve Jobs. Therefore, intentions should be weighed and questioned last, the action of a program and or the efficiency that it presents by its existence is what should be allowed too weigh itself firstly. 

                                      The Solution   

There can be no absolute absolvent of the sins of the past committed by the Public Education System. The damage by this system has had a detrimental effect upon the country and its youth. It has failed the taxpayer in its rising conquest upon their dollars, the student by failing to prepare them with an academically acclimated education, and the parent by not providing proper school choice in its monopolistic existence. Therefore, Americans must move on from the education of yesteryear and into an age of academic enlightenment. This can be achieved by allowing way for school choice. School choice would not only grant parents the opportunity to pair their child with a school that they felt their child would acclimate to best, but by breaking up the monopoly in which we as a nation are currently in. Tejvan Pettinger, the author of Regulation of monopoly writes, 

1.           “Prevent excess prices. Without government regulation, monopolies could put prices above the competitive equilibrium. This would lead to allocative inefficiency and a decline in consumer welfare. 

2. Quality of service. If a firm has a monopoly over the provision of a particular service, it may have little incentive to offer a good quality service. Government regulation can ensure the firm meets minimum standards of service. 

3. Monopsony Power.  A firm with monopoly selling power may also be in a position to exploit monopsony buying power. For example, supermarkets may use their dominant market position to squeeze profit margins of farmers. 

4. Promote competition. In some industries, it is possible to encourage competition, and therefore there will be less need for government regulation. 

5. Natural Monopolies. Some industries are natural monopolies – due to high economies of scale, the most efficient number of firms is one. Therefore, we cannot encourage competition, and it is essential to regulate the firm to prevent the abuse of monopoly power.” 

 

By breaking up the monopolistic nature of the public education system, it would be forced to raise quality of services, generously invite competition, those of charter and or private schools and lower the prices that the taxpayer is demanded to pay. With de-monopolization, the consumer will see a constant downstream of prices until fully fluctuated and equal with supply. Competiton in public schools would force much needed innovation in curriculum, athletic programs, standardize testing's scores and other accredited subjects. We see this in the private market, in which companies are forced to lower prices and improve quality due to the consumer being able to take their business elsewhere. In conclusion, we must make way for legislators to disrupt unions. The disorganization and disenfranchisement of Teacher Unions such as those of the NYSUT and or NEA would allow tenured teachers to be let go based on performance and make way for parent choice. Parent choice would not only save the taxpayer, but the student by providing an education that every child deserves to have.