Madison spending on schools above state avg.

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Madison spending on schools above state avg.

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Tuesday, February 7. 2012

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The Madison County School System was among the highest in the area in per-student spending last year.

The Madison system spent $9,032 per student in FY2011. The rate was above the state average, which was $8,593 per student.

While Madison spent less for pupil services, general administrative and maintenance and operations expenses than the state average, it was above the state in staff services, school administrative and transportation expenses.

But the biggest area where Madison spent more than the average was in instruction at $6,161 per student. That was 40th highest in the state out of 180 school systems.

“I think one thing that makes us a little higher is having long-time teachers,” said school board chairman Jim Patton. “We have a real low turnover rate and we have teachers with a lot of years. That means we have some good, experienced teachers.”

In revenues, Madison known got 28 percent of its income from local taxes while the rest came from state and federal taxes. Madison County school superintendent Allen McCannon notes that Madison County ranks among the poorest school systems in terms of property tax base, projected at 161 out of 180 systems in the state for fiscal year 2013.

McCannon also said per-student spending figures include several variables that don’t work in Madison County’s favor when compared to other counties.

For instance, the system brings in considerable federal aid for programs such as free and reduced lunches. That money is allocated toward the needy children in the system, but is not applied system-wide. It is factored in to the per-student spending ratio, though it doesn’t apply to all students.

The superintendent said Madison County also has a very small commercial base, and thus, doesn’t generate much sales tax revenue. He said Madison County has about $1 million a year in technology expenses, which are covered in the annual budget and reflected in “per-student” spending.

However, a number of counties have a large enough commercial base to purchase computers, software, textbooks and other items with sales tax funds — without applying that to their general budget. The per student spending comparison does not include sales tax funds.

“A lot of other systems fund technology upgrades out of sales tax funding,” said McCannon. “I think that’s good. We would do it if we could. But our sales tax is so small that we have to keep it strictly on facilities.”

Madison County also received roughly $1 million in competitive grants last year, which were included in the “per student” breakdown. McCannon said the system was pleased to get the grants, but if you simply look at “per-student” spending, the grant money inflates that number.

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#1 Ben Had on 02/11/12 at 05:01 AM [Reply]

My initial reaction to this story's title was; Then why aren't the students ranking above the state average?

Then, after reading the spin McCannon wove into every explanation of the systems failures, I realized that I still didn't understand how more money doesn't equal better results.
Except this: We have too many seasoned teachers making too much money, and the school system is more like a government/citizen funded daycare than a dedicated place of learning.

Thanks for re-affirming that teachers' pay should be based on merit,not time spent in classrooms, and that all of these mobile homes in this county are nothing more than a drain on the system.
Maybe a minimum tax for these homes would help to solve the problems they help to create. I'm not talking $35 dollars a year, how about $100 per month? That's a small fraction of what I pay per month, plus I pay for the lunch my kid eats too.

Teachers' pay? Taketh from those that don't produce results, and giveth to those that do.

One more thing; it you live in a mobile home or house that you pay $100 or less per year for your "tag", you shouldn't have any say so about the commercial business that wants to move next door, or, whether or not the county should allow Sunday Sales of alcohol.

#1.1 Ms.K on 02/12/12 at 07:42 PM [Reply]

Do keep in mind that the rent they pay on the lot covers the property tax that the landlord pays. Still, it ain't much.

Also, long-experienced teachers are a plus unless we can find a way to test their effectiveness. As we have seen recently, our attempt to do so only causes cheating and giving undeserved good grades. Such a pickle. I still want cameras in the classrooms.

#1.1.1 Ben Had on 02/13/12 at 12:14 PM [Reply]

Yeah, I probably went a little over the top with my comment. People are hurting pretty bad right now, and these kids definitely need to eat lunch,but it is very frustrating to hear all this mumbo jumbo from the guy in charge.
Every time I have ever tried to discuss policy issues with an administrator, I end up shaking my head from all the double-talk, and leaving not understanding anymore than when I started.
Must be something they all learn in admin training.

#2 Virginia Moss on 02/12/12 at 07:33 PM [Reply]

So, what is the real per-student spending once these issues are removed? After making note of those things that might seem to skew the number (for what reason, I can't tell), why wouldn't Dr. McCannon figure for us the actual per-student spending if comparison is important? So the one million dollars in grants were included in the per-student spending as was the one million dollars in technology expenses. Is that a total of 2 million dollars? It seems the grants would cancel out the expenditures. What is the per-student spending "ratio" versus the per-student spending? Maybe one has to be privy to the inner workings of the school system to understand all these terms and ".... variables that don’t work in Madison County’s favor when compared to other counties."

Perhaps I'm not very bright, but I think this article is very poorly written. I just don't get it. All I care about is how and what kids learn as compared with other systems. It has been shown that money does not make educating kids better, ever. Athens Academy spends about as much on education of private students. Of course, those students come from families with intelligent genes so it's not hard to educate them. This, the lack of intelligent genes, is the challenge of public education whether anyone wants to say it outloud or not.

#2.1 Ben Had on 02/13/12 at 12:18 PM [Reply]

I hesitated for days before I replied to this article thinking I had missed something.
Guess not.

You make a lot of great points in your comment.

#2.1.1 Virginia Moss on 02/13/12 at 01:56 PM [Reply]

Thanks. They do seem to live in a very insular world; typical of academics. It would be nice if the paper would do a follow-up to clarify their piece but I suspect we'll never hear another word about this.

#3 OVER THE HILL on 02/14/12 at 12:24 PM [Reply]

Maybe if some of the extraordinary salaries paid to counselors, principals,asst prinicpals and other over paid positions were cut,the per student spending would not be so high. There are so many in the system that get next to nothing in pay, but their impact on students are just as valuable as all these high paid positions. Go to www.open.georgia.gov and look at the salary of educators in Madison CO.

#3.1 Virginia Moss on 02/14/12 at 07:50 PM [Reply]

Thanks for the link. Do take note that Dr. McCannon's salary is a paltry $126,000 and he is happy with that so don't include him in the over-paid catagory. However, Gwinnett's nearly half-million salary for superintendent is rather mind-boggling.

With all the disipline and attitude problems in our schools, we need the best counselors possible, so I don't begrudge their pay and neither should teachers if the counselors can transform a disruptive student into at least a passively cooperative student, if not a true learner. This would make teaching so much more productive.

#4 Anonymous on 02/15/12 at 12:54 PM [Reply]

Why compare Dr. McCannon's salary to the superintendent of the largest school system in the state? Our county is not even in the same class as Gwinnett in terms of results, multi-cultural issues addressed,and preparation for jobs and college after high school. We should compare ourselves first to like-sized and type counties. Even with that standard we are producing students who are not adequately prepared to compete in the workforce and succeed in top-notch colleges. As far as the money for grants and aid counted in the student spending calculations, wouldn't most, if not all, other counties have similar expenditures? I read excuses, excuses, excuses. We should demand results.

#5 Virginia Moss on 02/15/12 at 05:10 PM [Reply]

I quite agree with your post; however, I wasn't comparing, just noting. The cost of living in Gwinnett is cheap compared to New York City or San Francisco where such a salary would be very appropriate. Are we to expect far less of Dr. McCannon due to his salary and far more of the Gwinnett superintendent? Both systems want their children to be educated to their fullest capability. If that is done by both superintendents, then shouldn't they both have the same salary? They did what they were paid to do.

Their salaries are established according to what their counties can afford, among other things. A teacher's salary is the same whether s/he has 36 or 16 students even though it is more work. Why should the superintendent, who has little more actual work to do, be paid more because there are more schools? They just delegate more underlings to help him do it. Their goal, as is the expectations of those who pay them, is the same as Dr. McCannon's. We pay him with these same expectations.

To compare these two systems on a per (student) capita basis as to student achievement would be interesting. That would be a nice start for a follow-up article in our paper. Of course, there is no accurate way to measure individual achievement. My guess is that there wouldn't be a whole lot of difference. If so, why would there be any difference in the value of a superintendent? The salary should be based on the cost of living in the area.

And do not compare to CEO compensation! That is apples to mountains. CEOs are responsible for PROFIT. Maybe education should be for-profit; the value of the leader would be more clearly drawn. Profiting off of children's education is about as distasteful as profiting off of people's illness. We have to find a better way that gets away from politics and beauracracy.

I like some form of the voucher system that allows for lots of private and home schooling. again, the devil would be in the details, but There would be choice, direct oversight by parents, customization for each learning type, room for flexibility and many other advantages. What do people in Madison County think of this idea?

#6 SardonicVeracity on 02/16/12 at 10:54 AM [Reply]

Basically, what the article says is that the per student number doesn't mean anything because f strange accounting. This is similar to the reason that quoting stats from the CBO is a questionable tactic.

Other main points include; MC has a lot of experienced teachers, A lot of MC students get federally subsidized meals, MC landowners do not pay as much toward educating their community's children as those in most of the rest of the state, MC does not compete well commercially, and fortunately the school board has a good grant writer.

That being said, the number and article will surely provoke an outcry against "overpaid teachers" and too much money beng spent on the school system...which obviously isn't the case. In facilities alone, MC already has half the high schools it should have Foriegn language and vocational education is an afterthought and we are barely into the 21st century technology-wise.

Sadly, factory jobs are not as plentiful for our grads as they were 30 years ago. There are still some jobs holding the stop/slow signs at construction zones though.

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