May 25, 2011
Wednesday

First of all, thank you Agnes Moran for caring and asking questions about OUR school budget. The first thing that struck me in your letter to Sitnews was the figure of $40,472,050.00 in the budget to educate 2100 students. Being a math lover, I immediately had to do the division. The answer to my question (how much per student) is $19,272.40. OVER $19,000.00 PER STUDENT PER YEAR. Does it strike anyone besides me that the cost per student exceeds what some of those student's parents make per year, more than many of our fellow citizens make per year. That alone is staggering. I would like someone to factor in the drop out rate and how much money per year is thrown down a rat hole because the school system can't seem to keep students until graduation.

My next question is: How is that $19,272.40 per student further divided? How much goes to supplies and basic teaching aids? How much is teacher salary? How much is administrative costs? I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

For those students who do graduate, that is over $250,000.00 per student. Extend that out; if you have 2 children, the citizens of this community spend half a million dollars to educate your children. I DO NOT begrudge our youth a good education, BUT, are they getting a quarter million dollar education?

These numbers are unbelievable.

Again, I appreciate the concern of an assembly member. We as tax paying citizens should all be concerned.

Regards,

Laura Plenert
Ketchikan, AK