A Catastrophe in Midland, MI

In November 2009, I traveled to Midland, Michigan – a city of approximately 50,000. The headlines of the local paper the day I arrived said that five of the twelve public schools were seated to close and that 50% of students would be reassigned tin the next school year. In one year, a community that had build up their schools over a hundred years would see five of them close.

I stopped by the newspaper to try and get a better understanding of what was happening. The weekend editor described how state funding of approximately $7200 per student was crippling the Midland School District due to the reduced level of per-student funding and the impact of having about 160 fewer students due to families leaving the city as a result of a tough economy. This leads to an inevitable downward spiral: student distribution as a result of new schools for 50% of all students, larger classes, and less funding for various school activities will lead to more students leaving the school district, which leads to less funding…

This is catastrophic and has to tear at the fabric of the community. Recovery will take decades.

Mississippi Schools

As I travel through smaller communities in Mississippi, I find many communities that have all or a majority of schools in a dilapidated condition. Many schools seem older than 30 years old. Some could be 50 or even 70. None of these communities have any money, and I cannot imagine that here is a tax base or borrowing capacity to rebuild schools under any time horizon. These communities are trapped with poor infrastructure.

I would support a national school rebuild program. Without it, these schools will continue to deteriorate. Maybe a more computer-based teaching method provides better education for the dollar.