Inflation is definitely a factor here, but it's a factor everywhere. Costs have gone up across the board for every household and business. The difference is that *almost* everywhere else the costs are worked into the price mechanism in a free market. Here, we are dealing with a very different beast--the public unions.
That makes this actually more of a political problem with a veneer of economics. Public finance in Newton has the same problems as it does in Chicago or Dallas. Huge underfunded pensions liabilities, massive political interest groups, a full AUM play on the local real estate. That last piece is the golden goose.
The economic value of the teachers are being dangled over the balcony here, but in reality we all know there is more than enough money in the system to give the teachers a raise to keep them happy and productive. Instead, the new money will be funneled into that black hole of public union bureaucracy. They can justify this demand for increase every few years. If we wanted to solve the problem we would slash administrator head count, give the teachers more freedom in plying their trade (more recess, ability to discipline kids, not teach only to the MCAS), and everyone would be happier.
It's a ratchet that only goes in one direction. They will be back to sheer the sheep many more times. None of this is about the amount of money required to properly educate school children because that's a pretty easy problem to solve that doesn't cost $270mm. Public schools have been declining since the 1950s and this is exactly why.
Inflation is definitely a factor here, but it's a factor everywhere. Costs have gone up across the board for every household and business. The difference is that *almost* everywhere else the costs are worked into the price mechanism in a free market. Here, we are dealing with a very different beast--the public unions.
That makes this actually more of a political problem with a veneer of economics. Public finance in Newton has the same problems as it does in Chicago or Dallas. Huge underfunded pensions liabilities, massive political interest groups, a full AUM play on the local real estate. That last piece is the golden goose.
The economic value of the teachers are being dangled over the balcony here, but in reality we all know there is more than enough money in the system to give the teachers a raise to keep them happy and productive. Instead, the new money will be funneled into that black hole of public union bureaucracy. They can justify this demand for increase every few years. If we wanted to solve the problem we would slash administrator head count, give the teachers more freedom in plying their trade (more recess, ability to discipline kids, not teach only to the MCAS), and everyone would be happier.
It's a ratchet that only goes in one direction. They will be back to sheer the sheep many more times. None of this is about the amount of money required to properly educate school children because that's a pretty easy problem to solve that doesn't cost $270mm. Public schools have been declining since the 1950s and this is exactly why.