According to national education statistics, the U.S. will spend an estimated $489.4 billion on primary and secondary education this year. And there’s no doubt that North Carolina is doing its part to keep this number large. As the number of children enrolled in state-controlled schools grows, and the cost to run them expands, our state is making it more difficult to higher teachers to account for this growth. Mandating certification and licensing, said Lindalyn Kakadelis to the Daily Tar Heel of Chapel Hill, is only aiding the teacher shortage. Without making use of cost-cutting techniques (i.e. funding those things that directly effect a child’s education), the “cost of education” will continue to rise. Two ways to lower this cost are to abolish the charter-school cap, and to cut back on frivolous school-construction costs. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system is having a hard time establishing what is and isn’t a frivolous school-construction expense. Lindalyn spoke recently with the Charlotte Rhino-Times about the CMS’s bond package, and with residents of Franklin County about school choice.
