Recently we have seen many groups argue that our nation’s school children should receive more economic and financial education in our public schools. However, after reading Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) superintendent John Fredericksen’s op-ed in Sunday’s Daily Times, one thing is clear – the leader of our county’s schools certainly isn’t fit to teach a class on the subject.
In a poorly veiled attempt to drum up support for more wasteful spending, Fredericksen claims that we should support our public schools because they are an “economic engine” helping to grow our economy:
The Wicomico County school system is one of the region's top three employers, an economic engine with 25 schools and more than 2,500 employees. Our employees support the Wicomico County economy and the communities where they live, magnifying the effect of dollars that are spent on public education.
Sorry John. Government spending cannot create wealth. Therefore it cannot grow an economy. It was a nice try though.
Perhaps you could use some of your vacation time to read a few books. A great place to start would be Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson. It would increase YOUR economic literacy at least a thousand fold.
17 comments:
Frederickson,
YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND if you think that you can publicly come out and preach about the WCBOE! Year after year YOU have dug deep into the pockets of this County and this County's taxpayers. Year after year the County's budget gets harder and harder to balance, but yet the budget problems are never solved. Year after year the WCBOE has its budget approved as submit. Do you notice any trends here? THE WCBOE IS THE PROBLEM! Teacher's haven't had furloughs or pay cut-they actually got raises! Every Department in this County has had budget cuts, but the BOE has had budget increases AND surplus! The BOE has NO concern for taxpayer dollars and spends frivolously without consequence! Something needs to be done!
If it's all truly "for the children," then how about you (Frederickson) take a reduction in your 6-figure salary? It wouldn't be "for the children" then now would it? It's all about you and only you!
So Harrison, what do you think the Superintendent for an entire County school system should be paid in 2010? This is an executive level job with responsibility for hundreds of employees. Take a moment to think about it.
Re the point that activities funded by government investment may not "create" jobs this may, or may not, be a valid hypothesis in looking at global view of national expenditures across history, but in a strictly local sense local, national and regional government expenditures must certainly do create jobs and growth. The State of Maryland is, in fact, beholden to the federal government for a good chunk of it's economic engine. This "fact" may drive you into a spasmodic fury, but it is nontheless a fact.
Baby cakes (joe and 9:55) If the kids do not get an education than they cannot get a job and that leads to more on the public coffers. Therefore schools could be considered an economic engine to help the economy grow. Many, many years ago (I am older than dirt) I saw the trickle down effect the government was placing on the economy. Now the whole country is run on mandates. "If you want the money you do such and such." If you don't follow the mandates the money is gone." This applies to every government run program, not just education. I said (back before dirt was born) and many times since, don't take the money because you will end up paying a heavy price. And so it has come to pass. Trickle down again, federal cuts dollars, than the states cut dollars than the county cuts dollars and so forth BUT the mandates have not been cut. In order for a child to graduate the mandates are still in place.
I think Mr Frederickson is not the one to blame nor was he hired before the mandates were put in place. Why not place the blame on all the county administrators who gladly grab the money from all the state administrators who gladly grab the money from the federal administrators, through many decades, who spent money like no tomorrow.
OK now what can be done to correct this situation? I for one do not know BUT I would think those of you who criticize the most would have a solution.
Re "Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson" it's interesting (and somewhat amusing) that an almost 70 year old libertarian mash note to Ayn Rand written during World War II is what you base your critique of modern economic theory on. You need a library card.
Hazlitt wrote the book you cited in 1946. He attended college for a year and a half then dropped out. He was not a trained economist.
Hazlitt was a libertarian. Libertarians believe that the only function of government is to defend the country from invasion and keep citizens from injuring one another. It is an extreme view.
If a teacher uses some of the money transferred to her as collateral for a loan that is spent in the community, the wealth transferred to her has been multiplied.
G.A. do you know if Fredericksen or any of the other board employees or members are going to this conference next month?
www.nsba.org/conference
They have been going every year at a cost of thousands of dollars. Money that could be spent on those poor little "children."
Anon 1137 -
First of all, I never commented about Fredericksen's salary. However, if you insist ...
He applied for the job. He knew what the salary was. QED, he cannot be underpaid.
Are you implying that we should let the market determine his salary? I'm all for it. I believe that EVERY employee of the WCBOE should be paid based on market forces rather than government fiat. Sadly for them, that would mean that there would be NO tenure. Teachers would be paid based on results, rather than a negotiated union contract where bad teachers are paid the same (often more) than superior teachers. Need I go on?
Anon 1143 -
I never said that Fredericksen was responsible for ANY problem (at least not in this post). I simply stated that to argue that his veiled argument that throwing more money at the WCBOE was good because it drove the local economy was foolish at best.
Anon 1150 -
While I appreciate your suggestion, I prefer to take such suggestions from those that have read a book or two. It is true that Hazlitt wrote "Economics in One Lesson" around the time of WWII. FA Hayek wrote "The Road to Serfdom" a few years earlier. That does not diminish the wisdom to be found in either book. I mentioned this book primarily because it is short, short on jargon and something that Fredericksen MIGHT be able to grasp.
It appears that you are a sad product of a watered down educational system that does not grasp the wisdom to be found in THOUSANDS of years of western civilization. You evidently prefer to be spoon fed the "Cliff's Notes" version through the lens of a teacher who was taught "to teach", but whose grasp of the subject matter is (to be kind) lacking.
Aristotle's views on reasoning, politics, rhetoric, and literature are as valid today as they were 300 years before the birth of Christ. Edmund Burke died over two hundred years ago, yet many of his views are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them.
BTW - to the best of my knowledge, Hazlitt was NOT a disciple of Ayn Rand. Many (if not most) people of a libertarian bent (note the small "l") may admire Rand but do not accept her world view. Just because one reads Murray Rothbard does not mean that you accept all of his theories either.
Bill -
Yes, it is true that Hazlitt never graduated from college. So what? Adam Smith was an ethicist, yet he invented the field of economics. I can only assume that you believe that Ben Franklin wasn't intelligent because he never attended college either?
Hazlitt was considered one of the finest writers of his day. He was entirely self-taught in economics, yet the "Wall Street Journal" considered him competent enough to use his talents rather than those of a college bred economist.
As for libertarians being extremists, you are merely showing your ignorance. Those that adopt libertarian views on certain issues are not necessarily supporters of legalizing crack and abolishing the Federal Reserve. Nor do all libertarians believe that the income tax is "unconstitutional".
My friend Marc Kilmer and I had a discussion about this just last week. Marc is a brilliant young man who works for the Maryland Public Policy Institute. While he is not a Libertarian, his views on economics are certainly more libertarian than my own. Those of us who support free markets and LIMITED government are not the same as someone like Rothbard (who evidently borders on an anarchist).
Also, if you will note, I never denied that there is some multiplier in government spending. However, that is a far cry from transfers "GROWING" an economy (which was Fredericksen's argument, the "engine" metaphor).
We need to pay for good public schools. The problem is that people like Fredericksen (and evidently you) believe that the more money you spend, the better the product. I have yet to meet a bureaucrat that understands the meaning of the work "VALUE".
If spending more money was the answer, DC schools would be the best in the world. Do you honestly believe that they are?
It's For the Children -
I don't know if any are going this year. This is the one that Mark Thompson loves to go to, but he prefers sunny resorts on the Left Coast.
Reading Harrison's Libertarian wet dreams it reminds me once again why Libertarians (esp old Libertarians) are consigned to the crackpot end of the political spectrum.
Your naive (and kind of silly) hand waving admonitions to a man who has to manage (in the real world not a Libertarian fantasy world) a large school system was a rousing morning's entertainment.
And finally your choice of Econ 101 texts to "school" Fredricksen on how a modern information economy works was a real howler. Seriously you killed! The room was in stitches. All I was waiting for was a rimshot.
Mr. Harrison,
You bring up some good points about salaries. Could you post the salaries of all the Central Office workers of the BOE. I have been told it is in the 6 digit figures.
It amazes me how a school teacher "promoted" to a position at the BOE can make over $100,000 a yr when the good paying jobs for college educated employees are more like $50,000 or less.
Why aren't the BOE employees or school teachers taking furloughs like the rest of the county employees are? The County Executive and the County Council should reject their budget requests until they take the same furloughs.
The BOE will claim they never got raises, only step increases which they claim are NOT raises. So no matter if you are a Great teacher or the worst ever, every year you will see an increase in your pay. Start looking back to Tom Field and how he has instilled this in Fredericksen's head. It is not about our children in the County. it's about the teacher's union and sick pay and retirement benefits and leave of absences and the good old boy network. All this equals the 2500 that are employees of the WCBOE
Thanks G.A. for the insightful response to the criticism of your blog. You have once again shown your intelligence and knowledge of the situation something dearly lacking in those that have criticized you. 11:37am obviously did not read the article or was not intelligent enough to understand it and “Bill’s” comment only shows that he has never read the Constitution and is in all likelihood a government employee. I never did like putting labels on people but if I must put one on myself it would be a conservative-libertarian. I think government should be small and we do need public schools but run by the local community not by federal or state bureaucrats. I think that the biggest problem in schools across the country is the teacher’s union and their power over our tax dollars and ability to influence curriculum. I would like to see leadership that would say “no” to the teacher’s union and government funding. I would like leadership that would require results from teachers and not give them tenure because they kept a seat warm for a few years. Keep up the good work G.A. we need your insight.
G.A.
Your original post took Dr. Frederickson to task for calling public education an economic engine. You wrote that "government cannot create wealth" and cited Hazlitt's book.
Clearly, if one views an entering kindergarten student as raw material, the school system adds value to the raw material, in the form of skills necessary to earn wages when he exits the system. This is wealth creation.
Any portion of a teacher's salary that is leveraged to buy a house, car or a meal charged on a credit card, creates profit in the community. Profit is wealth.
You are wrong, Dr. Frederickson is right.
Hazlitt's book served you poorly.
If he is not deficient, you are.
Anon 1325 -
Something tells me that you work for the BOE. If this is true, it explains many things. Are our tax dollars being spent to allow you to make ridiculous comments on a blog?
If you had read even a small percentage of my writings you would know that I am not a Libertarian. I am an American conservative. That means that I am a traditionalist (but not a Tory), a believer in natural law, a political realist, someone who believes in ordered liberty and libertarian in that I believe in free markets and limited government.
Yes, I'm quite sure that suggesting economic reading for someone like Fredericksen (or yourself) was amusing since the only economics you appear to be interested in are more taxation and public spending.
As our country falls further into economic disrepair, we can thank people like you who are only interested in spending other people's money.
What I find amusing is people like you who attack with neither the brains to make a rational argument nor the courage to sign your name.
Anon 1407 - While I agree with your sentiments, I have to disagree on one fact; I think Fredericksen already arrived with those attitudes intact. It always amuses me that educators claim that they are "professionals" and should be paid in line with the private sector; yet they join a union and negotiate contracts like the UAW. Detroit is broke and so is much of our public education system.
Bill -
Anon 1414 must be right. You have to work for the government. Only a bureaucrat would try to argue that education was "wealth creation". Yes, theoretically, education CAN (but not necessarily) be a tool for wealth creation, but it is not wealth creation.
As I noted earlier, I never argued that there was not a multiplier. However, you fail to grasp the simple fact that government spending is a transfer and cannot grow the economy. Yes, it can have a positive impact on a certain portion of an economy, but only at the detriment to another.
We don't educate our children for the benefits to the local economy. Hopefully, we educate our children to better their future lives. That does not negate our right to insist that public education be done in an efficient manner.
Are you going to argue that the WCBOE is efficient?
As for deficiency, I will stand by my criticism of Fredericksen's argument. It was his argument that was not only deficient, but a despicable case of political opportunism. If Fredericksen wishes to act like a politician, he should expect to be treated like one.
Could Dr. F. at least acknowledge that a coordinator of staff development who does only the Teacher of the Year banquet and one of the two public relations persons should be let go? Not one of those positions was a Tier One cut. Could we lose the reading and math coordinators or the reading and math supervisors? We don't need both.
You have once again proven the adage:
A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!
Anon 1653 -
Please define your so-called "conservatism". If you are not a small "l" libertarian with regards to economics then you are not an American conservative in the vein of Barry Goldwater, Bill Buckley, Ronald Reagan, etc. Perhaps you are a neo-conservative (one who is strong on defense and interventionism but left of center on economics and big government)? I don't seem to be getting that "paleo" vibe from you (strongly traditionalist, borderline Tory). Perhaps you believe that an Arlen Specter or Wayne Gilchrest is "conservative"?
Perhaps you can enlighten us to what your view of "conservatism" is. You are the one is "crypto-something". I have never been secretive about my beliefs and have a sizable body of work which explains them (at least in part).
So please, enlighten us. Also, you may wish to man up and use your name.
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