Facts 'n figures

We have a bit of a debate about Buffalo Schools and Phil Rumore at this link. But I thought I’d highlight a statistic that I just calculated.

The Buffalo Public School system has a $697 million annual budget. That’s more than the City of Buffalo’s. It comes close to Erie County’s own budget.

The Buffalo Public School system teaches 38,000 students.

You could hand each student $18,342/ year and send them to Nichols (or cheaper), no?

(NB: I don’t think we shouldn’t have public schools, and I don’t think that we should somehow punish teachers or students. But if you’ve got almost a billion dollars to spend on 38,000 kids, I don’t want to hear complaints of budgetary poverty. ‘Kay?)

Edit: Check the comments. Buffalo spends $18k/student. Clarence spends $9k./student. But some people figure there aren’t any kids with special needs or disabilities in Amherst or Clarence. ‘Cause they’re rich and live in subdivisions, they’re immune to such … inconveniences. *sigh*