Brendan P. Walsh

I’ve been a part of many dramatic school board meetings s I read with interest a wonderful micro-blogging exercise by Oakland Press writer Dustin Blitchok of the beleaguered Pontiac Public School Systems’ vote today to turn over their high school to a charter school operator.

I was particularly struck by quotes attributed to Board Secretary Brenda Carter who said she needed another week to study the issue.

I guess 10 years of study wasn’t enough. Take a look at some of the district’s staggering financial statistics since 2004. (All data available from the State of Michigan Dept. of Education from this site.)

• In 2011, Pontiac ranked 51st among all Michigan school districts in revenue per pupil ($12,815 per student). That’s higher than Grosse Pointe Farmington, and Ann Arbor Schools and 40% above the state average ($9,121).
• Pontiac’s revenue per pupil increased 18% from 10 years ago. In the same time, the state average revenue per pupil increased 7%.
• In 2004, Pontiac’s average teacher salary was $46,112. In 2012 it was $67,702. So teacher salaries increased 47% while revenues in the same time increased just 18%. Pontiac’s average teacher salary ranking moved from 413th in the state in 2004 to 69th in 2011.
• In 2011 Pontiac’s total support services expenditure per pupil, which is everything that is non-instructional, was $6,190, or 48% of their total General Fund revenue per pupil. The state average of non-instructional proportion of General Fund revenue in 2011 was  39%.
• In 2004, Pontiac’s non-instructional expenditure per pupil was $4,732 per pupil. This means their non-instructional expense per pupil increased 31% while their revenues per pupil increased just 18%.
• Pontiac’s enrollment in 2004 was 10,857, making them the 23rd largest school districts in the state at that time. By 2011 their enrollment had fallen to 5,685 –  a 47% drop in enrollment. This means, when applied against their 2011 average revenue per pupil, they experienced a 62% revenue loss from 2004 to 2011 – attributable to enrollment loss alone. Again, to be the dead horse further, their operating costs per pupil were increasing steadily over this time.
• I don’t have the time or inclination right now to calculate the massively negative impact of increasing state mandated retirement costs, which are a function of a percentage applied against salaries – but I guarantee it’s been another huge drain on their budget.

I’m not here to cast judgment on Pontiac Schools. Any district that endured a 47% enrollment loss would be in dire straights. It’s a sad story all around, but clearly the financial data points to a pretty obvious and plodding march toward financial ruin. You simply can’t be increasing salaries at that rate when your trajectory was what Pontiac’s was.

The other observation I have relates to the vote today itself which merely enables the shift of the high school into the hands of a charter school operator. Are the charter operators financial magicians? Of course not. They are merely unhooked from the most difficult financial constraints placed upon traditional public school systems, as examined in my analysis here.