Less Buildings, Better Teacher Pay
What would happen to school quality if we paid our teachers a lot more?
In 2021, the Sioux Fall School District completed Jefferson High School. This 327,000 square foot school has about 1750 students. The construction cost was about $70.6 million.
If we assume a 30 year life, this means the building costs $2.35 million per year. Then if we assume it costs approximately $1.8 million per year for operations and maintenance ($5.50 per square foot), it would mean the annual building and operation cost would be $4.15 million which works out to about $2375 per student each year (before interest).
According to Niche, Jefferson High school received a B- grade for teaching.
One has to wonder what would happen if we had cut the building and operations budget by one third (1/3) and used the $1.36 million surplus to increase teacher salaries. Would we be able to attract higher quality teachers? Would the teaching quality ranking move up from a B-? What would happen if we used this strategy for schools all over the state? Would South Dakota move up in the national school rankings?
South Dakota Voices Response: Gervase, thank you for joining the conversation.
Email comment from GH: "I’m a Professor emeritus from USD. Not just more pay, but bargaining power, ie., union, regents who actually support public education, who protect academic freedom for teachers and students, a Department of Education that fights against the Administration creating and determining curriculum. And that’s a start"
What would happen if you gave every child $10,000 to use on private schools/home/virtual and got rid of public? You’d save half a billion annually that could go to property tax relief & the kids would get better education & teachers would get paid more. The free market would absolutely thrive in the edu dept. Money should follow the child. It’s the only way we’ll ever move forward in education. Follow South Dakotans for School Choice if you’re interested in our adventures!