Strawman argument, I know. But I still thought it was fascinating. Wonder what private education, or tutoring for that same 20 kids would cost? And would the ROI (higher employment, professional advancement) be better as well?
To put it in perspective most catholic/parochial schools cost anywhere between 2-3K per year. The really good private schools *think elite* in Minnesota start at 8-12K which is less than the cost of one kid in the Minneapolis school system!
The big difference is involvement by parents, many of these gret schools would not keep trouble makers and unless mom or dad is willing to go after the kid and not the school their kids wont shape up..
First, it's 14k/student in NY and let's forget the 20 years; That's $280,000 allocated for 9 months. Let's say we pay the teacher $65,000 plus benefits or about $80,000 for those 9 months. That leaves $200,000 for leasing a room, getting transportation, and outfitting the room with desks and equipment. Figure you can rent a room for less than $1000/ month, so that's 9,000 and say 20 desk/equipment is prorated at 20,000. That leaves about $170,000 left over which can be used to get each kid a health club membership, a computer, school uniforms and free lunch with $100,000 to spare.