$200,000,000 for 3,000 kids? That over $66,666 per kid. Additionally, 3,000 kids is just three regular sized schools. Somebody is jerking our chains.
Without trying to excuse all the cost, you should understand the run-up of costs for everything in a true boom.
Hjelmstad said needs include new buildings, additional staff, more buses, support for a growing special education population, teacher housing and equipment.
There is NO available housing. Cost of teacher includes not only inflated wages, but actual housing, not just a housing allowance.
We had stories of some areas of the Bakken production paying $15 for fast food workers, just to keep them.
And right in the heart of the oil boom sits Williston, North Dakota, in the center of the Bakken Shale Formation, a massive oil reserve. Because of the oil boom, the city has seen its average wages increase from $32,000 in 2006 to about $80,000 today; unemployment drop to around one percent; and monthly rent for a one bedroom skyrocket to $2,300
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2012/05/rent-bubble-day-2300-one-bedroom-north-dakota/2106
...there are deals to be found. A 36-foot trailer: $1,000 (but only if you’re tired of “MAN CAMP HOUSING”). A 320-square-foot, soon to be built apartment, in a building that looks like a dense apartment building in Tokyo: $1,000. And if you don’t mind a bit of a commute into the city, a 400-square-foot one bedroom apartment 60 miles from Williston will only run you about $850 a month.