We take for granted what we know. It’s a habit, formed by the knowledge that we go to a good school. A school that won’t lose its accreditation anytime soon. A school that doesn’t have a lot of people, but has just enough to make it seem populated. When something comes along that threatens what we know, we fight back. But sometimes there is something in the way.
Statute 167.131 is such a thing. It’s simple to understand, but the effects of it are great. It states that if a school district becomes unaccredited, then the school district must pay the tuition for their students to attend an accredited school district nearby. However, in no account is the amount the school district is paying for tuition surpass the amount the school district is paying its faculty. The catch? The accredited school district must accept the students, no matter what the circumstances.
There are several things wrong with this statute (which is crutch with which the Turner vs. Clayton Board of Education case stands on). First, how does a school district become accredited again if they are broke? A large majority of the school district’s money is now being spent on the tuition of their students, the rest being used on the school district’s faculty. The school district can’t pay their teachers any more money, because then they have to pay tuition for their students to go somewhere else. It’s a situation which involves losing for every side–except for the parents and students.
The second thing wrong with this statute is that the accredited school district must accept the incoming students, no matter what the circumstances. Let’s take, for example, the Clayton School District. The district simply isn’t large enough to accept 3,500 new students. Clayton isn’t like the Parkway School District; we don’t have empty land where we can build a new school for these students. If Turner vs. Clayton Board of Education passes, then the Clayton schools will become packed with students. The student to teacher ratio will rise, and the district will lose all it has fought for: exceptional education of future world leaders.
Just because a school has exceptional academics doesn’t mean that it will always be so. When 3,500 students enter a school district that doesn’t have space for them, things change. Test scores go down. Academics go down. Respect goes down. If Turner vs. Clayton Board of Education passes, then the Clayton School District (as well as other school districts across the country – because everyone is watching this case) will possibly lose everything. This case could affect the future of this country, possibly even the world. The world needs educated leaders, not leaders who were educated in a classroom with four times the amount of people in it that there should be.
