Did you think your tax dollars were being spent on education for your children? You are wrong. Tax dollars are being spent on lawsuits, lawyers and courts to create radical, sexualized, bigoted and hateful education. These administrators and Boards have turned our government schools into Moscow style indoctrination centers.
“The “cost of conflict” is weighing heavily on K12 budgets just as districts are losing COVID relief funding, states are tightening spending, and enrollment is falling in some regions.
Two-thirds of superintendents surveyed reported facing moderate to high levels of culturally divisive conflict over LGBTQ+ issues, race and racism and book-banning campaigns, according to a team of university researchers’ just-released “Costs of Conflict” report. Dealing with that division costs school districts a staggering $3.2 billion during the 2023-24 school year, the study concluded.
This is why you should vote NO on all school bonds. Until they return to education as the goal, no need to finance hate of freedom by Educrats and Progressives abusing our students with your tax dollars.
Cost of conflict: Schools now spend billions dealing with division
Two-thirds of superintendents surveyed reported experiencing moderate to high levels of culturally divisive conflict over LGBTQ+ issues, race and racism and book-banning campaigns, according to new research.
By Matt Zalaznick, District Administrator, 10/24/24 https://districtadministration.com/cost-of-conflict-schools-now-spend-billions-dealing-with-division/
The “cost of conflict” is weighing heavily on K12 budgets just as districts are losing COVID relief funding, states are tightening spending, and enrollment is falling in some regions.
Two-thirds of superintendents surveyed reported facing moderate to high levels of culturally divisive conflict over LGBTQ+ issues, race and racism and book-banning campaigns, according to a team of university researchers’ just-released “Costs of Conflict” report. Dealing with that division costs school districts a staggering $3.2 billion during the 2023-24 school year, the study concluded.
“Culturally divisive conflicts in the nation’s schools are generating fear, stress and anxiety that is disrupting school districts and taking a personal toll on the educators and staff members who work in them,” said UCLA Education Professor John Rogers, the lead researcher for the survey of 467 superintendents in 46 states.
“Sadly, as superintendents have told us, the cost of these conflicts not only has a financial impact but is also eroding teaching and learning and undermining the trust between schools and the communities so essential to our democracy and civic life,” Rogers added.
One superintendent told the researchers that his mid-size district spent $100,000 to hire armed, plainclothes off-duty officers to provide security at school board meetings because some members of the public “are unpredictable and sometimes violent.” The district also spent more than $500,000 on legal fees related to a campaign against its LGBTQ+ community.
The district additionally lost partnerships with service providers who were attacked at school board meetings over LGBTQ+ issues and spent more than $80,000 to replace teachers, counselors and administrators who said they resigned due to the divisive environment.
The researchers developed a “conflict score” to rank districts based on the level and frequency of conflicts experienced by superintendents and their schools. Some 38% of districts fell into the “Moderate” conflict category while more than a quarter (27.5%) experienced “High” levels of conflict, “with conflict occurring regularly across several issue areas, often accompanied by violent rhetoric or threats.”
Here’s how they broke down the “conflict score”:
- A district serving 10,000 students with Moderate levels of conflict spends nearly $500,000 annually.
- Districts experiencing High levels of culturally divisive conflict spend an average of $812,000.
- If a district with a High level of conflict decreased to Low, it would save roughly $562,000.
“There is a real opportunity cost to this conflict,” said co-author Robert Shand of American University. “These are funds that school districts may not have and may be diverted from support for student learning. For example, one superintendent told us that increased costs forced the district to divert funds from planned professional development aimed at improving instruction.”
Cultural conflicts are also playing a role in superintendent turnover. Nearly half of the superintendents who reported seeking another position did so because of “school board conflict, stress, and politics,” the survey noted. One-third of superintendents said they had lost teachers and other staff members because of culturally divisive conflicts.
