Is Education a Cost or an Investment?

I find one of the headlines in the Indy Star an interesting insight into how people think about education.

The headline is, "Senators urged to keep education costs steady."

No they weren't.

Senators were encouraged by public education advocates to keep education FUNDING steady. If the state can find a way to keep costs steady more power to them. Our rising costs in education are due to five main things.

1. Unfunded mandates. Go back to Jamie Vollmer' website to see the list of those.
2. Rising utility costs and fuel costs.
3. Rising property and casualty insurance rates.
4. Rising health insurance costs - a national issue
5. The state shifting expenses to the local school district and the local taxpayer.

These rising costs require a rising revenue stream to keep programs in their current status. When expenses go up AND revenue is decreased, programs are affected.

What the state sees as COST the schools see as INVESTMENT in their programs for children.