Editorial Note from Scott Milder, President and CEO, Friends of Texas Public Schools.  
 
The fuss over top heavy administration, excessive spending on football and other extracurricular activities, and the general inefficiencies of our public schools are nothing more than falsehoods fueled by those who would like the public to believe our schools are top heavy and inefficient. The facts of the matter lead anyone who conducts just a tiny bit of research on the subject to find that our public schools are arguably the most efficient human enterprise in our state and nation.

Little known factoid... only 3 pennies of every education dollar are spent on central administration in this state. On the flipside, 49 cents of every education dollar is spent on teacher salaries. What about extracurricular? Surely we could save some serious dollars if we cut football and other activities. Turns out only 3 pennies of every education dollar are spent on extracurricular activities.  Huh...This document, Tracking the Education Dollar (PDF 820k), sorts things out for us and is a fantastic tool that every educator and school board member should keep in their hip pocket. Thanks to Moak Casey & Associates, a private sector financial firm specializing in the most complex math problem on the planet -- school funding -- for preparing this report.

Arm yourself with the facts! Share them with your staffs first, then your supporters/advocates, then with your critics. And ignore those malcontents. They wouldn't believe a fact if it jumped off the page and slapped them in the face.

--Milder