DAN ZIELINSKI, director of the planetarium at Jenks High School in Oklahoma, whizzes through his greatest hits. First he projects onto its dome a 3D image of a human heart; next comes the Sistine Chapel, then the solar system. The planetarium is an impressive asset for a high school, as is its aquatic centre, with an Olympic-size pool and grandstand seating. But there is a hitch, says Bonnie Rogers of Jenks Public Schools: filling the new buildings with teachers is much harder than erecting them.
At once bountiful and hard-pressed, the school district covers a well-heeled suburb of Tulsa and spans the Arkansas river to take in part of the city proper. The financial paradox has a simple explanation. The shiny facilities were paid for by municipal bonds, but teachers are financed by the state, and similar top-ups for their salaries are not allowed. In Oklahoma, state education funding has withered: since the crash of 2008 spending per pupil has been slashed by 27% in real terms, the biggest fall in America. Some districts run only four days of classes a week. Teachers earn much more across the border in Texas. The area is an extreme case of a wider trend, in which cities and their...Continue reading
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