The Cost of the International Baccalaureate to Ozark, Missouri, Residents

Ronnie White, a teacher at Ozark High School, writes today about what it will cost the Ozark community to put one child through the International Baccalaureate program. As a conservative, I simply ask why must I help foot the bill through my property taxes to ensure your child gets a better education beyond what is traditionally offered at Ozark High School when not all children will be given equal access to the IB program.

Consider the cost to the community, and ask yourself if a parent feels Ozark High School is not preparing their child for college with the current curriculum, then why aren't they either leaving the district, putting their child into a private school, or home schooling. Why must taxpayers pay for this exclusive education opportunity that only a few select children will participate in?

Consider those questions as you read MSG White's detailed research about what it will cost the residents of Ozark to put one child through the IB program. This increased spending to put a small percentage of students into this exclusive club called IB will be soon reflected in higher property taxes. (By the way, this is called redistribution of wealth, since your tax dollars will be used to pay for another child to receive an education that not all children will have access to in Ozark.)

Thoughts about the Cost of IB at Ozark High School
Ronnie L. White, MSG Ret., USA

I was reviewing Ozark High School’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Application Part “A” and came across what I think might be some important numbers for the Ozark community to take into consideration. In paragraph 6:Teaching Personnel - the application asks for the number of full time IB diploma teachers and the number of part time IB diploma teachers. The application shows that there will be 18 full time teachers and 6 part time teachers for the IB Diploma Programme. The application also shows that there will be one IB Diploma Programme Coordinator, One Theory of Knowledge Coordinator and One Creativity, Action, Service Coordinator. Administration is saying that the coordinator positions will be half time or extra duty assignments, but it will still to mean a pay increase. We also need to ask the question, and what of the responsibilities these people were initially hired to do?

According to the Ozark High School 2009/10 School Accountability Report the average total salary for a teacher is $49,509 and the average total salary for an administrator is $74,629. I am sure that several of the IB teachers will make more than this and some less, but for analysis I am going to use the average.

$49,509.00 times 18 (full time IB teachers) = $891,162.00 per year for IB Teachers
$49,509.00 times 6 times .5 (half time IB teachers) = $148,527.00 per year for IB half time teachers
$74,629.00 times 3 times .5 (halftime Admin IB positions) = $111,944.00 per year for IB half time administrators.

Total dollars for IB teachers and administrators (understanding that part time teachers will either teach other instruction or only work part time and administrators will have other responsibilities) = $1,151,633.00 per year (average IB salary cost)

Some will say that we are already paying these teachers and this is not a problem. Well consider this, the application states that the overall teacher to student ratio (counting part-time teachers pro rata) = one teacher to 10 students and 18 of these teachers are full time IB teachers.

In paragraph 3 the application asks how many students and what percentage are expected to be full diploma candidates at the end of their IB Diploma Programme? The schools response: For the first group of candidates (beginning 2012/13 SY) to study the IB Diploma Programme we estimate 40 students total, 20 full diploma students and 20 certificate students. For the second group of candidates (beginning 2013/14 SY) we estimate 50 students total, 25 full diploma students and 25 certificate students. The time span for these two groups will cover four years.

The first group of IB candidates represents approximately 2.6% (40 out of 1500 students) of Ozark High School’s student population and only 1.3% (20 students) estimated to participate in the full diploma programme. The second group of candidates represents 3.3% (50 out of 1500 students) of Ozark High School’s student population and only 1.65% (25 students) estimated to participate in the full diploma programme.

So how much is IB going to cost the district in salary alone?

The first IB class will begin with juniors the 2012/13 SY. The IB Diploma Programme is a two-year program. So let’s do the math.

SY 2012/13 - 40 students projected to participate, only 20 projected to try for the IB diploma.
$1,151,633.00 per year (average IB salary cost) divided by 40 (number of projected IB students) = $28,791.00 per year of IB instruction. $28,791.00 times two years = $57,582.00 for these same 40 students to complete two years. The average cost per year spent on all other students is $8,100.00. So in the two years these students are in IB the Ozark School District will spend 3.5 times as much on them as they do all other students.

The high school has only projected that 20 of these students will try for the IB diploma. This begs the question, how much will each diploma cost the taxpayers? Here is the math.

$1,151,633.00 per year (average IB salary cost) divided by 20 (number of projected IB diplomas) = $57,582.00 per year times 2 years = $115,164.00 per IB Diploma!

These costs do not include IB fees, ongoing training, mailing costs, student registration and exam fees, etc.

What will the 20 students not trying for the diploma be doing? Well they will be trying to earn IB certificates of completion in one or more of the six core areas. What good are these certificates? Well if they score high enough (between 4 & 7) they may earn some college credit at whichever college they apply to. I say may because each college awards credit differently, if at all, when it comes to IB.

Now I ask, has anyone to include the school board given the cost of IB any in depth consideration? According to the districts IB consultant the cost is not important. The destination is not really the goal but rather the trip is the goal. This is the analogy that Dr. Jane Reed (Ozark High School IB Consultant) explained to the Ozark teachers and the Ozark School Board in regards to obtaining an IB Diploma. “The Point is Not the Point” explained Dr. Reed, when asked about how many IB students receive an IB diploma versus the tax dollars spent. She maintains that students that participate in the IB program, even if they don’t earn the IB diploma will be better prepared for college than those students that are not involved with IB. Yet no one can provide any statistics to verify this claim!

Whether these students will be better prepared for college after completing whatever IB instruction they receive will be the question. One would think that if 20% of the teaching staff (18 of 90 teachers) is concentrating on 5.9% of the student body (actually these will be the upper echelon students) the students should benefit. I would argue that student success would be the results of teacher contact time not the IB curriculum. Can we really afford this type of class warfare in education? A little outrageous don’t you think?

I encourage everyone to obtain a copy of the IB application from the district office and read it for yourself. To obtain this application you will probably have to submit a Freedom of Information Letter requesting it. The district has not to this point be forthcoming with IB information.

We must demand that the district show the public the IB costs line by line to include all money spent related to IB:

• IB annual fees
• IB training cost including transportation, lodging and meals
• IB curriculum cost
• IB Student registration costs
• IB exam costs
• IB teacher costs including teacher salaries, and substitute teacher salaries when teachers are gone for IB training
• IB administration costs, including salaries for the IB Coordinator, TOK Coordinator, CAS Coordinator and IB Counselor.
• IB costs due to administrators having to pass along duties and responsibilities to other district employees so they can conduct their IB responsibilities.
• Bottom line cost per IB Diploma earned each year based on the above expenditures because this is the point!

Bang for the buck is important not only in these economically challenging times, but at all times when our tax dollars are being used. Let the cost ratio to student achievement ratio be the judge when it comes to this program! Don’t let the district sell you on the IB consultant’s point of view “the point is not the point!” If students don’t earn their IB diplomas and if that number of students is not substantial (more than 2.9%) then the program is not worth the cost to taxpayers!