School Efficiency Litigation

Expert Witness Report Summary

Expert: Testimony On: Prof. Richard Trotter, BBA., J.D. Structural Efficiency Defects

See full report at: texasclassroomsfirst.com/efficiency

Findings: The Texas public school system is structurally inefficient because it is a monopoly. Americans are naturally and rightfully distrustful of monopolies. Standard Oil, which never had as much market control as the Texas public school system, was detested and led to laws prohibiting all private monopolies. The Texas public school system features all of the characteristics of a monopoly. Under any classic measure of market power, the Texas public school system would be considered a monopoly. Ninety-five percent of Texas students attend a public school. Students are captive consumers because the alternative to attending their district school is prohibitively expensive for most families. Families must pay twice to opt out of a public school, once in the form of property taxes and again in the form of private tuition. Collusion exists between the independent school districts through the Texas Association of School Boards. Even if a student was to move to a different school district, they would remain subject to the collusion of the overall state monopoly. Monopolies are not designed to benefit consumers they are designed to benefit the stakeholders. State laws protect stakeholders (administrators, teachers, and regulators) by: 1. Guaranteeing salaries, pay raises, and benefits. 2. Making it prohibitively difficult to dismiss ineffective teachers. 3. Creating barriers to entry by requiring public school teachers to possess a teaching certificate, while excluding persons with other, more impressive qualifications. Compulsory attendance secures administrators and regulators jobs by creating massive demand without offering alternative supply. The development of alternative teaching and learning methods is impeded by the state monopoly, which controls the textbook market, imposes mandates requiring substantial resources, and enacts exorbitant regulatory compliance burdens that are centralized in the hands of a few. The monopolistic nature of the Texas public school system disproportionately harms low income students. Affluent families are more capable of relocating from a poor performing school district to a good one. They are also more capable of sending their child to a private school. Low-income families do not have the resources to move to another district or send their children to private schools, rendering them helpless if located in a poor performing district. Competition would naturally result in a more efficient system. Parents could legitimately influence school district performance by threatening to take their educational dollars to a different school. Schools that fail to improve, would eventually shut down. Schools that produce stronger results would thrive.

TCCRI www.txccri.org 512.474.6042 PO Box 2659, Austin, TX 78768