Comments on: Do We Really Need a Public Service Academy? http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2007/04/14/do-we-really-need-a-public-service-academy/ America Deserves Our Best Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:12:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Y? http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2007/04/14/do-we-really-need-a-public-service-academy/#comment-20792 Y? Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:41:59 +0000 http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/blog/2007/04/14/do-we-really-need-a-public-service-academy/#comment-20792 No. The obvious solution to lack of interest in public service is to make those jobs pay more. They pay relative to their worth- which is to say that we don't value them. It's no surprise that during a time of war, the Army increases signing bonuses. The market will demand teachers, and it starts with emphasizing that at the local level. The US PSA is the idealist solution, pulled from the military academies as if the model is categorically the best way at solving any problem. Long story short, manipulate the market for the type of jobs you need, to pull in these college graduates. That simple. According to Thumb-twiddler: "The US PSA would require 200,000 graduates to even account for 1% of the government job force (according to 2006 census numbers). That’s 155 years worth of graduates. Let’s say that the US PSA graduates only became teachers. Five years worth of graduates would only account for .3% of all teachers in the US (not including college level instructors). $40,000 dollars a year per student equals $160,000 for a single students education. That’s taxpayer money that could have went towards giving 16 teachers a $10,000 signing bonus." No. The obvious solution to lack of interest in public service is to make those jobs pay more. They pay relative to their worth- which is to say that we don’t value them. It’s no surprise that during a time of war, the Army increases signing bonuses.

The market will demand teachers, and it starts with emphasizing that at the local level. The US PSA is the idealist solution, pulled from the military academies as if the model is categorically the best way at solving any problem.

Long story short, manipulate the market for the type of jobs you need, to pull in these college graduates. That simple.

According to Thumb-twiddler:

“The US PSA would require 200,000 graduates to even account for 1% of the government job force (according to 2006 census numbers). That’s 155 years worth of graduates.

Let’s say that the US PSA graduates only became teachers. Five years worth of graduates would only account for .3% of all teachers in the US (not including college level instructors).

$40,000 dollars a year per student equals $160,000 for a single students education. That’s taxpayer money that could have went towards giving 16 teachers a $10,000 signing bonus.”

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