Is marching band part of a basic public education, or is it an extra? One of the great advantages of economic thinking as an analytical tool is the use of marginal thinking. Marginal thinking means that we consider incremental changes in policy, funding, or spending, rather than all-or-nothing options. So where does marginal thinking apply in the issue of parent fees vs. public (taxpayer) funding in recent controversies over activities like marching band? It’s really a problem of determining, in the absence of private costs linked to consumption of these education services, which classes and activities are basic, and therefore “inside the public funding margin,” and which are really “extra,” and should be paid for by user fees. Thus the current controversy over who should pay for band uniforms, trips, and competitions in Johnston and other school districts.
According to the state constitution and recent legal rulings, the state has an obligation to provide a sound basic education, free of charge, to all of North Carolina’s children. If parents had to choose between basic subjects, or music lessons, team sports and other activities, items like marching band would almost certainly be considered valuable but outside the core educational curriculum. In other words, these are marginal additions to the education experience.
Claims by parents and parent-teacher groups that “there’s no fluff” in district education budgets suggest that marching band is basic and a need, not just a want. It puts marching band on a par with writing, math, reading, and science—but is it?
The answer will tell us how close to basic these types of activities are. If we paid for each credit hour in K12 education as we do in colleges, would we opt out of math, or science, or writing for the band ensemble? The answer for the overwhelming majority of parents would, most of the time, be “no.” Even if your child is a music prodigy, the recognition that reading, math, and other core subjects are indispensable would prevent such a rash decision.
When schools offer programs at someone else’s (or everyone else’s) expense, it is easy to lose sight of the distinction between an extra and a basic item. Suddenly everything is within the margin of conceivable needs. In this case, the best proxy for extra might be something like “dispensability.” Is it possible to have a sound basic education without marching band? I hope so. (I was never in one.)
The difference between a want and a need is a difficult distinction to draw in any case, and in markets it is even tougher. Need implies basic and irreducible, while want implies marginal and dispensable. Even so, economists typically call market demands wants rather than needs. This is because the floor for even a basic level of survival is so variable, considering cultural and geographic differences, that it is extremely difficult to establish an objective minimum standard for needs. So most demands—for food, shelter, cigarettes, band uniforms—are treated as wants, recognizing that some wants are certainly more urgent than others. In practice, this means that consumers, including parents in the education market, will pursue their wants in descending order of urgency.
By contrast, nearly every component of a publicly funded program, including education, is considered by its providers and constituents alike to be both basic and necessary. The “no fluff” claim reveals the difference in attitude that arises when parents do not have to weigh the value of an activity against their payment for participation. Public choice economists explain why we fund band programs in public schools, for example, and then beg taxpayers to approve bonds for basic literacy projects. The seemingly upside down priorities are a function of the political nature of school funding; they are not evidence that every program is essential.
How to keep school budgets within bounds and still provide a sound education? Take a hint from the very parents who protest user fees: if you wouldn’t pay for it in the market, it’s a lower priority item, and needn’t be part of the publicly funded basics.