Sports and Education

About a week ago my father-in-law was in town from Florida to visit for a few days and meet his new grandson. Over the course of the weekend, we watched a lot of college football. During one of the games my father-in-law turns to me and says, “Do you know who the highest paid state employee is in the State of Florida?” Caught off guard and not making the connection to the Florida State/Colorado game were watching, he says to me, Bobby Bowden, the head coach of Florida State.

Now, without getting into too much debate about where the salaries of college football coaches come from, let’s just say they make a lot of money, coach football on a national stage to generate revenue for the university, and are completely separate from the academic functioning of the school.  However, he’s right–Bobby Bowden is a state employee, pays into the state retirement system, and a portion of his salary is funded by tax dollars.

Let me bring this locally to Texas and use the University of Texas as my example.  Mack Brown, head football coach of the University of Texas makes about $2.8 million per year (UT, Mack Brown agree on new 10-year deal) and pays into the same retirement system as I do which is know in Texas as the Teacher Retirement System of Texas or TRS. Texas is a publicly funded university and all of it’s professors and employees pay into this system which supplements the retirement of all the teachers in the State of Texas.

Now, I use college as my example to put into perspective the amount of money we are talking about. For UT, it’s $2.8 million just for the head football coach to show up and work. We are not even talking about the maintenance of a football team, (equipment, supplies, travel, advertising, additional coaches, stadium upkeep, etc…) we are just talking about the coach. Obviously, the revenue generated from the TV and bowl appearances offsets a lot of these costs but bare with me as I paint this picture.

Now, let’s talk high school where the football team does not generate any revenue for the school or the state. School districts in Texas spend an extraordinary amount of money to support athletics when students are failing the state test, computers are not available, teachers leave because the salary is not worth the job, and schools are overcrowded begging for new buildings.

Now, I don’t want to get into a national debate on the importance of sports in schools or the impact they have on the community, i.e., Friday Night Lights/Odessa Permian, I get that. Plus, I certainly don’t want to take sports out of the mainstream arena as I enjoy all sports (except soccer) and students really do benefit from the spirit of competition.

However, I do want to offer a new approach to funding sports that is growing slightly but not nearly fast enough. It is the idea of privatizing athletics.

This idea is not new to high school sports, in fact the idea is catching hold and has shown some success.  In Arlington, Texas, for example, ice hockey is becoming quite popular among students, however, high schools do not offer the sport since it is not a University Interscholastic League sanctioned sport at this time. So, to solve the dilemma, private hockey leagues have formed with volunteer coaches, sponsorship, and parental support. These leagues have grown in popularity and have weaved their way into the fabric of the high school culture.

Now, yes, I know….hockey is expensive, the equipment alone will set you back $500, it’s not a traditional Texas sport, and the idea alone will disenfranchise players who simply cannot afford the entry fees, cost of equipment, or ice rink rental.  But, consider this, what if the National Hockey League got on board and began to sponsor these teams? What about minor league hockey franchises like the Houston Aeros? What about private businesses who already sponsor little league baseball teams?

Privatization of high school athletics could very well be the pathway that school districts consider when the budget crunch comes crashing down. In the end, we are required to provide a quality education for all students, not a championship football team.  If that team needs to exist for the benefit of the community, I suggest a private team supported by the community and fed by the school is the best way to go.

Thoughts?  I would love to hear them….!