nah cuz why
Scrolling through tiktok I came across a video with more than a million likes. It's just a few seconds long. Two guys stand in front of a new playground, on the other side of a fence, looking confused. The title is "nah cuz why these schools be gettin upgrades once we leave."
The comments on the video are all surprise and shock at how nice the playground is and I wondered what the story was. The video was geo-tagged in Middletown, NY in Orange County. I did my usual critical school finance workup on Middletown City School District and saw some things that maybe answers his question about why these schools are getting upgrades.
Middletown is 60 miles northwest of New York City, in the Hudson Valley. But rather than white wealthy suburb, the district is surprisingly diverse and working/middle class. The district's student population is equal parts white, black, and hispanic with a steady median household income and property value. These students are about 16% below poverty level. It's not as wealthy and white as neighboring Minisink but it's not in dire straits either.
Looking at the district' fiscal breakdown, the state covers 57% of the district's budget, which is standard for New York State--one of the more generous in the country. In a recent bond statement, we find a reasonably priced 3.75% interest rate for about $20 million. Checking some of the district's details you start to maybe see why.
It's had a small but meaningful influx of people over the last ten years, increased their population from 40,000 to 45,000. The enrollments are steady. The statement cites "significant development projects in residential and commercial real estate," though doesn't specify exactly what those are.
As always, the largest employers tell the district's story. Middletown is where West Point Academy is located, the US Military's premier educational facility. It's the town's biggest employer by far, with 4,000 workers. There's also a hospital in town with 2,500 workers, so pretty big. But West Point caught my attention.
The US military has gotten nothing but increases in funding over the last decade, and I have to image--though I can't find exact numbers now--that West Point has benefited from these increases. The military education industrial complex probably keeps Middletown afloat and prospering.
So if I had to guess why the school's gotten some upgrades since these guys graduated, rather than falling into disrepair like so many districts around the country, I'd have to guess it's a combination of New York State government's generosity and the US military's unquestioned budget line in federal spending.