School Funding Inequality “One of the most powerful tools for empowering individuals and communities is making certain that any individual who wants to receive a quality education can do so” (Christine Gregoire). Everyone deserves an equal education regardless of where they live or who their parents are. Children are facing the consequences of decisions they can’t make. The current way public schools are being funded is not working effectively, students are suffering and there needs to be a change. Basing school funding on property tax leads to unequal opportunities and environments for students, even though the government may claim it is not up to them, there needs to be a drastic change. Currently, taxes collected from the surrounding community …show more content…
As technology increases, textbooks are becoming more obsolete, but can still be used in classrooms. Textbooks are a resource that can benefit students greatly, but there are school districts throughout America that simply can’t afford new textbooks. “The court noted that ‘they go to the very heart of education,’ and that they ‘are the most essential tool of education since they contain the resources of knowledge which the educational process is designed to exploit’” (Merjian 12). Even though the courts agreed that the textbooks are a benefit to students, they feel as though it is up to the school districts to provide them. Which leads to the major problem, some school districts can’t afford them. Schools in low income areas already don’t have enough money to cover their expenses, let alone enough to cover the expenses of new textbooks. Ultimately, the people who suffer the most are the students. Noal Cochran, the Superintendent of the school district in Richton, Mississippi, struggles with the decisions of distributing money. When faced with the decision on which subject got new books he chose history, because science textbooks would need less updating (Mader). Richton is a small town that doesn't receive much funding, this causes problems because now the science students suffer with old textbooks. It is impossible to please everyone with this method of funding, at least one …show more content…
Whether it be simply the location or the physical condition of the school, the students safety should be the first priority. Studies have shown that students don't work as well in buildings that are too small, or that are situated on busy streets. They achieve less in buildings that are not well maintained (Merjian 17). Students should have a clean facility in which they can learn properly, but sadly this isn't the case in low income school districts. Instead, their buildings are falling apart and are overcrowded. This leads to low self worth among the students. How are students supposed to get an equal education if their school is falling apart while others are brand new. Many students face conditions that are unfit for anyone to try and receive a proper education. “27.6% of teachers (representing 1.7 million students) reported evidence of cockroaches, rats, or mice in the past year; 32.3% reported that their classroom was uncomfortably hot or cold; and 16.6% complained of student bathrooms not working or closed” (Merjian 18). Students are being forced to share their classrooms with rodents and pests. Any rodents that are in the school could drastically affect the concentration of the students. Students should not be put in that predicament. Also, uncomfortable temperatures can lead to concentration problems. If the classroom is so hot the students are unable to work, there is a problem. If
For example, “the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. school districts spend nearly 10 times more than the poorest 10 percent, and spending ratios of 3 to 1 are common within states” (Darling-Hammond). In wealthier, suburban areas, most students have the resources available to benefit their educational needs, including; projectors, computers, and calculators. In contrast, “at MacKenzie High School in Detroit, word processing courses are taught without word processors because the school cannot afford them” (Darling-Hammond). For students coming out of lower income communities, it is more difficult for them to attend college, or excel because of the lack of academic preparation. Now not only are many Americans not getting a good education, but as a
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez case. Texas public primary and secondary schools rely on local property taxes for supplemental income. These schools are designed to establish a minimum education threshold at each school. The San Antonio District in the representation of families residing in poor districts challenged this funding scheme by arguing that students were disadvantaged because their schools lacked the property used by other districts, and academic programs receiving government funding should favor all students equally. Having already talked the facts of the San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, I would like to discuss how this has been another topic of much attention within the Department of Education of different districts.
In some schools spending per student exceeds $10000 per year but the graduation rate is below 50 percent for example in Detroit. Detroit spends about 11100 per year on each student but only 25 percent of their student’s graduate high school. Policymakers should focus on reforming policies and resource allocations to improve student achievement. According to the National Center for Education Statistics 52 percent of public Education expenditures are spent on instruct and this percentage keeps decreasing overtime. Children who benefit from the school choice program usually have higher test scores than their peers.
Even after Plessy v. Ferguson, there were many ways that separate schools were very unequal. In Kristen Green’s novel, Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County, she displays some of these inequalities.
Issues in Texas Education Education is a very important topic to me and many other people in this state. The technology in this world has become a great tool for the education system but with technology comes a price. And our government doesn’t seem to realize schools need more money to be able to teach their kids more effectively and keep them involved and entertained in the subjects they are learning. From 2007 to 2016 the overall expenditures of the education system have increased by 18.3 Billion dollars. That is a major increase in funding that the Texas government isn’t noticing that we need more money to fund our local school.
“Poverty must not be a bar to learning and learning must be an escape from poverty” this was said by Lyndon B Johnson in 1964 and the problem he was addressing back then, has grown and become far larger and more destructive. The average Canadian student acquires 27,000$ of debt trying to earn what in our society today is necessary, to live a safe, happy and fulfilling life. Without higher education you are not likely to be able to do what you want with your life. Within the last two decades university prices have doubled and along with it so have interest rates. This enforces and maintains the trend of the rich staying rich and the poor staying poor; because of the high price less wealthy people are unlikely to be able to afford university and get a good job.
Lynda's story is not an isolated incident, but it is a situation that many children face. Many children across our country depend on the stability of programs in school. Our society does not address the needs of public schools enough. It is not uncommon today for teachers to pay out of pocket for classroom supplies. Unfortunately, the poorer school districts suffer the most.
School Funding Inequality “One of the most powerful tools for empowering individuals and communities is making certain that any individual who wants to receive a quality education can do so” (Christine Gregoire). Everyone deserves an equal education regardless of where they live or who their parents are. Children are facing the consequences of decisions they can’t make. The current way public schools are being funded is not working effectively, students are suffering and there needs to be a change.
In addition to that, there is a problem with the lack of necessary resource in a school. Whether this is seen in only a few schools or a lot, it is unacceptable and must be fixed. How can we expect these students to learn, work, and live on an equal playing field when they don’t even have books, while others have every resource you could ever want in a school? We have this idea of education being the panacea of world struggle, but is it really? When we have all these schools that are not fairly treated.
The interest group MALDEF is an example of this responsibility by identifying the issue of unequal school funding, and taking the action by suing the commissioner of
Savage Inequalities Book Review Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol is an in-depth analysis of America’s public school system and the problems that encompass it. Kozol’s book examines some of the poorest public schools in the United States and attempts to explain how the school or school district plummeted so far into the depths of poverty. Kozol believes that the biggest problem public school faces is segregation, which is still very real in many parts of the United States. Racism and a lackadaisical attitude toward the education of minority groups in America are the roots of the problems that public schools face.
Introduction With a recent increase in presidential power and a new presidential cabinet, concerns have began to arise regarding state rights and independence. One of these concerns is school choice in the form of school vouchers. The use of school vouchers has been a state decision, and Texas has always been a school voucher free state. Not only the national government favors private-school voucher legislation (with Betsy DeVos as the new United States Secretary of Education); so does Texas. Texas’ Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick, urges the private-school voucher bill (SB 3) to pass the Texas House (as it has already passed the Senate).
Public school funding Increasing school funding is very important in today’s future American students. Education should be one of the top priorities in the United States to make sure every student has the same opportunity to get the same great education. Increasing public school funding be beneficial for outdated textbooks, lack of technology, and increases more resources for students. These resources would be crucial of generating students of America. These students are the workers, leaders, and inspirations of future America.
There are public schools all over the world and those in public schools are not getting the proper education that they need. It seems public schools only provide the public with the bare minimum. This bare minimum can become very discouraging to parents, students and the entire public community in which the school is. Most Supreme Court rulings agree that school districts across the nation, and across the world, really only need to provide the bare minimum legally. This present an issue, if the professionals are only supposed to give the bare minimum then they themselves will be given the bare minimum.
School safety is a very controversial topic in the U.S. There are many cases of people questioning the safety of schools. Recent school shootings raised concerns over school safety. While this has received a lot of attention, other things such as drugs, ara problem in schools. Even teachers have spoken out about the lack of safety of their schools.