The Problem with School Funding
Schools can show you the fundamentals of a society. The future depends on today’s children and what they are provided with. Schools will build the foundations of their values and experiences especially if it’s the place where they spend most of their childhood.
Article Analysis
The rules regulating the school funding system in the U.S. are very ambiguous. The federal laws aren’t very specific about how schools should be paid and if certain methods of attaining that money are illegal or not. So the problem is passed onto the state and continues to stay unresolved. The issue is not that people don't want to make changes. There are clearly many people who don't believe in the current system and they are deeply affected by the outcome, but the government isn't making much of an effort to resolve this national situation.
More money is put into other places and funding for schools becomes more limited. When the government chooses not to invest more in public schools, this shows the students who don't have better facilities and resources that they aren't the priority. If the future generations have this cynical perspective of the government, it could lead to more issues and problems.
Article Summary
The school funding system in the United States is inadequate and extremely unbalanced. Funding for schools is based on local property taxes, so schools in higher income neighborhoods have better funding. Varying tax revenues within states and districts also contribute to the range in funding. As a result, schools are highly segregated by income levels. To accommodate for the lack of money, schools in lower income neighborhoods have to cut costs and split roles among the faculty leaving them with very limited and under qualified resources. While schools receiving more funding are benefiting from better facilities, school meals, and individualized student plans.
These laws originate from the first colonists of Massachusetts Bay. In 1647, the Puritan settlements were growing. They believed that in order to preserve their faith, they must be able to read the Bible and many of them were illiterate. So when newcomers arrived, in order to continue their teachings, they created a system to instruct. The laws implied that the community was responsible for the funding for education. Today, the system for funding runs on a similar idea, the system relies on the surrounding inhabitants taxes with 45% coming from local money, 45% from the state, and 10% federal.
There have been many lawsuits filed against schools in every state since the 1970s. A prominent example is the San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez which was brought to the Supreme Court. Demetrio Rodriguez filed against the Edgewood district stating that the schools provided insufficient resources with untrained staff and shortage of materials. The suit states that the system for school funding goes against the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The court ruled against Rodriguez saying that the federal law has no obligation to say if the system was “fair or balanced.” So they turned the case over to the state. Many other cases brought to the court faced similar situation.
After the Great Recession, many schools suffered from the cuts in state funding and raising money from their neighborhoods. This resulted in the reduction of their spendings and brought down the quality of the school. Especially because paying the teachers was a priority for many schools. Some schools even shut down for day of its school week just so that they wouldn’t need to pay for the utility bills. The Great Recession pushed a lot of poorer schools to find more creative accommodations for less resources. For a long time the funding system has had a large effect on schools and doesn’t seem to be changing.
Article Analysis
The rules regulating the school funding system in the U.S. are very ambiguous. The federal laws aren’t very specific about how schools should be paid and if certain methods of attaining that money are illegal or not. So the problem is passed onto the state and continues to stay unresolved. The issue is not that people don't want to make changes. There are clearly many people who don't believe in the current system and they are deeply affected by the outcome, but the government isn't making much of an effort to resolve this national situation.
More money is put into other places and funding for schools becomes more limited. When the government chooses not to invest more in public schools, this shows the students who don't have better facilities and resources that they aren't the priority. If the future generations have this cynical perspective of the government, it could lead to more issues and problems.
Article Summary
These laws originate from the first colonists of Massachusetts Bay. In 1647, the Puritan settlements were growing. They believed that in order to preserve their faith, they must be able to read the Bible and many of them were illiterate. So when newcomers arrived, in order to continue their teachings, they created a system to instruct. The laws implied that the community was responsible for the funding for education. Today, the system for funding runs on a similar idea, the system relies on the surrounding inhabitants taxes with 45% coming from local money, 45% from the state, and 10% federal.
There have been many lawsuits filed against schools in every state since the 1970s. A prominent example is the San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez which was brought to the Supreme Court. Demetrio Rodriguez filed against the Edgewood district stating that the schools provided insufficient resources with untrained staff and shortage of materials. The suit states that the system for school funding goes against the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The court ruled against Rodriguez saying that the federal law has no obligation to say if the system was “fair or balanced.” So they turned the case over to the state. Many other cases brought to the court faced similar situation.
After the Great Recession, many schools suffered from the cuts in state funding and raising money from their neighborhoods. This resulted in the reduction of their spendings and brought down the quality of the school. Especially because paying the teachers was a priority for many schools. Some schools even shut down for day of its school week just so that they wouldn’t need to pay for the utility bills. The Great Recession pushed a lot of poorer schools to find more creative accommodations for less resources. For a long time the funding system has had a large effect on schools and doesn’t seem to be changing.
Works Cited
Turner, Cory et al. “Why America’s Schools Have a Money Problem.” National Public Radio,
18 April 2016. Online. 31 January 2018.
<https://www.npr.org/2016/04/18/474256366/why-americas-schools-have-a-money-problem>
Comments
Post a Comment