Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
A debate between public and private school
Importance of teaching arts and music in schools essay
A debate between public and private school
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: A debate between public and private school
Budget cuts have been a hot topic in today's society, starting back in 2008 with the recession. In the big world of budget cuts and what is being decided on being cut, education always comes up in the first draw. The children of this country are told every single day that they will grow up to be these fantastic forces to be reckoned with, but with the US ranking 17 out of 50 countries educational wise, it is hard to maintain that illusion of perfection. We are in a society of free-thinkers, scholars in training, prodigies, and those who want to become something fantastic so that they can stay afloat in this economy. In todays world, one cannot even get a job at McDonalds without some sort of formal education, or they cannot keep it without a high school diploma or a college degree of some sort. Public education is being sought after more than it was 30 years ago, and the popularity and demanding of a fine education is only going to continue to grow. Cutting the budget on education is not an option, although many politicians seem to believe it is the only choice. Their paychecks are absolutely safe, but the education of those who plan on taking over is in constant jeopardy, never to be looked over when the yearly budget comes out. Budget cuts have greatly affected how our children learn, what they learn, and when they learn; unfortunately although it is decreasing significantly, it does not look like it will vanish, at least not in this generation. The Programs that are being cut are becoming extensive, which causes our youth to be starved of their much needed art programs; with that in mind, the amount of the cuts in which are implemented are absurd which can sometimes cause simply, small communities to reach out for help to save their educationally malnourished children.
The programs, classes and work days being cut in the k-12 school budget are greatly impacting our children's opportunities and educational potential in our children, having negative effects on their learning and growth potential. We as a nation see it everyday, your favorite teacher having to leave, your child crying because they can no longer take art because it is no longer offered at their school, or your child happy from not having class because of a furlough day (which they do not seem to realize is not a good thing).
(Bruenig). This is because students from well-off families already enjoy a disproportionately successful future than students from poor families, State budgets could become strained, which might lead to cuts and decreased access to programs that students want to take. Budget cuts may also need to take place, or pulling from other departments to make up for the loss of tuition. These could come from high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. This could result in many teachers, administrators, and other school district employees losing their jobs due to schools needing to save money.
The fine arts were once highly revered by the community and were a part of everyday life, yet today the fine arts must face their biggest competitor, that being sports. Sports have become a big business and many schools find it easier and better to cut arts programs due to low funding rather than athletic programs. Even though fine arts programs are not as profitable as athletic programs, they should be funded equally to athletic programs because they help student achievement, help students improve their cognitive skills, and encourage creativity.
School funding is a recurring issue in the modern era. Debates ranging from give schools more money, to get rid of the system in place and reform a new idea have been plaguing the world over the years. “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed in 2009, provided more than $100 billion in education aid to offset budget cuts..” (School Finance). Later, “Congress provided an additional $10 billion in 2010 to avert mass teacher layoffs (Education Week, "Total Recovery Act")” (School Funding). These numbers are just a sample of the struggles in school funding, that is costing a ton of money to keep afloat. “There are many ways schools fund varying from state to state and even school to school. Income taxes, corporate taxes, sales taxes, and other fees provide 48 percent of the elementary and secondary school funds. 44 percent of local districts draw money from local property taxes. The federal government makes up approximately 8 percent of state education budgets. These funds are a dealt out on a per-student basis, and categorically to ensure enough resources for each special program or facility” (School Funding). These funds play a huge role in every student's education, either positive or negative. The three main areas that need to be addressed in the school budget are extracurricular funding, building and equipment maintenance, and last but not least staff funding.
Although cuts have to happen they don't necessarily need to happen at schools, schools should never be making budget cuts when there's so many other things we can cut. Military equipment for example can be cut we just launched fifty missiles into our “enemies” missiles averaging out to a cost of millions of dollars. There is no reason why schools should be cutting programs just so we have other things like military weapons being funded.
The funding of public education has long been an issue for the state government of Texas. Starting before Texas was even a state, public education funding was at the forefront of politicians’ minds. In 1836, one of the reasons Anglo-Texans wanted to become independent from Mexico was Mexico’s lack of a public school system (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). This drove the desire of President Mirabeau B. Lamar of the Republic of Texas to create legislation that would grant public schools land (A Brief History of Public Education, n.d.). This act set aside four leagues of land per county for the use of free education centers and thus began the funding of public education by the state government (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). In the last 177 years, the Texas Legislature and the Texas Education Agency have created numerous acts and laws regarding the funding of education, but it has been in the last 50 years that this topic has become highly contested, resulting in several lawsuits and endless efforts (by the school districts) to equalize the distribution of funds to Texas school districts (Texas School Finance History, n.d.). In sum, the complex issues and policies that surround the funding of public education are derived from a combination of the legislature, bureaucratic agencies, and local governments in the form of school districts.
...making class size smaller. If the school itself cannot afford to educate its students, then the government needs to provide the school with the money to do so. They’re America’s children too.
“Brownback plans to cut nearly $45 million in funding for public schools and higher education in his state by March. ”(Richinick). Many Kansas schools already have trouble funding all of their activities and curriculum for their students and with these budget cuts being as large as they are it makes it nearly impossible for some schools to provide a proper education to their students. With these large cuts to education sacrifices must be made and in some cases this means schools must be closed. “Chris Hayes reports on Marquette, a small Kansas town that just lost its last elementary school due to Gov. Brownback’s education cuts.
Allan and Davis mention the spike of college cost since 1995 has increased by 150 percent; student debt has increased 300 percent since 2003, and with education, second to the mortgage industry in the nation’s debt, America needs to redirect their attention to the future and focus on education (Allan n. pg). Budget cuts from national to state
The American public school system faces an education crisis. According to Benjamin Barber, American children barely surpass the lowest standards set for education, especially in literacy, throughout the county’s history. Barber supports the existence of this crisis in his essay “America Skips School”, but argues against a solution to remedy the numerous problems facing the system. Although he acknowledges no solution, Barber suggests a smarter flow of financial resources will address many of the issues, however, he fails to acknowledge the distribution of this money. Barber’s suggestion for smarter financial resources for schools can be effectively implemented through a structured committee focused solely on the distribution of money.
Defense receives the most support and money. Politicians support military spending, mainly because it is “the only form of large-scale public investment that can consistently win political support” (Pollin). However, the heavy support for military spending is counterproductive for our nation’s economy. Since military spending increased in 2001, several industries and programs have had to “bite the bullet.” The Department of Education often gets fewer funds each fiscal year to cover the military budget. Then again, the United States leads all countries in money spent on education. The U.S. education system is well funded, but that statistic is very misleading. If the high cost of college is excluded, the United States ranks slightly above average in education spending (OECD). Per the OECD, U.S. spending is decreasing at a 1% average (OECD). This doesn’t seem like much, but it is still a step in the wrong direction. Only Mexico, Iceland, and Ireland have cut more (OECD). Coincidentally, the percentage of teachers that quit within five years is extremely high at 46% (OECD)! This isn’t surprising considering all teachers in the U.S. work so many hours and are still underpaid. U.S. primary school teachers spend the most time in the classroom amongst all PISA countries
Education is now more important than it has ever been. Because it is the law that every child receives an education, most people believe that all children are getting an equal education. But, that is not the truth; low-income children are receiving poorer quality education than middle-class children. These children also experience racial inequality, and they live in an unbreakable low-income cycle, all of which are things that have an effect of the quality of education a child is receiving. As stated by Brooks and Duncan (1997), "How does the relative lack of income influence children 's day-to-day lives? It is through inadequate nutrition; fewer learning experiences; instability of residence; lower quality of schools;
Even in this time of struggle, with billions of dollars going towards various war efforts overseas, America still has managed to keep taxpayer investments in education higher than that of funds for national defense (U.S Department of Education). In the 2004-05 school year, there was an estimated amount of 536 billion dollars set aside from taxpayer investment for education purposes. Without a doubt, education is a priority for the American government, and if these funds are used in the correct way, there is no reason why each and every kid in the United States shouldn’t be getting a quality education. However, the organization of the financial system is flawed, funds are not handled proportionately at the state level; rather, this system favors the wealthier districts and hands more funds to them while the less wealthier districts are handed a smaller pool of funds. This really affects America’s quality of education, which also reflects upon how America fairs on the world stage when it comes to competition in education with other countries. The disorganization of funds in the United States can be seen in the Hoover City School district, which has bought every student in that district an iPad for use in school. The first problem with this is that this school district does not even have a viable bus system that can transport students to and from school. Secondly, not even 20 miles from this district lies the Birmingham City School district where a little more than half the students are graduating, compared to Hoover City Schools where a bit more than 90 percent of the students are graduating. If anything, the state should be working towards improving educational standards in lower-income communities rather than debating on the log...
President John F Kennedy once said “children are the world’s most valuable resource and it best hope for the future”. When people speak of the future they imagine a time where the all of the world’s problems are solved and everyone is kind to each other and happy. If we want this future to be possible then as Kennedy stated the children are the key. We need our children to be well educated so they can grow up to be the future leaders we need to change the world. Unfortunately with the two education systems that have been educating this nation’s children for the past fourteen years have not been doing an adequate job. The No Child Left Behind Act and the Common Core standards both have fragments that work to benefit students and help them develop
Proper school funding is one of the keys to having a successful school. Americans believe that funding is the biggest problem in public schools. School improvements revolve around funding. There needs to be funding not only in the successful schools but also the schools that aren’t doing as well. In documentary, Waiting for Superman, it talks about how smaller class sizes will help students. Funding is what will help the smaller class sizes. State funding mechanisms are subject to intense political and economic scrutiny (Leonard). Studies have shown that funding is inversely related to accreditation levels (Leonard). School funding needs to be increased, but there must be accountability as well.
Learning occurs when each child is developmentally ready, and this happens at a different pace for each individual child. I experience this daily in my Kindergarten classroom. Although a lot has changed in education over the course of my career, I try to focus on the constant that each of my students can learn on any given day and that I must challenge all of my students to reach his or her potential. This is my school’s motto, and we recite it daily. Education has faced many challenges over the years with politics, the economy, students’ culture, and legal issues. Politics does play a crucial role in education. Different school systems and population areas receive more or less government funding. Educational dollars can play a key role in a school system receiving the latest technology, updated facilities, educational funds for teachers, and curriculum needs. I have been able to experience this for myself by transferring schools from the city to the county school district. The social aspect of learning affects children in different ways also. Different cultures of schools are negatively and positively affected as well. Having taught in an inner-city school for 9 years, I was able to witness firsthand the downfalls and negative effects that come into play for students who come