Budget Cut Essay

Introduction

As all states are facing budget cuts, it is imperative that all stakeholders work together to ensure academic success for all students. The idea then seems to be, teachers must learn to do more with less resources. Throughout the video, there were many main points made about how to cut the budget but not place student achievement at risk. For example schools must determine what expenditures could be removed and replaced with increasing innovation in the classroom. Another way is for schools to determine students’ performance on high performance testing and design budget to benefit this. Finally, find how your resources are being used right now and create a strategy that will make an impact on student performance.

Increasing

Shifting resources (or avoiding cuts) to the programs or practices with the greatest evidence of effectiveness maximizes chances of success while minimizing harm to students (United States Department of Education, 2012). I previously taught at an underperforming school. One practice the state implemented in the school was adding an additional hour to each school day for all grade levels is cost the school an additional $350,000 dollars a year. This hope was that student achievement would go up and our school would not be an “F” any longer. Many parents were upset that their children would spend so many hours in school and began to change their schools. This hurt because our numbers declined and additional money was cut from the budget. At the end of the year the school grade did not increase. Another year it was tried and again the same results. The policy was finally cut because student performance did not

I recently transferred to another Title I school. The school is 98% free and reduced lunch, but is an “A” school. Our school is one of the only “A” Title I schools in the district. I recently asked my principal what makes us different and she explained she learned early to beg, borrow, and steal. What she meant by this is if another school is doing well she wants to know why. Last year a school in another district jumped from an “F” to a “B”. She went to the principal and asked what they did. From this conversation she learned of a data performance system that her teachers use. We have recently purchased it and have already seen great improvements in our lowest twenty-five