Money for Knowledge
In
America, today there has been a problem with unequal funding in the K-12
education system. The issue that has
been going on for a couple of years is that the education system is being
controlled by state government and local governments have little power. With
this it determines the funding and school system of each city. Very wealthy areas are receiving more money
than areas that are high in poverty. The
Huffington Post states, “about 6.6 million students from low-income families in
23 states are harmed by local and state funding disparities.”
Hartford,
Connecticut experiences this situation.
In the Atlantic, it talks about the state being one of the wealthiest
states in the nation, but kids in Hartford attend some of the worst schools in
the country. “While students in
higher-income towns such as Greenwich and Darien have easy access to guidance
counselors, school psychologists, personal laptops, and up-to-date textbooks,
those in high-poverty areas like Bridgeport and New Britain don’t.” With this,
the wealthier schools are spending $6,000 more per pupil per year.
The
reason for what is happening is most public schools in America are run by local
cities and towns and by funded by local property taxes. “High-poverty areas like Bridgeport and New
Britain have lower home values and collect less taxes, and so can’t raise as
much money as a place like Darien or Greenwich, where homes are worth millions
of dollars.”
Growing
up in Magna, Utah where it is not one of the richest places in the state, not
even in the top 50 in adjusted gross income. From kindergarten to 8th
grade I didn’t see this trend at all. It
was until my freshman year of high school when I noticed this come to full
affect. With most of Cyprus High on
“Free or Reduced Lunch and pay,” we always received hand-me-downs from our
district center. We never got anything
new and when we did, it was rarely used. As I traveled to other schools for sporting
events, I would see these schools would have better facilities, teachers, and
overall education. I have talked to
friends that go to better funded schools about how they fell about this. They answered back with that they are
supplied with the best technology, and teachers. They are given personal laptops,
IPads, and other tools that most schools do not receive. This has been a problem in Utah for a while
and we have marches and protests all the time about this. What can we do to help solve and stop this
problem?
As I
looked around there wasn’t much that I could find on how to solve this.
There is a lot of talk about the government sending more money to each
district. The problem with that is even
though there is more money given, the local funding is still into effect and
that will be distributed where it is thought best to go. Also in Utah, schools are receiving
government grants that have the top SAGE scores. They choose the schools with
the best average score of this standardized test and based off that they
receive a certain amount of money. Even though there are small things that are
being done to try and help this, there still are some questions. What else can we do to fix this problem? Is
this worth fixing? How long will this take?
Works Cited
·
Major Social Issues That are Prevalent in the
United States
·
The richest areas in Utah by ZIP code. Where do
you fit? | Deseret News
Blaze Bullock - http://www.deseretnews.com/top/780/0/The-richest-areas-in-Utah-by-ZIP-code-Where-do-you-fit.html
·
School Funding Inequality Makes Education
'Separate And Unequal,' Arne Duncan Says
Rebecca Klein - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/13/arne-duncan-school-funding-disparities_n_6864866.htmlRead
more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/social-issues-in-the-united-states.html
·
Good School,
Rich School; Bad School, Poor School
Alana Semuels
-
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/property-taxes-and-unequal-schools/497333/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.