There are many problems plaguing the current educational system in the United States; however, one problem stands out. There is an increasingly high burden being placed on public schools without the funding to match. This is especially true for inner city public schools and other schools in poorer communities. In order to fix this glaring issue, schools must be given greater, more adequate funding.
Across the country, schools are expected to provide various services to students. One major expectation is the offering of breakfast, lunch, and sometimes after school snacks for low or even free prices. Obviously, this is no small task for schools. On average, according to the Institute of Education Sciences, schools spend 431 dollars a year on lunch for each student. Furthermore, this number is even greater for inner city schools where fewer kids are packing lunch and more kids are using fee waivers. As you can probably see, this creates a colossal problem for schools across the country. In response to the growing cost to feed children, schools have cut down on portion sizes and the quality of the food. If schools are not given greater funding, the quality and portions of food given will continue to drop.
Another burden being placed on schools across the country is having to care for kids after school has ended. More than ever, this issue is extremely prevalent in lower income areas. It is increasingly common for schools to provide some sort of day care of after school program. However, this is a surprisingly costly endeavor. At these after school programs, schools are expected to provide some sort of snack and entertainment for the kids. Furthermore, a handful of teachers or employees are paid to stay after school and watch the children. These after school programs further increase the monetary burden placed on public schools. This being said, these programs are extremely beneficial to lower income communities. In these areas parents are often working two jobs and arrive home late at night. In many cases children in these communities may have only one parent who has to soley provide for a family.. Furthermore, these programs partially prevent kids from being exposed to drugs and gangs. To sum up, after school care programs provide parents with a much needed respite and children with an opportunity to continue to learn and stay out of trouble. However, the longevity of these programs may be in jeopardy without greater funding.
Education is a privilege that we, as Americans, often take for granted. Currently there are a few major issues straining public education, yet a lack of funding for increasing expectations stands out as the gravest and most severe. The cost of food and after school programs are just two examples of expectations of public schools that are not adequately funded. Moreover, both these services provide a great relief and service to the community. If we want public schools to continue to provide services like these, there must be an increase in the funding.
I totally agree with the need for additional funding for schools. As a student, I have noticed a considerable decrease in the quality of food at lunchtime. The government definitely needs to look into allotting more money to bring healthier foods to school cafeterias. Also, to many kids from low-income homes, free lunch at school may be the only guaranteed meal they have that day, so it makes it even more important to serve adequate portions. Just in 2011, the US government spent 718 billion dollars on defense. The military is definitely not lacking in funds, so splicing some of these funds over to schools would definitely not be a problem.
ReplyDeleteIncreased funding for after-school programs is definitely a good idea too. Many parents work several jobs just to keep their family afloat, so they need all the help they can get from their child’s school in keeping them safe after school. Also, many commercial day-care centers are very expensive. By funding after-school programs, the government would be in direct competition with commercial day-care centers, which could potentially drive down prices.
Educating the future adults of America is incredibly important, and it all starts with proper funding to provide the necessary materials, staff, and nourishment to ensure a proper and complete education.
Funding with anything is always an issue, but I especially agree with the need to get more money into schools as there is an increasing need for discounted lunches and the after school care most schools provide, particularly in inner-cities. Unfortunately, often times the funding is very difficult to attain outside of raising taxes which would cause issues in other areas. I think increased fundraising by schools can help self-fund each school by doing restaurant nights and other similar activities to raise money for the school. The schools that do this typically do not do it more than once or twice a year, so making aforementioned activities a monthly occurrence can make that funding more consistent. The federal and state governments should also budget spending in a way that benefits schools greater than they currently do to finance the discounted lunches and after school care. I agree completely with the need for the after school care that most schools provide to help keep students away from outside harm (like the potential problems you mentioned) until their parents get home from work.
ReplyDeleteMost things struggle to succeed without necessary funding, and schools in America are no different. Hopefully better government budgeting and fundraising within schools can help improve the education system in America and in particular the two areas you mentioned.
I agree that government funding for public schools in the United States is woefully inadequate. This is not just a problem in poorer urban areas, as mentioned in the post, but even here in Loudoun County, which is one of the wealthiest counties in the entire country. Manifestations of this problem include the inadequate number of computers and laptops in our school (and the ones that we do have are very old) and the constantly broken copy machines. It is unacceptable that this county and this state are unable to find funding for technology in schools, as this puts students at a disadvantage in the modern world.
ReplyDeleteI would add teachers' salaries as another area of public schooling that requires more funding. Many of the countries with the most successful education systems pay their teachers significantly more than the United States does, which could be a reason why our education system is lagging behind. If we as a country wish to produce students who can compete in the world economy, then we need to increase funding to schools for not only all the reasons mentioned in this blog post, but also many others.