The Budget for Public Schools in Georgia Should be Increased

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School funding for public schools has collectively been cut by $7.6 billion since 2002, forcing schools districts in Georgia to a tipping point. The 2001 recession had a major effect on Georgia’s fiscal condition, which consequently had a major effect on the financing of K-12 education in Georgia. School budgets are used to describe a district’s plan for the upcoming year as pertaining to anticipated revenues and expenditures. Each district’s budget heavily relies on the amount of money they receive from the state’s general fund and since that number has significantly dropped in recent years schools are not able to provide the best education for our students. The budget for public schools in Georgia should be increased because teachers are losing their jobs and schools are being forced to eliminate valuable programs that are instrumental in the education of our youth.
Many schools consider art, music, and physical education programs ‘fluff’ classes, which is why when schools are looking for a place to save money those are some of the programs that are first to go. Claire Suggs, Senior Education Policy Analysts for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, found that “about 42 percent of districts are reducing or eliminating art or music programs and 62 percent are eliminating elective courses” (“Cutting Class” #1). Art and music programs should not be cut because they allow students to explore their creativity and improve problem solving skills. On the
Young 2 other hand, obesity accounts for about 13 percent of children in the United States, which is why physical education programs should be one of the last things to go. They also help students release the stress they have built up through out the day and teach them the ...

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... past decade has not only affected teachers and valuable elective programs, but mostly importantly the education of today’s youth. The Georgia school districts have exhausted almost every way to make up for the billions of dollars of lost state financial support and they have reached the tipping point. Since over 9,000 teachers have lost their jobs, students are being forced into already bulging classes where they do not receive the kind of individual attention needed in order to boost student achievement. If Georgia leaders expect student achievements to improve, they must invest the necessary economic resources needed to achieve this goal. At the end of the day, one of the most important things in life is a good education, so we need to start putting more money into the K-12 school funding and help build back what years of austerity cuts have nearly destroyed.

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