Arizona is ranked forty-sixth in the nation when it comes to how much money is spent per-pupil in the public school system. How can we do worse? Cut even more money from the system and work our way down to fifty. “Arizona’s per-pupil spending continues to trail the national average by nearly $2,500 (using AZ & US 2008 fiscal years for exact comparison).” (Arizona Education Network http://www.arizonaeducationnetwork.com/2011/03/az-auditor-general-report-az-spend-nearly-2500-less-per-pupil-than-national-avg/ ) The budget cuts that Arizona is making to the educational system will be detrimental in areas such as teachers and classrooms, programs such as arts and extracurricular activities, and most of all, taking jobs out of the state of Arizona.
The cuts that Arizona is making to the educational system will be detrimental in many areas. One area that will be hit hard is teachers and classroom sizes. Because of these cuts teachers will be laid off and the classroom sizes increased. Cuts to education have been happening over the past four years. Teachers over the past 4 years have been nervous wondering if they will have a job to come back to the following fall and when they do come back they see an increased size in their classrooms. I recently spoke to an art teacher from the Dysart school
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district, who has been a teacher for 5 years. She says, “The cuts that schools have to make only harm the children in the long run. With class size increasing there is less one on one time, therefore students can easily fall through the cracks and are unfortunately left behind.” This budget cut for 2012 will take another $150 million for K-12, another $198 million to universities as well as $70 million to communi...
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...on, or lack thereof. Arizona needs to continue to make education a priority in this state. I am afraid if we continue cutting education in our state, our future leaders will have the knowledge of that of obtaining a GED and where will we be then?
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Works Cited Page:
Arizona Education Network http://www.arizonaeducationnetwork.com/2011/03/az-auditor-general-report-az-spend-nearly-2500-less-per-pupil-than-national-avg/
AZ Law Makers Pass Budget Plan with Deep Cuts” (Arizona Republic by Mary Jo Pitzl March 17, 2011)
College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. Princeton, NJ: The College Entrance Examination Board, 2001
Childrensmusicworkshop.com http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/benefits.html
http://www.arizonaeducationnetwork.com/2011/03/companies-will-shun-arizona-due-to-education-cuts/
Frank Johnson, a writer for the National Center for Education Statics, “Disparities in Public School Spending.” Reported in 1995, public education expenditures per student are higher in the nation's smallest districts whereas students receive an average fully adjusted expenditure of $4,862 versus $4,216 in the largest district’s 10,000 students and above. (Johnson 4)
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.
... 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.
An outdated education system is the largest problem Michigan faces because it affects not only the present, but also the future of the state. Important issues cannot be solved, nor policies created to remedy them, if the people attempting to solve them are not equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to make informed decisions. The state cannot run itself, let alone the nation as a whole, if its’ people are uneducated. The Constitution, the very basis of our government, relies heavily on the assumption that citizens of the United States are able to make knowledgeable and well-reasoned decisions, the types of which cannot be made when a person does not receive a proper education. This proper education is unattainable when low educational funding occurs. Lowering educational funding leads to lower standardized test scores, lack of resources, and an overall poorer education (Roy 2003). Even with these results educational funding has consistently been put upon the chopping block at all levels of government. Governor Rick Snyder’s budget cuts $470 per pupil for the 2012 fiscal year, while promising only small incentives to be added when re-balancing the budget in 2013 (Resmovits 2012). Snyder’s cuts in education stand in sharp contrast to the budget and policy passed in 1994, by then Governor John Engler. Engler, along with the House and Senate, created Proposal A. This policy increased funding to all levels of education, reduced the large funding gap between poorer and richer school districts, and opened schools of choice. Proposal A was largely effective in its’ objectives, but was unable to maintain the projected budget needed to maintain efficiency due to the recession, and Michigan laws requiring education cuts when school ...
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.
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 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.
California is one of the largest states in the country and has one of the biggest state budgets, but in the past several years, its school system has become one of the worst in the nation because of enormous budget cuts in efforts to balance the state’s enormous deficit. The economic downturn at the end of the 2000s resulted in even more cuts to education. It is in environments like this one in which students from poor backgrounds become most vulnerable because of their lack of access to support in their homes as well as other programs outside of schools. Their already financially restricted school districts have no choice but to cut supplementary programs and increase class sizes among other negative changes to public schools. The lack of financial support from the state level as well as demands for schools to meet certain testing benchmarks by the state results in a system in which the schools are no longer able to focus on students as individuals; they are forced to treat students as numbers rather than on an individual case by case basis. An article from the Los Angeles Times showed that majority of Californians give California schools “a grade of C or below” and half think that the quality of schools will continue to decline (Watanabe).While the economic downturn affected the public school system in a negative way, it was not the sole root of its problems. It just simply exacerbated already existing issues.
"The Legislature and the Governor must consider new revenues and repealing tax loopholes as part of a responsible budget compromise, otherwise they will set in motion a downward spiral in the quality of the educational experience our children receive over the next several years," O'Connell said. "Relying solely on these heavy-handed cuts will do a grave disservice to our children's and California's future to such an extent that not even they can fully realize yet. Education is very much a part of California's long-term economic recovery from this recession, but if we're not willing to invest in it then our state's future will continue to remain shrouded in instability and uncertainty."
Districts have to think about if it is worth the money to reduce class sizes, and if there is enough proof that students are academically better off in smaller class size rather than larger classes. According to Matthew Chingos and Grover Whitehurt authors of Class Size: What Research Says and What It Means for State Policy, “Increasing the pupil/teacher ratio in the U.S. by one student would save at least $12 billion per year in teacher salary cost alone” (Chingos, Whitehurt). Why would districts want to pay for the creation of smaller classes when they could save more by just adding more students to a class? This goes to show that there should not be a price tag on someone’s education. Why put more on a teacher’s plate just to save money? With the result from the Student Teacher Ratio, it is hard for districts to say that having smaller class sizes is not the way to spend money. If the districts spent the money on the class size reduction, they would not have to worry about an annual cost, because once small classes are set in place, the districts do not have to continue to pay. According to the National Education Association (NEA), having class size reductions do not only involve money but also create “improved health, less Medicaid coverage, lower crime rates, and fewer welfare recipients” (Class Size Reduction: A Proven Strategy). So, the districts should also look at this before being concerned to where their money goes. The district’s money, according to the NEA, is going into these students who will live a better life later on when they are out of school and into the real
Florida’s students at all levels are feeling the crunch with education spending levels down and worse performance on standardized tests. When Governor Rick Scott took office, he proposed nearly $3.3 billion in cuts to education (Bousquet & McGrory, 2014). Spending money on education is significant for teacher development, added resources to students, and facility improvements that are necessary to ensure students’ success. Florida’s educational system is changing at all levels; therefore, I have provided some insight and recommendations on improvements that need to take place.
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.
All throughout the United States for the past several years, states are “hurting because of falling state revenues,” (Emeagwali), and schools are trying to cope with tremendous budget cuts that are resulting in less funds provided for educational services. These cuts are putting pressure on everyone invested in the education system, including students, teachers and any other administration within them (qtd. in Johnson 2), and the reduced budget is not solely affecting any particular level of schooling either. All levels of education, ranging from primary learning to advanced, have been affected (Emeagwali). Additionally, it is not just one or two states having to adjust their budgets; by 2002, “at least 40 states [had] been forced to consider budget cuts,” and these cuts have taken their toll on the amount of funding designated towards educational opportunities (Feldman). As pressures hit hard on state governments, a rise in educational budget cuts has resulted in deleterious effects on the level of education provided to students. As a result, researchers and infuriated teachers and parents have begun supporting education as it is ignored by government administration.
Despite the evidence showing that small class sizes are better, many public schools have average class sizes of at least 30 students in each class. This situation is not working; President Obama has set a goal for the country to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, but the U.S. is steadily falling behind other industrialized countries. In order to increase student achievement and help reach President Obama’s 2020 goal, school districts should consider reallocating funds from other educational initiatives to programs to hire more teachers to reduce class sizes.
Some people argue that parents should have the choice to send their children to whatever school they want, however, if we drain public school dollars to fund private school education we create an unequal system where well off children are better educated and less fortunate children are left without resources or access to a quality education. Inequities in funding and educational resources place poor children in low-performing schools with run-down facilities and ineffective teachers (Giving Point).These inequalities in resources contributes to students getting discouraged and detached, and hurts our whole society. Public education in America was created to equalize opportunity; instead it’s neglecting poor students and limiting their life choices.Arizona’s tax