How does funding determine the best course of action for a student’s education? Despite the enrollment count, test scores, and economics, school closures can deter students from a sound education. Therefore, there should be more focus on educating students, and less focus on the intricacy of funding. When proposing to close an educational facility, the purpose should be prevalent, the involved parties should be concise in their stance, and the overall decision should be rational and innocuous to avoid any possibility of conflict. What is a conflict? Conflict is a one of the most common challenges, and is inevitable, whether the experiences are societal based or interpersonal. Conflict is a matter of differences between parties, some with …show more content…
The conflict that is prevalent in the school system in my city is that of school closures because of the lack of funding. Within the Shelby County school system, there has been an ongoing battle of the need to close schools. It was proposed to close ten schools by the Fall of the 2016-17 school year, however, the original intent was to wait until 2017-18 (Dries, 2016). The effective schools would consist of four county schools and six charter schools (Silver, 2016). The schools that have been recommended for closing are: Northside High School, Carver High School, Messick Career and Tech, Dunbar Elementary, Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering, KIPP Memphis Collegiate High School, KIPP Memphis Collegiate Middle School, Omni Prep Academy -North Point (Lower and Middle School), and Southern Ave Middle School (Pignolet, 2016). It was later decided that Dunbar Elementary would escape the wrath of this closure list for the 2016-17 school year, under the disguise that moving these students this year wouldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t have to change again next year (Pignolet,
...to be achieved, years, decades, lifetimes, conflict is intended to fulfill this need. Ultimately, conflict theory is about the struggles, ideologies, representations, and power that the haves possess and the have-nots want to exert. These concepts come into play causing conflict between the groups which ends in social change.
As much as some of us dislike conflict, it is inherent in human nature. After all, it is like a wall that keeps us from moving forward in the path of life, but we must understand that those walls merely act as temporary challenges that are yet to be solved. Some conflicts may be insignificantly trivial, and some may be quite immense. Some conflicts may be happening within ourselves, and some may be accompanied by another person. Regardless, we must learn not to run away from conflict, but rather to run over them with a determined demeanor as the conflicts that we encounter in our lives are what helps us learn and grow as an individual. Furthermore, learning and growing from conflict is what shape individuals and what prepares us for the upcoming challenges that life will throw at us in the future.
Schools may not be equally available to all students and thereby result in unequal treatment for those not eligible to attend or not selected. Public schools could become "dumping grounds" if the "good" students were to leave and go to charter schools. The drain of funds from the public schools could also present a problem. Transportation issues would arise as well as a reexamination of state athletic association rules and regulations. Choices to attend may not be made on the basis of attending a better school or district but because the school is closer to childcare, it's perceived as easier, more convenient or has better extracurricular activities. Lawsuits could arise due to the fact that the schools would make promise regarding school performance and/or educational offerings that might not materialize. Schools could file for bankruptcy. Other issues include possible discrimination toward students and violation of state of federal laws.
I believe schools are a reflection of their communities. Our schools are no longer segregated due the US Supreme court decision handed down in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. However, a schools makeup is similar to the communities they serve. A majority white school belongs in a majority white community. A diverse community such in large cities like New York will have diverse student body in their schools. Schools in the United States have been desegregated for over a half-century or have they. A film called “Little Rock Central- 50 Years Later” says differently. Little Rock Central is the famous high school where the Little Rock Nine students went to school. The school was forced by the federal government to desegregate. This film now captures this same high school fifty years later and finds a new type of segregation. The new type of segregation is now about social economic class and academic class.
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.
The controversial topic about the function of school is discussed at many school board and PTA meetings throughout America. In Anita Garland’s opinion, schools are not functioning properly. Garland states her reasons as to why the purpose of school has to change in her article, “Lets Really Reform Our Schools”, where she starts off by saying, “Desperate illnesses require desperate remedies. And our schools are desperately ill.” She proceeds to list the remedies in order to transform our schools into a more healthy, successful environment. First, Garland claims that the students who are not interested in studying should not be allowed, better yet, never forced to attend school with kids who want to receive
Urban schools in New York City have been criticized for many failures in the last past years. Failures such as low achievement, disconnection between students and teachers, poor teaching methods, inappropriate conduct, lack of security, and lack of motivation from students as well as from teachers. To improve these issues, few changes have been implemented such as the metal detectors. The effectiveness of these changes is been questioned. But the best way to see the effectiveness, it’s by looking at the school’s progress. Most schools are still failing, which clearly means that the new methods are not working out. These unsuccessful adjustments lead to a possibility for a reform in the school system. The reform would have to consider changes not only from the system itself, but also the areas that surround the school. Therefore, it is not reasonable to expect that urban schools can be reformed without changing the political economy of urban areas. The reasons why it cannot be reformed is because the political economy determines the amount of resources available, generate a lot of violence, and creates teenagers who will be pursued to the “code of the streets”. When it comes to change, it always works better starting from the outside to the
...g the school is discussed. LPS often get choose other reform options they require less changes, allow teachers to keep their jobs, and they do not require that the entire school has to change. Although there is more than one reform option that looks good on paper, there is only one option that has any proof that it could possibly work in favor of the students and the option is charter schools. They address all the problems in public schools and they incorporate all reform options, except school shutdowns, in their reform plan. Charter schools are the reform option that shows the most improvement in areas that LPS slack in. Including other reform options in their reform plan is a way that can almost insure progression. All public schools across the nation that are declining to low performing schools should look into taking up charter schools as their reform option.
In the education community, few issues stir up as much debate as the notion of providing government-funded aid, in the form of vouchers, to parents so that they may send their children to private schools. The voucher movement has been gaining momentum since Wisconsin implemented the first voucher program in 1990, but only few states have adopted such programs. Although the courts have upheld the constitutionality of vouchers, there is still a lack of consensus amongst the public over the issue. The underlying disagreements that surround the issue of vouchers revolve around three main controversies: constitutionality, influence on student achievement, and impact on public schools.
In February 2010 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) reported their shockingly large budget deficit which will affect the 2010 / 2011 school year. The decreased state funding, increased salary and benefit costs, and the increase of operational costs for Chicago Public schools leaves a deficit of $700 - $900 millions dollars. This deficit of funds will have drastic affects on teachers including teacher and staff layoffs, school closings, and loss of teacher benefits. More importantly the effects of budgetary issues hits hard on our students’ increase the inequities of especially poor urban schools. These children have nothing to do with poor management of the funds for their basic right of an equal and highly performing education. There are an increased number of dilapidated school buildings, an increased number of charter schools, and a loss of afterschool programs such as music and sport activities, minimal school supplies, no transportat...
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.
Public colleges must be affordable to anyone who wishes to attend. If colleges lack to provide this to students, it can affect dropouts, a student’s ability focus, and cause stress. The problem of lack of funding is that colleges have insufficient funds. Therefore, the best possible solution for the problem of lack of funding would be increasing and collecting more funds from state taxes. Collecting funds from the state’s taxes is an effective solution because students get more academic support programs, which decreases dropouts.
Before understanding how to deal with conflict, one must understand what conflict is. Conflict can be defined as, “any situation in which incompatible goals, cognitions, or emotions within or between individuals or groups lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction” (Learning Team Toolkit, 2004, pp 242-243). Does the idea of conflict always have to carry a negative connotation? The growth and development of society would be a great deal slower if people never challenged each other’s ideas. The Learning Team Toolkit discusses three different views of conflict: traditiona...
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.
In American colloquial English, the word “conflict” has come to be used almost exclusively to convey a negative experience or encounter such as a war, battle, fight, or other dispute. Current conflicts in 2016 include the United States’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the presidential election, and Black Lives Matter vs. municipal police departments. However, one of the definitions of the word “conflict” includes a “mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands” (Full definition of conflict, n.d.). The important part to note in this definition is that while the existing “opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands,” may be incompatible, the use of the word,