Disparities In Public Education Essay

Out of all 51 states in the United States, New York was ranked as number “25 in regards to the school system (Bernardo, Richie, 2016),” and out of all five boroughs

The resources available to an urban, lower income school are to be equal to those available to a suburban, higher income school. Two schools in New York, one from a wealthy school district and one from a poor district, were given computers. The State provided the same number of computers to each school, therefore claiming to evenly supporting each school. However, the school with the poorer children had a larger number of students; the nicer school had twice the number of computers in proportion to the number of their students (Kozol 84). It seems that the biggest factor keeping the children of lower income homes behind is the school funding available. The poorer school district does not have the money to spend on the things a wealthier district may, but there is no real evidence that spending money makes much difference in the outcome of a child's education. In many cases, family and background have a greater influence on how well a child does in school (Kozol 176-77). Richard Kahlenberg, a member of the Century Foundation, says, "Research findings and common sense tell us that the people who make up a school—the students, parents, and teachers—matter more (Lewis 648)

     The government does not fully provide funding for each school district since public schools are funded through property taxes (“Public”, 1). Therefore, the amount of money for

There is strong evidence that points to a link between the way schools are currently funded and the disparity in student performance between the urban and suburban environments. The District of Columbia, which has 189 public schools, 5,000 teachers, and a Pre-K-12 enrollment of 79,000 students, spends $6,773 per pupil not including Special Education or English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). In comparison, Montgomery County has 190 public schools, 10,700 teachers, and a Pre-K-12 enrollment of 136,653 students. Montgomery County spends approximately $8,688 per pupil. It should also be pointed out that the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) expenditures amounted to $807 million last year in comparison to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), which expects to spend an enormous $1.3 billion during Fiscal Year 2002. Without equal funding, the two systems already begin with an unequal playing field.

Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States government was decentralized. The states had more power than the federal government. State governments had the power to tax but the federal government did not (Janda 62). This caused congress to have to beg for money from the states in order to pay for the cost of the Revolutionary War and the cost of starting a new nation. Another issue under the Articles of Confederation was the lack of economic control the federal government had on the states (63). The national government attempted to restrict foreign imports but the states did not listen and continued making deals with foreign countries. This caused debt and bankruptcy to fall upon numerous states. The Articles of Confederation also

In 2013, the state lawmakers restored almost $3.4 billion of the $5.4 billion in public education cuts made in 2011 and changed graduation and testing requirements. Last year, the legislature restored $1.5 billion into schools, which wasn’t enough to cover the previous $5.4 billion cut, when adjusted for enrollment growth and inflation.

The public schools in the Northeast US received more funding than schools in the Northwest or in the South. This contrast was due to the differing amount of urbanization in the three regions, the Northeast being the most urban and the Northwest and South being more rural. The varying levels of city versus rural living created different political, economic, and social climates which contributed to the amount of public school funding.

Although these actions demonstrate that the federal government does play some role in the educational system, most school issues have always been settled at the state or local level.

To be reductionist, there are two different types of school budgets. When economic times are good and there is enough money to provide funding for all of the important services that government can provide for its people, the school district has a relatively large say in how the budgeting process works. This is the case because elected and appointed officials recognize that school officials are the experts (or at least should be) in the field of education and they should therefore have the lead in determining needs and priorities because they have the knowledge needed to design the best educational programs for different grades.

In most of the largest cities in the United States, people of color have children that attend schools where the majority of the students are considered “poor or low-income.” The National Equity Atlas classifies students as low-income if they are “from families with incomes up to the 130 percent of the poverty line.” The majority of the non-white impoverished population includes, but is not limited to, blacks and Hispanics. The National Center for Educational Statistics says that “nationwide there are about three-fourths of both African American and Hispanic young people that attend schools where most of their classmates qualify as low income. This is directed to the people of America to inform them of poverty and who it affects, including people

State schools are poorly operated and private school fees beyond the reach of the nation’s poor.

Public education in the United States is perhaps one of the most critical issues we face as a nation. Once pronouncing the United States as a “nation at risk”, the educational institution began to implement one reform strategy after another. In efforts to improve schooling for K-12 students, education reform has fiddled with class size, revised graduation requirements, and created standardized testing just to name a few. Unfortunately, traditional public schools are still failing to provide students with a quality education. This is disheartening as we learn that the United States lags behind in math and science compared to our international counterparts. It is safe to say that educational reform has spent billions of dollars over the

Schools have a number of various sources. The primary sources are federal, state, and local funding. The majority of funding comes from state and local sources; whereas a small percent (usually 9-12%) comes from the federal level. The method by which schools receive funding is through the taxation process. At the state level, taxes are levied from taxpayers, both corporate and citizens via sales and income tax. At the local level, school funding comes from property taxes. Let’s explore the how the various sources of school funding. “According to the National Center for Education Statistics, state and local funding accounts for approximately 93 percent of education expenditures” (Woodruff, 2008, ¶ 2). Let’s examine these various sources of revenue and funding and different formulas for allocation along with their pros and cons.

As long as the school system has been in existence, there have been many cases of discrimination in one form or another. Blocked opportunities for students of a certain race and or in a lower socio-economic group have always existed. Many school officials, including various faculty members, have been responsible for rerouting minority students suggesting less demanding classes with the belief that these students could not handle the more advanced course work. This particular form of discrimination has been labeled tracking. For many years, racial minorities have been battling, and at times succumbing, to this form of discrimination.

Refer to Table 3, the local revenue per Pupil between 2014-2015 drastically dropped over $2,000 in Kansas school spending per student. “We’re hard workers, and it’s high poverty. Sometimes, in poverty, you have that sense of helplessness.”, stated by Steve Jameson, principal at Columbus’ Park Elementary. His pre-K funding is frozen at 2013 levels because of the cuts, meaning he can enroll 30 children in summer pre-K program. However, Jameson was told that his summer pre-K program will be cut next year. Now with this program being cut, kids who are not utilized and accustomed to a school environment or kids suffering from behavioral issues; will cause an uproar in the classroom setting and slow down the instruction. This affects their learning and developmental issues overall. Due to the tax cuts, Jameson let one of his teacher’s assistant go, and has been unable to send his teachers to professional development conferences; however, ones would compound over time. So, not only did a teacher assistant became unemployed during this period, educational conferences for teachers is vital to enhance learning abilities within the teacher. Without a solid school system, students will not receive the best education they can because the resources they once had has been cut from the educational journey. The upshot of condensed subsidy differs from one district to another.