Persuasive Essay On School Funding

Teachers shape the minds of students to realize what their purpose is in life. Lately, because of certain educational reforms, it has been hard for teachers to say what they need to say. “In 40-plus states, the math and English guidelines determine the knowledge students have to master by the end of each grade, what they’ll be tested on this year, and in many cases, how teachers and principals will be rated at their jobs once those test scores are released” (Strauss). Most educational reforms are adopting standardized testing and should be reconsidered. Statistics even show that since we have taken part in reforms like No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and Common Core State Standards math and reading are declining. These standards tell teachers what to teach and what the students should know by the end of the school year. The reforms also evaluate teacher performance by how well the students learn the information. Some people believe educational reforms should not be telling teachers how to teach their students, and others believe that the reforms are absolutely fine the way they are. However the truth is educational reforms are yet to be perfected.

Currently, 38 states distribute some education funds on the basis of poverty. (Carey 3) In the 2001 – 2002 school year, "a total of 75 separate programs in those states distributed $8.7 billion to schools." (3) Funding in states for poverty based education varies significantly in terms of size, focus, and method of funding. Thirteen states provide

The school finance reform is focused on the distribution of funds across rich and poor district schools. The reform was based on the thought that rich neighborhoods and households were better in spending on education. These scholars would access better programs and their family backgrounds could put them in the most precious and advanced institutions. Poorer neighborhoods on the other hand struggled to raise fees and sometimes students were forced to drop-out due to financial challenges. The historical development of the school finance reform has always sought to fund schools differently based on students’ family backgrounds (White, 2014). Poorer schools are given priority, low income districts also enjoy more federal aid that high-income district schools. The significance of school finance reforms was poised on previous researches. Studies indicate that a student educated in a school that received 20% higher funding than that of his peer, the scholar was likely to perform 20% better and his chances for adult poverty were 20% lower (White, 2014). Low-income government schools, either at district or state level, will perform better if given adequate financial assistance.

Another rising problem in low income schools is that school districts do not distribute their state and local finds equally to all schools. Although this may not stand

The 2010 Condition of Education report showed that more than 16,000 U.S. public schools struggle with concentrated poverty. Additionally, U.S. schools saw a 5% increase in students eligible for free or reduced-price

School choice is an important issue in communties with poor quality schools. The school choice

“ Historically, low-income students as a group have performed less well than high-income students on most measures of academic success” (Reardon, 2013). Typically low-income families come from low-income parts of the state making a school that does not have as much funding as a higher economic schools does lack in resources for their students. The school then has lower paid teachers and administrators, with lower quality supplies. This results in a school which typically has faculty who do not perform as well as the well-funded schools. “The law fails to address the pressing problems of unequal educational resources across schools serving wealthy and poor children” (Hammond, 2007). Students from low and high income families will not be able to achieve the same education because their education simply is not the same.

Thank you for your comments and concerns about HR 610 and HB 820 proposed federal and state legislation dealing with school choice. I always enjoy hearing from my constituents so I may accurately represent their beliefs and legislative priorities.

When 11% of Australia’s population as a member of the LGBT community, having 61% of these people facing homophobic abuse is a real issue and it needs to be solved now. Since it’s first appearance in 2010, the safe schools program has helped gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender kids to feel acceptance and combat against homophobic bullying. Although the ‘Safe Schools’ program has showed extremely positive outcomes when it came to reduction of bullying and overall happiness of students, however, the current Australian Government

The gap between rich and poor communities have only grown over the years. This is more noticeable now than ever before and can be seen very clearly in The United States education system. A closer look at it will show an immense difference in terms of resources between wealthy and financially disabled schools. In 2001, President George W. Bush, signed the No Child Left Behind Act to assure “every child receive a first-class education in America” (Porter). Although he had good intention, The United States remains to be one of the few developing nations that gives more resources to school with privilege students (Porter). In particular, the New York State education system is biased and in favored of rich communities and often harms the underserved,

America is the beacon of hope and prosperity partly because of the historic strength and access to education afforded to citizens. I personally do not believe in school vouchers. If a school system or school is failing why is it ok for students to simply leave? In the video it talks about schools that receive the voucher have admissions standards and even go as far to recruit some of the students within neighboring school districts. What happens to the worse performing schools when the “better school” recruits and enrolls all of the higher performing students? I think it is important for the state to support those poor performing public schools, and give every opportunity to those students.

Department of Education, “documents that schools serving low-income students are being shortchanged because school districts across the country are inequitably distributing their state and local funds”. (Education, 2011). Students that come from low income families are not given the equal chance to get the education that students from high income families get. If students are not given the tools they need to be educated, then they will have a poor chance of succeeding in the world.

Education in the United States has always been a debatable topic, an issue that is constantly being discussed asking how can we improve the education system? A system that many believe is broken, a system that impacts students and teachers all around the country, however, it is a system that does not affect those who were fortunate enough to cause a drastic call for change. Overall, there are many issues and programs involving education, and if there were three that I would advocate for to improve teaching as a profession, it would be, improving the cultural diversity training, increasing teacher’s salaries, and adjusting the curriculum.

Iowa is very unique when it comes to school finance. We use the single count date for the purpose of funding the state’s school districts. This is a count of the number of students in attendance on October 1st. This is when the federal government requires a count of the number of students eligible for the free and reduced price lunch program for purposes of Title I funding. An advantage to using the single count date is that it is reasonably easy and it also helps to cut down on administrative costs. There are many disadvantages to using this system. The single count date does not give districts any type of financial incentives for holding onto

Even in this time of struggle, with billions of dollars going towards various war efforts overseas, America still has managed to keep taxpayer investments in education higher than that of funds for national defense (U.S Department of Education). In the 2004-05 school year, there was an estimated amount of 536 billion dollars set aside from taxpayer investment for education purposes. Without a doubt, education is a priority for the American government, and if these funds are used in the correct way, there is no reason why each and every kid in the United States shouldn’t be getting a quality education. However, the organization of the financial system is flawed, funds are not handled proportionately at the state level; rather, this system