The Pros And Cons Of K-12

When local property taxes were the primary source of school funding, districts were financially stable and were able to allocate funds for appropriate spendings. With the limitations set on property taxes, school budgets became dependent on the state’s fluctuating economy and tax collections. Fortunately, in 1988, Proposition 98 was passed, which set a minimum base funding for public schools. This proposition guaranteed funding that would grow each year with the changing economy along with student enrollment. This funding, though managed by the state was a combination of state General Fund and local property tax revenues.

As Laurence Powell Jobs once said, “It’s not that our high school system was not designed well, but that it was designed in 1906 when the country was just out of the industrial era. There hasn’t been a substantial systemic change the way we do high school since then.” It’s no secret that the current school system used in America is outdated and problematic. With a plethora of obvious issues in need of fixing, there are noticeable differences between America and other countries. Steps needed to improve the system can be implemented. Although times have changed, the American education system has become outdated and thus is riddled with faults. When compared to other education systems, it is clear that the American schooling system is in need of reform.

The present K-12 educational system strives to do more than educate the few aspiring to gain top government posts. The goal instead is to impart on the students a certain curriculum of knowledge and values deemed crucial to a person’s well being.

The educational system in the United States was originally developed using concepts from around the world, created using ingenuitive ideas from countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. However, as the United States quickly moved into position as the leading country for state-directed educational standards, America looked less and less to the systems of other nations and more into how we could improve what was locally and currently being applied in education. Consequently, an improved type of education instruction was officially launched in 2010. These new state standards, practically titled Common Core, were declared to focus on developing a child’s skills in reasoning, problem solving, communication, and competition (Conrad, et al. 52). While the standards are professed to be an extremely practical and beneficial method of teaching today, there are issues which have recently surfaced and raised some concerns. The Common Core State Standards are emerging as the subjects of a provocative controversy in society today as they prompt discussion on global economic efficiency, nationwide academic standards, and the ultimate well-being of school-age children.

Since last spring, Philadelphia school district leaders have been sounding the alarm about this year’s fiscal budget. Even after months of discussions and headlines, schools have opened with fewer resources than last year. On March 28th the School Reform Commission approved a lump sum budget which showed a need for an additional $220 million in revenue in order to provide schools with same resources as the “wholly insufficient” 2013-14 school year (McCorry). There will be many inadequate funding impacts on the quality of the education. Classroom resources would be stripped to untenable levels. The district would reduce as much as $2.2 million funding to the districts’ multiple pathways to graduation program which affects estimated 300 students. Another $1.5 million could be reduced from the elimination of preparation and professional development time for teachers at the district’s high needs promise academies. The district’s building maintenance budget could have reduction in amount of $9.6 million. Schools will be cleaned less frequently as a result. Building maintenance will also be curtailed as a result. District’s school police budget could also have reduction in amount of $2.4 million. School police officer vacancies will be unfilled, leaving an additional 27 elementary schools to share an officer.

IV. In order to reassure the quantity and quality of future teachers, an increase in salaries is

Also that schools would have a 7 hour day, with a 200 - 220 day school year. “A Nation at Risk found that an “incoherent, outdated patchwork quilt” of classroom learning led to an increasing number of students who were subjected to a “cafeteria-style curriculum” that diluted the course material and allowed them to advance through their schooling with minimal effort.” (2). A Nation at Risk also requires high school students to have: “(a) 4 years of English; (b) 3 years of mathematics; (c) 3 years of science; (d) 3 years of social studies; and (e) one-half year of computer science.” (3).

Common Core will prosper in places where former standards-inclined reform approaches have failed. Bleiberg and West (2014) report that education campaigners contend that the Common Core Standards were designed in combination to teacher, investigator, and education expert feedback modules for learner

At overcrowded schools, material issues resulting from greater class sizes directly impact the classroom. Quantified into state spending per student, resources grow increasingly strained with each additional student. A 10-minute online activity becomes a 20-minute activity in a class where there are not enough Chromebooks, requiring students

Education has been changing and developing for centuries, and with change comes differing of opinions. The Common Core standards are the most recent attempt to educate the best students in the United States. Although teachers at schools implementing Common Core are learning new methods of teaching, the standards do not dictate what approach they should take; these standards are what students should comprehend and be able to do by the end of the term or scholastic year. Provided that students are invested in their personal educations, students should be better prepared for their lives in the “real world,” what some call the portion of life following high school as a result. The Common Core standards should be the standards of education in the United States as it will improve the abilities of students more and produce conscientious citizens of the world capable of contribution.

Teacher compensation is one of many hot button issues in the race for K-12 public education reform in America. Google (2015), defines compensation as simply the money received by an employee from an employer as a salary or wages (Google). This definition is perhaps the simplest to understand, but fails to truly articulate the complex meaning of compensation. Most school divisions include salary, extra pay, benefits, and pension in their employee compensation package. Leonard Boswell (2015), former U.S. Representative, stated it best, when he said “The American Dream is one of success, home ownership, college education for one’s children, and have a secure job to provide these and other goals” (Brainy Quotes, n.d.). The American dream Boswell spoke of cannot be achieved through meager means, the question then is “Do the very people who help facilitate this dream for the country’s youth, deserve to achieve the dream as well?”

Budget cuts in schools cause turmoil and stress among the students and faculty. Drastic changes in the budgets have caused schools to negatively impact the people around them. With the lack of funding, schools are facing difficult decisions on what to do to stay within their budget. Supervision is facing much scrutiny on how to handle the lack of funding in their school districts. A solution needs to be made to improve the distribution of funding to our schools in order to keep them operating and thriving for our children to obtain their education. Budget cuts in schools have shown negative effects on employee positions, supplies, extracurricular activities.

The first eight years of a child’s education is where he learns the basics of everything. This is where a child learns values, how to read and analyze material, how to think critically when solving math problems, use different strategies, take timed tests, write basic five paragraph essays, and so on. Without these first eight years of education which carry a child into his or adolescent phase, a child will not be able to reach his full mental development. As a child grows, his intellect and ability to reason and make educated decisions should reach higher levels.

In today’s economic environment even the wealthiest states and districts are having to cut funding for education, while districts which were already teetering on the edge are now in an even worse position. In some schools children have to face not having enough books, paper for copies, severe overcrowding,

In addition, insufficient funding of schools along with quality teachers that are retiring are some of the problems we encounter in the education system. In some parts of the United States, there is a lack of adequate access to materials for reading and writing due to budget constraints. In Allen D. Kanner’s article, “Today’s Class Brought to You By…” he mentioned that with the baby boomers retiring, and a high turnover among new teachers, who are asked to teach subjects they are not properly trained for, are causing difficult classroom situations (280). Similarly, Governor Jerry Brown’s statement last January 11 pointed out that K-12 education has ‘borne the brunt’ of the state’s budget cuts with more than $18 billion in cuts over the last three years. This resulted in larger class sizes, programs are cut, and over 30,000 educators laid off. These teachers are very valuable in our society because they provide our youth with the knowledge and social experiences that they will use to better their future and the future of the entire world. As a student, I have suffered the consequences of triple digit fee increases and the lack of available classes offered. The high cost of education has put the burden not only on the students, and many of their parents, but educators, as