Why Is America's Public School System Justified?

Lincoln High School, which is located in a low-income neighborhood in San Diego, was a rebuilt after 50 years of failing to educate children. Rebuilding the high school was the answer the community had been looking for they were hopeful. Before the rebuild most students who attended Lincoln did not meet the standards for their grade-level, few graduated and even fewer went go on to college. After years of suffering and neglect there was little doubt That Lincoln High School deserved the $129 million it received from the city to rebuild. But was rebuilding the school the solution for Lincoln High School 's education problem? First we’ll examine, How the problem started, the decision making steps and if the plan was successful.

Newburgh Free Academy, NFA, located in the center of Newburgh, New York, a small city with a crime rate four times higher than the national average, exhibits an unequal distribution of the district’s budget across their various programs. NFA houses approximately 4,000 students and holds a wide variety of classes, athletic programs, and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. However, according to the district’s “Draft Budget Report for Fiscal Year 2017,” these programs do not all receive equal funding. There appears to be a large portion of available funds going towards the athletic program, while fine arts, language, and co-curricular programs receive little to no funding. The majority of public high schools across America, especially those located in overcrowded urban communities, experience a similar inequality. By dividing funds unevenly an inequality of opportunity is created, which leaves students who wish to join certain postsecondary school programs severely underprepared. Dr. Vivian W. Ikpa of Temple University sees this inequality quite often; she claims that, “inadequate funding made them [the students] ‘resource’ disadvantaged” (Ikpa, 467). When a school’s budget is being formulated, generally the last programs to receive funding are the arts, language, and co-curricular programs. The lack of funding in these programs leaves students unprepared to handle further education and prevents them from gaining valuable life skills. Thus, unequal distribution of

In today’s society it seems that in order to get a quality education that will prepare you for your future you must be one of the fortunate children born close to a well-funded school district. The schools that are academically acceptable are schools that have more money than the schools that are not. One might conclude that because of this, schools that are not academically acceptable are failing due to the fact that they do not have the right resources necessary to pass end of the year tests. There are numerous reasons put forth from researchers who want to look into why our public schools are failing. In my opinion, the single most significant problem with American public schools is the inadequate funding to impoverished schools, poor schools tend to have lower test scores than well-funded schools; the education in America can not be considered fair under these conditions.

“We believe, that is, you and I, that education is not an expense. We believe it is an investment.” Lyndon B. Johnson was referring to education in The United States when he said these words, but they can also refer to the education of a small town. In fact, Hermiston voters will have the chance to decide whether the city should invest in a $104 million school bond that will allow the Hermiston School District to build new schools as well as make improvements to the others that are already standing. It is vital that Hermiston pass the bond because issues that community members have pointed out like overcrowding and student safety will only get worse without it.

In this detailed and shocking book, Jonathan Kozol describes the horrific and unjust conditions in which many children in today’s society are forced to get their education. Kozol discusses three major reasons for the discrepancies in America’s schools today: disparities of property taxes, racism, and the conflict between state and local control. The first of these reasons is that of the differences of available property tax revenues. Kozol discusses the inconsistencies in property tax revenues and the problem that the poorer districts aren’t getting the same opportunities for education as the more affluent neighborhoods. He says the reason for this is that the

In chapter 5, of The Death and Life of the Great American School System, she focuses on how the public school system is run like a business and Bloomberg’s reform program called “Children First”. She discusses how programs that are implemented in the public school system are

America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s

Starting in the 1960s as the turmoil surrounding Brown V. Board of education died down, parents and taxpayers began to bring lawsuits against state funding systems arguing that these systems violated either state or federal constitutions (Augenblick, Myers & Anderson, 1997). Thus far, federal claims have all failed. In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on the San Antonio independent School

Schools lacking social utilities that are needed to promote the academic status of its students is an issue. Whether these utilities should be kept opened or closed is widely debated in most communities. The condition of such schools is an important issue because it determines the future of its students academically. Some issues facing schools include social, public and economical issues; this essay will consider arguments concerning the social, public and economical causes of this problem through the use of Jonathan Kozol's "TITLE OF ARTICLE", as well as the discussion of the reasons why some schools do not receive sufficient funds to care for public schools.

     In Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol documents the devastating inequalities in American schools, focusing on public education’s “savage inequalities” between affluent districts and poor districts. From 1988 till 1990, Kozol visited schools in over thirty neighborhoods, including East St. Louis, the Bronx, Chicago, Harlem, Jersey City, and San Antonio. Kozol describes horrifying conditions in these schools. He spends a chapter on each area, and provides a description of the city and a historical basis for the impoverished state of its school. These schools, usually in high crime areas, lack the most basic needs. Kozol creates a scene of rooms without heat, few supplies or text, labs with no

For example, the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause was utilized in the form of the initial wave by plaintiffs with the intention of defying partial as well as inequitable state funding systems in its discriminatory view. Another wave had been by opponents asserted the unconstitutionality of inequitable financing systems from equality claims underneath equal protections clauses or provisions. The third wave of school finance litigation by plaintiffs ensured a certain level of adequacy must exist in state funding systems or it would therefore become unconstitutional based upon state constitutional clauses. Given these points, courts that had faced each wave went through a lot to pronounce they held the competency and legitimacy to effectively address multifaceted educational as well as financial questions in need of corrective

“If you are bored, it is your own fault and no one else’s. The obligation to amuse and instruct yourself is entirely your own, and people who don’t know that are childish and to be avoided.” These are the words spoken to a young John Taylor Gatto by his grandfather, words that Gatto took to heart. He then spent much of his life trying to teach this lesson to his students. Years later, having apparently discovered that his mission was in vain John wrote an article in the September of 2003 issue of Harper’s arguing that the American school system is one engineered to instill in the students of America boredom, childishness, and obedience. Citing years of experience working in the schools of New York and as well as historical evidence, Gatto

Within the federal government’s budget education is among the most important yet in the year of 2012 the federal government only spent $107.6 billion out of 3.7 trillion which amounts to 3% on education. Compared to other funding categories in the government’s fiscal year of 2012's budget it's clear to see that education isn’t as important to the government officials as they would like us to believe. Many Americans today are lead to believe that education is important to government officials and it receives an adequate amount of funding because they don't know how much funding is put into the other categories of the budget. The funding put into education in the year 2012 is only 1/8 of social security spending and 1/5 of Medicare

Many kids dream about finishing school or just getting an education; however, in the United States school funding in low and high income areas are highly uneven. Though funding is not fair, education can be made equal for students. Schools in poverty-stricken areas have a lack of funding resulting in an average education, which can be changed by boosting the amount of funds given to each school district. Increasing school funding not only helps the school it can also help students, teachers and the community. Studies and research show raising funds could possibly increase the education quality, success after high school, and student performance.

In the twenty-first century poverty in the academic system is becoming more prevalent. Certain school distracts are granted with better funding’s for their schools, while other distracts are being deprived. Although, some school districts are providing the proper funding, their students could be below the poverty line and may not have access to the right tools to achieve in school. Thinkers like John Dewey, Michael Foucault and Marin Buber all held their stances on education and the influence of poverty in the education system, but collectively believed that education should be equal to all students across the income spectrum. The influence of poverty in education affects more then the student’s ability to learn and achieve, but influences the amount of recourses the teachers and classrooms are given, the classroom environment overall, and the differences presented between the funding’s for public schools and private academies.