'Unacceptable': Glaring Failures in our School Funding

 

Funding Inequalities in Our Schools

Dilapidated... Unmaintained... Understaffed... Poorly Scoring...

These are some words to describe some of the many underfunding schools within our American education system.

It is up to us to protect the future of our education system. Our education system is supposed to be a shining example for the world, people come from all over the globe just to be able to attend American schools.

America is the land of the free and home of the brave, we are one of the best countries in the world, but our international education scores say otherwise.

According to education news and information site EducationWeek, thirty countries outperform the United States of America in education. This is an alarming fact. 

Kimberly Amadeo of the MIT Sloan School of Management says, "U.S. test scores are below the global average." According to Amadeo's findings, The United States of America is falling behind other nations in the developed world in the key subjects of science and math.

There are too many failures within our education system to even list every last one; The College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University conducted research that identified even more glaring flaws in the American education system.

In America, high school dropout rates have stagnated, students are less prepared for college, and once students get to college, they are less likely to graduate compared to other developed countries.

The future of America is in jeopardy if trends like this continue in our education system. The farther and farther we slip down world education rankings, the more we as Americans become less competitive on the global market.

The big question is, "Why does it even matter that the United States of America is falling behind in its education scores?"

According to the Ken C. Gardener Institute of the University of Utah, higher education levels have many benefits for a nation. The institute says higher education levels lead to increased earnings, decreased reliance on public assistance, more civic engagement, and better health outcomes.

Increased earnings and decreased reliance on public assistance provide an implication that a country's economy is in good health. The reason for more civic engagement is the fact that a more educated population is more likely to vote. Better health outcomes are a result of higher earnings and being educated enough to structure a healthier lifestyle.

The outcomes mentioned above contribute greatly to a country's overall world ranking. To think that a reason we are falling behind is our education system makes you wonder why we don’t invest more in our education.
 
The problem is that we do invest in our education, we just don’t spread out our investments equitably across our school systems. Your tax dollars are concentrated in areas that fail to include schools that serve predominantly students of color.

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Have your seen the US's test scores compared to the rest of the world. We're a joke. Your property taxes are being wasted just like the rest of your taxes

— Travis Brown (@343_Brown) April 22, 2024

How is it that a country as great as the United States of America can lag so far behind other countries in its education rankings?

A factor that contributes to the alarming American education statistics is the glaring inequities in the funding of our schools. Schools that provide education for predominantly students of color receive $2,700 per student less in funding than their majority white counterparts. In America, the land of opportunity, this is unacceptable.

Because of disproportionate and inequitable funding, schools that provide education for predominantly students of color also receive less qualified teachers. The lack of funding contributes to lower standardized test scores among these underfunded schools. According to American University, "School funding issues are a major problem with direct links to student achievement levels."

You know what system was designed to allow every child to go to a great school? The public school system. Too bad it’s been consistently underfunded to the point where the lucky ones are the ones who have choices… not all families do. Shame on underfunding of the schools.

— Teaching Solved (@TeachingSolved) April 23, 2024

"Well those aren't my kids, why should I care?" say some parents when the issue of funding inequities in our school systems is brought up. 

They are right, it may not directly affect the funding of their child's school. A short-sighted look at the issue of funding disparities will show that it won't affect all of our American students. Funding disparities might not have an immediate effect on their child right now, but they will in the future. 

Equitable education helps everyone, even the people who think they're not benefiting. Everyone wants their child to be safe from the dangers of crime... right? 

It's been proven that better education leads to lower crime rates. According to the University of Michigan, the more education a population has, the less crime is bound to occur. This is a fact that helps everyone, not just students of color.

The problem of inequitable funding of American schools affects every single American. This problem has contributed to The United States of America's plummeting worldwide status.

There is concrete evidence that our country, The United States of America, the land of the free, home of the brave, is falling behind in our education scores. There is even more research showing that a huge contributing factor to our country's lower scores is the inequitable funding of schools serving predominantly students of color.

It is unacceptable for America, one of the most developed countries on earth, to be lacking this much in terms of education. The equitable funding of our schools would help raise America's rank globally.

The issue of inequitable funding of schools serving predominantly students of color is way more than a black-or-white problem. This is an AMERICAN problem; we all bleed red, white, and blue. We cannot solve this issue by pointing fingers and blaming one another.

To secure the future of every American, we must address and solve the inequities in how we fund schools serving predominantly students of color.