Funding Education in a Declining Economy
Schools everywhere are under stress as it becomes more and more difficult to raise revenue to continue existing programs, much less start new ones. It is obvious that property tax payers are at their limits, especially with declining property values and growing unemployment. Other sources of revenue are equally maxing out. School budgets were rising far above inflation for years, but this can not continue. It is obvious that educational costs have to be not only contained but reduced.
The most common method of doing this right now seems to be to attack teachers and cut their salaries and benefits. Support staff comes next in the cutback line. However, I believe this is counterproductive and endangers educational quality.
The human body requires a certain amount of energy to function. If it gets colder and colder out, your body must obtain more and more energy to maintain body temperature and survive. If there is no possibility of getting more food, and the body temperature starts to drop, the body protects the core functions by sacrificing the extremities. It may be painful, but you can survive without a hand or foot - but not without a heart or lungs.
The core function of the school is academics. That is basically what schools are there for. So math, science, social studies, english (reading, writing, etc.) need to be totally protected - even improved - at the expense of other things. Good teachers should be paid appropriately, encouraged and rewarded, and given all necessary support. So the first task in funding education is to make sure these basic things are fully and adequately funded. (I would include vocational education in here, as not all students go on to college, and with rising costs and dwindling returns, even more will not in the future).
A school district has to first ascertain what level of taxation the community can afford, and then will know what resources it has. Once the basics above are covered, tough choices will have to be made about priorities. Either other areas will have to be proportionally cut back, or some funded and others eliminated. That might mean elimination of many sports, after school programs, social events, etc. Some things might be continued but a more cost effective way found to run them. The problem is this brings screams of outrage from the various constituencies for these programs, and the boards don't want to confront it. Until this is done, we will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis, with educational quality continuing to decay as we try to have it all while being unable to pay for "having it all".
The most common method of doing this right now seems to be to attack teachers and cut their salaries and benefits. Support staff comes next in the cutback line. However, I believe this is counterproductive and endangers educational quality.
The human body requires a certain amount of energy to function. If it gets colder and colder out, your body must obtain more and more energy to maintain body temperature and survive. If there is no possibility of getting more food, and the body temperature starts to drop, the body protects the core functions by sacrificing the extremities. It may be painful, but you can survive without a hand or foot - but not without a heart or lungs.
The core function of the school is academics. That is basically what schools are there for. So math, science, social studies, english (reading, writing, etc.) need to be totally protected - even improved - at the expense of other things. Good teachers should be paid appropriately, encouraged and rewarded, and given all necessary support. So the first task in funding education is to make sure these basic things are fully and adequately funded. (I would include vocational education in here, as not all students go on to college, and with rising costs and dwindling returns, even more will not in the future).
A school district has to first ascertain what level of taxation the community can afford, and then will know what resources it has. Once the basics above are covered, tough choices will have to be made about priorities. Either other areas will have to be proportionally cut back, or some funded and others eliminated. That might mean elimination of many sports, after school programs, social events, etc. Some things might be continued but a more cost effective way found to run them. The problem is this brings screams of outrage from the various constituencies for these programs, and the boards don't want to confront it. Until this is done, we will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis, with educational quality continuing to decay as we try to have it all while being unable to pay for "having it all".
Comments
Post a Comment