Why Do Our Schools Not Have Proper Funds?

Jenson Franjevic

Writ 101

Michelle Brown

18 September 2011

Why Do Our Schools Not Have Proper Funds?

    This sparked interest for me when I decided I wanted to be a teacher. My Junior year of high school, I took an Early Childhood Development class. I learned all about the physical and mental development of children from birth to about six years old. Along with that, I got to actually teach in a preschool. I always knew I loved kids, but that is when I decided I loved teaching them as well. Teaching students made me really think about schools, teaching, funding, and everything else involved in this huge genre of education. I knew funding was an issue for schools, but I have never really looked into the facts of it. With the little background knowledge I have, and the preliminary research I've done, I've reassured my opinion that schools do not get enough funding to properly teach our children. Everyone always says children are our future, and that an education is so important, but if that is how we feel, why isn't funding in our schools a top priority? How are we supposed to educate our children properly, and help them do something productive with their lives if we do not fund the schools and teachers to do so?

    A writer from the Daily Inter Lake wrote an article about a bill that was attempted in March 2011. Senator Llew Jones tried to pass a bill that would increase funding in our Montana schools by distributing some of the oil and gas money received. Unfortunately that bill was rejected. Jones himself is obviously passionate about this, just like I am. He said, "…Now my fear is K-12 education is going to see a much more limited day"(Jones 1). A more limited day should not even be a possibility. Our schools can not afford to keep the same budget, let alone lose money. Another thought that has been brought up is the "pathways to excellence" program. This grants schools that meet high performance standards more money. (Bloomsburg 1-2). Statistics on the Stand up for Education website show that today each student has 18% less money from schools than in 1991. This is a problem. How did our students have more money in 1991 than they do now? I understand the economy is in a bad state right now, but even with inflation adjusted, this is too low of funding in our schools. It's taking a toll on the courses as well as the resources, which lessens the opportunities for kids in Montana schools. (standupmontana.org).

    I personally do not believe that the pathways to excellence program solves anything. How are our students supposed to learn enough to meet these standards if they don't have the proper funding for new books and supplies to teach them? In order to teach our kids to properly function in the real world, we need to supply them with up to date resources to learn from. We can't expect our children to pass tests, and pass in the real world when the funding is so poor that we have books that are ancient.

 

 

Works Cited

"K-12 School Funding Issues." Stand Up Montana. Stand up for Education. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://standupmontana.org>.

Bloomsburg, Cody. "New School Funding Plan in the Works." Daily Inter Lake: Northwest Montana's Source for News, Sports and Weather. 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://dailyinterlake.com>.