PUBLIC EDUCATION, BUT AT WHAT COST?

DEFUNDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

BY GABRIEL CONTRERAS

It's hard enough to believe in how much stress public schools teacher have, starting the Fall year. Getting new supplies and things that need around the classroom. It's sad that almost all public school teachers, 94% of them have spent some of their own money on school supplies without any reimbursement. According to a survey done by the National Center for Education Statistics, the data was collected from 2014 to 2016.

For all this talk about the importance of education and declarations that teaching is one of the most valued professions. Yet the payout hasn't been matched for those core values that they teach and have a passion for. There have been more school walkouts across the Nation not just the disinvestment on low paying teachers and high paying healthcare has been. This has also exposed the worsening conditions that these public schools have to endure with crumbling instructers infrastructure, school supplies and outdated material that cant be afforded. An occurrence of school walk-outs has been placed in North Carolina, where some schools canceled classes as teachers and others marched in the capital. Similar rallies have been held this year in Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.

The protesters have been successful at extracting concessions from conservative lawmakers, though the deals have not always fully met their demands.


Lawmakers have persistently been underfunding public schools. 25 states spend $19 billion less on public K-12 education than before the Great Recession(2008), according to a recent AFT report. States that have made policy choices to slash taxes for the wealthy. This underfunding explains why, in 38 states, the average teacher salary is lower in 2018 than it was in 2009, and why the pupil-teacher ratio was worse in 35 states in 2016 than in 2008.

The case has been shown on the lack of appreciation for public school teachers. How out of the way all teachers go for there students to get the best learning expirence they can give. I dont believe the teacher enjoy taking time out of the curricular activity. To present these issue, but something needs to change.

Statistics were taken from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/teachers-school-supplies.html

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