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Getting Serious About Education

 

 

Getting Serious About Education

Education has two sides. One is financial and enables education to work. There are federal, state and local government dollars that fund education. The federal budget figure for education is $127.8B, a number which is hard to fathom due to its enormity. One must assume that the size of the population determines the amount state governments will receive in federal funding but there may be  variables that are considered when allocating funds. The mixture of funding pays for many things like teacher and administrative salaries and benefits, books, supplies, contracted services, interest for borrowing, etc. Just taking into consideration the level of funding for elementary and high schools in a large school district, though part of the national budget, is another figure that can be hard to grasp.

The other side is the actual education of our children. That would be where and how learning takes place. While there are surely districts that have fine educational systems, some maybe many, are lacking. Teacher credentials and performance are now at issue. Children are functioning in high school at a third grade reading level. It has been reported that teachers are coerced into changing student grades to obscure poor performance. So now is the time to start analyzing what is taking place in the schools and its classrooms.

Other matters involving education that need to be addressed are charter schools, school closings, low student achievement test scores, school violence, overspending/deficits, teacher and other staff layoffs and pension underfunding. On the issue of low achievement scores, there is a question that needs to be answered: How can a student attend school for ten years or more and read at a third grade level? It is inconceivable that a student can be promoted consistently while functioning at that level.

For the billions of dollars being spent on education today, the results should be better. It is time to get serious about education and make changes needed to educate our youth.

To hear more about education issues, tune into Blog Talk Radio for the premiere on Apr.12, 2010 at 7:00 a.m. of “Education in the Spotlight”.

If you wish to contact me about this blog, go to http://blogtalkradio.com/janice-m-hypolite.