Funding In Education

Official End Time: 1:00 a.m.
Date: 4/11/09
Official End Time: 1:30 a.m.

The introduction of technology to the everyday classroom brought with it more than flashy computer screens and projectors; it also brought a hefty bill with it too. The cost of introducing technology and the training behind its implementation leaves many schools behind technologically. Funding for such programs doesn't come easily when you consider the issues the world faces economically, environmentally, and in terms of efficiency. Even though funding may seem trivial, it is a big reason why many schools fail to meet the expectations of No Child Left Behind and similar government programs.

The issues with funding in education dates back to a time before computers and before cellphones. Before technology, there were textbooks. Textbooks continue to play a vital role in education but since the introduction of technology, textbooks have literally doubled in price. The reason: textbooks fell in demand due to the connectivity that technology introduced. Because of the connectivity technology brought to education, textbooks and additional resources have doubled in price and made funding even harder for many school systems. Government programs such as No Child Left Behind have made it harder for struggling schools to meet their expectations by cutting the funding many schools need to just meet proficiency. In what way does that make any sense?

The logic behind ideas like No Child Left Behind is that by exposing schools that are having issues meeting proficiency, we are providing our students with a healthier, more responsible education system that pushes the best and brightest forward. These views make sense when you consider them in a perfect world where every child comes from a stable home that has the financial resources necessary to attend a 4 year private college. However, we do not live in a perfect world. Many of the school systems that fail to meet proficiency lack the funding and resources necessary for a proper education. Many of the students come from rural backgrounds that place them at a disadvantage when you compare the educational background their educational foundation is based on.

The presentic, in many ways ignorant, view that is used to evaluate education in the 21st century makes meeting proficiency even harder when funding isn't provided. Programs like No Child Left Behind want all schools to excel and yet they rip the legs out from the underneath the future of our student's education by taking away the funding that could be used to help our students achieve. Efficiency is one thing, but putting a price on a child's future is another. Funding shall forever inhibit us from competing in a global economy as efficiency pushes struggling schools even further down the totem pole.

Sincerely, Hector Guzman
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