Just like a roller coaster, everyone has enjoyed watching our economy as it has followed its up and down, looping course. Wait, I have that wrong. Nobody has enjoyed watching what has happened to our economy. Even more than not wanting the roller coaster to stay on its current path, there is not a single person, to my knowledge, who has reveled in the budget cuts to which our county’s education system has been subjected.
Yes when one looks at the numbers it can be viably argued that the monetary value of the cuts made has been necessary. But, in my opinion, the government has not prioritized these cuts properly. At a time when everybody is looking towards the future, the State has been incredibly misguided in having chosen the education budget as the one to be cut rather than countless other budgets.
While it may be controversial to make the claim that certain budgets be cut more than others, in the long-run, cutting the education budget less will directly cause there to be less need for larger budgets in other areas. Take for example the projected Health and Human Services budget for California in 2010-2011. Currently there has been approximately $29, 792, 401 allotted to this department. While I firmly believe that it is important to put money towards health services, by putting some of this money into the Department of Education, I believe that the same end can be reached. In having a larger budget to put towards education, California schools will be able to continue employing its teachers and staff. By keeping people on staff, schools will be better able to educate their students on important issues, such as healthy eating and practicing safe sex. Thanks to being able to maintain a staff that can teach the state’s children in such subjects, California will be able to save money when it comes to health services, meaning that less money can be put towards this department.
There is no doubt that during the recent recession everybody has been strapped for money. But those of us living in California are also put in a tough place when our education is forced to take a massive hit because there is not enough money. I can only speak for myself and those I have talked to, but a slight increase in taxes to ensure that there is a future for California’s education system is something that is acceptable. By slightly increasing the amount of taxes paid to the state, thee will be more money that can be divided amongst the individual departmental budgets, in particular education.
The situation has become so dire for some schools, such as Carthay Center Elementary in Los Angeles Unified School District 4, that fundraising has begun within the school in order to be able to pay the salaries of some faculty members. The school needs to raise $20,000 before September 30 in order to be able to keep its librarian on staff. I ask the following to the state of California and those deciding the budget: is it really worth not providing schools with enough money to be able to keep a librarian on staff? Is putting money towards other things worth keeping children from learning to read? To me the answer to both of these questions is incredibly clear: NO!
It is true that during times such as now, when all pockets are feeling lighter, there is no doubt that it is difficult to decide where money should go and how it should be spent. However, as I have stated, it is quite possible to argue for certain aspects of life to be allocated more money than others. By putting more money towards education, California easily will be able to save money in other areas. But the state has to be patient. The state must learn to prioritize which budgets receive how much money. Maybe if we put more money into our education system, the government would have learned better and finally realize how important education is to our present and future.
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Beyond elementary schools, the budget cuts are hitting hard all the way up through college. Many of the public universities are cutting their class sizes, which drives admissions down...among other side effects. One of them is that because not as many classes are being offered, many students aren't filling their graduation requirements so they may have to start altering those and really compromise the content and quality of students' educations.It puts the cuts on an elementary school level in perspective and how important it is to make sure that education remains a priority in California across the board.
ReplyDeleteDesperate times call for desperate measures. I think a slight increase in tuition at the college level, and a re-allocation of some of the tax dollars that go to the UC schools to public K-12 schools would be a much better idea. Tuition, relative to places like USC which is exorbitantly high, is quite low at UC schools for California residents. When the state legislature announced slight tuition increases, people were very upset at the UC schools, but their tuition was still just a fraction of that of USC or other more expensive private institutions!
ReplyDeleteTo respond to your suggestion for slightly higher taxes....everyone wants to slightly raise taxes for one thing. Taxes are already ridiculously high (Sales tax at 9.75+%!) and the state has to be very careful about how it goes about handling tax increases.