Educational system doesn’t make the grade

By Olivia Biagi
Collegian Editor
October 10, 2007

As a co-coordinator of the Neighborhood Tutoring Program here at La Salle, I have the opportunity to supervise tutors who work one-on-one with children in kindergarten through eighth grades. It is an amazing program to be involved in, knowing that I’m helping a child further his or her academic career by getting him or her on the right track early. However, it breaks my heart to see some of these children, with all the potential in the world, who can’t read at the appropriate grade level, or do simple addition and subtraction at the age of seven. The state of elementary and secondary education in this country is embarrassing, unfair and in need of serious reform, starting with school funding.

Public school budgets, which pay teachers and superintendents salaries, provides school buses, classroom supplies and all other general expenses to keep a school running, are provided by a portion of land owners property taxes. My issue with this is that children of lower economic status live in areas where the property taxes are lower. That means that the amount of money going into those children’s school districts will be less than a school district in a wealthier area.

This is outrageously unfair. How are we supposed to help children rise above their economic status if we do not offer them the same opportunities as children in wealthier areas? Education in this country should be of equal quality, no matter the school district, and should not be based on the property value of the surrounding residences.

During a class discussion I participated in earlier this week, one of my classmates brought up this point: If the government took one percent of everyone’s gross annual income and put it toward education, there would be much more money available for school districts. I also believe that if each state took that money from those one percent taxes, put it in a general education fund, and divided it among each student attending public school, everyone would have the opportunity for an equal education.

Currently, each school district has a different figure for what it costs per student to attend school. In the state of Pennsylvania for the 1999-2000 school year, half of the school districts spent $6,828 to $8,373 and the other half spent $5,905 to $6,826, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.If the school budget money all came from the same place, the state could set a standard number for what it costs each child’s education and every child could then receive the same education.

I understand that adjusting school funding won’t help all of the students who are struggling, and I recognize that a lot of the problems stem from home-life. But by giving kids an equal opportunity at education we are moving in the right direction.

All children should have the chance to attend a school with state-of-the-art equipment and good after-school programs to give them a place to go. I often hear people complain that in the U.S. today, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. But if we give everyone the opportunity to receive the same quality elementary and secondary education, it will also give them the same opportunity to attend colleges, universities, or technical schools. It will also serve to give them a chance at a better life and better jobs than perhaps their parents have. Fixing our education system is the only way we can guarantee that our nation will run successfully.

biagio1@lasalle.edu