How Budget Cuts in Education Impact Students
It is not unheard of for school systems to face budget cuts,
but what often happens is that cuts are made and very little is done to reestablish
priorities for school with limited financial resources. At the primary and secondary school levels, budget
cuts mean fewer teachers, reliance on dated textbooks, cutbacks on extracurricular
programs, and larger class sizes. At the collegiate level, budget cuts mean
that students end up paying more for less and campuses find themselves
stretching their resources in ways that they might not recover from.
Slashing educational funding in the U.S. has far-reaching
implications for everyone. Let’s look
specifically at the primary and secondary school levels. In February of 2012,
it was reported that 120 school districts had moved to a four-day school week
while others were forced to cancel field trips or charge students to play
sports. In Keller, Texas, the school systems opted to charge students for bus
transportation rather than cut busing all together and in numerous states,
programs like drama and art are dwindling because of limited resources.
In a 2011 interview Steve Ellis, principal of Fike High
School in Wilson, North Carolina said that many teachers find themselves using
the funds they do have in unique ways.
For example they do not have textbook money anymore, so they make
workbooks. Teachers often spend their own money to furnish classrooms or
provide students with needed supplies.
In many school districts, parents also subsidize the classrooms by
providing everything from tissues, cleaning supplies, and snack stipends. Even
with federal stimulus dollars, which fizzled out and the end of the 2011 fiscal
year, school systems still struggle to find a balance and fill the gaps.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 26
states will spend less per pupil in 2013 than in 2012 and even though several
states increased funding in 2012 it was not enough to restore the cutbacks that
were a direct result of the recession in 2007.[1] Hundreds of educators have lost their jobs
and vital student services which benefit low-income communities have been
terminated. This ultimately widens the
achievement gap even more.
In October, 2011, 1,850 students responded to a survey (http://www.layouth.com/wp-content/uploads/Jan12_Budget_Survey_results.pdf)
in which they were asked about how budgeted cuts have impacted their schools.
Sixty-seven percent of the students reported that overcrowded classrooms made
them feel as if their teachers did not have enough time to teach and another
57% stated that they had to copy information from overheads because there was
not enough paper to make copies of a lesson for everyone in class, while 52%
reported that there were not enough working computers in labs. An overwhelming 97% of the respondents said
that they were planning on attending college, which ironically may placed them
in an environment where financially strapped colleges and universities increase
student fees and raise tuition to cover operating costs. Let’s turn our
attention to higher education.
Maintaining educational quality and access for students from
diverse backgrounds remains a priority on campuses across the nation, but as
states continue to reduce funds, colleges and universities will be forced to
raise fees, making it more difficult for students from lower-income backgrounds
to afford a college education. Those
students from high-income backgrounds may opt to attend a private school which
has a direct impact on public higher education.
Much of the education funding is discretionary – meaning it is not mandatory
and does not have to be funded. Other
financial aid programs are being cut as well, which makes it difficult for any
student across the board to see the light of day in terms of any financial
relief. To make matters worse, those
programs that remain have increase or revised eligibility requirements making
it harder for students to qualify for these loans.
Budget cuts affect public higher education in all areas, not
just student access and affordability. Campuses are surviving by using reserve funding
but this too will vanish as an option. At the higher education level, if the
government does not stop budget cuts future implications include but are not
limited to, a decline in the quality of education, increased student debt, more
time to complete a degree program, and diminished access for veterans, students
with disabilities and people from groups historically underrepresented in
higher education.[2]
Overall, the education system in the United States is being
crippled because of fiscal challenges. In terms of educational reform, research
suggests that teacher quality is the most important school-based determinant of
student success. However, with current
budget cuts, it is difficult to recruit the best and the brightest teachers,
making it more challenging to prepare students for the future. While the White House continues to make
education a priority to keep America moving forward, cuts in significant
building block programs (e.g. head start and the arts) and funding for college
students makes the prospect of educational excellence in this country bleak.
Earlier this year, the National Education Association (NEA) called
on educators and friends of public educators to take the “kids Not Cuts” pledge
(http://educationvotes.nea.org/KidsNotCuts)
– a promise to speak up for American’s kids and working families, and to make
sure Congress makes the right choices.
Across the board cuts scheduled to go into effect on January 2, 2013
would cut billions from education. The
NEA recognizes that these budget cuts impact real people and are often hard to
bounce back from but their focus is on working to preserve the educational
system and fight for a balanced approach to budget reductions without cutting
more in education.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
http://www.layouth.com/wp-content/uploads/Jan12_Budget_Survey_results.pdf
[1]
Education funding drops in more than
half of states. (2012, September 09). Huffington
Post. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/education-funding-drops-i_n_1855826.html
[2] Newell, M. (2009) Higher Education Budget Cuts: How
are they Affecting Students?
http://www.cpec.ca.gov/completereports/2009reports/09-27.pdf
