The next generation could well be the most uneducated generation in American history at a crucial point in the nation’s future. Although critics have argued for several years that the U.S. educational system needed immediate reforming, current economic trends, resulting in severely trimmed budgets, are changing the face of education. Sadly, the only governmental measure of public schools remains in the No Child Left Behind initiatives that require funding and intense data keeping. This cannot be done without revenue.
School System Budget Cuts Result in Long-Term Ramifications
In North Carolina, where the state constitution mandates public education for all children, two students have gone to court in Beaufort County after being given extended periods of suspension for fighting. The students and their parents contend that alternative instruction should have been provided. (Lynn Bonner, Raleigh NewsObserver, February 15, 2010) The county, however, lacks the necessary funding.
Forsyth County in North Carolina has an alternative high school for similar students but enrollment is limited. Most school systems cannot afford alternative programs nor can additional classroom space be allocated to accommodate in-house sub-programs.
Rural school districts facing deep budget cut are eliminating Advanced Placement courses, foreign language courses, art and music. (see ERIC Digest) A recent position statement, published by Cornell University’s Department of Education on rural New York schools, states that “the current economic recession has only compounded an already dismal economic picture in Rural New York…”
Short-Term Solutions With Long-Term Consequences
States and local school districts have, in recent months, implemented or plan to implement cost-cutting measures that, taken together, harm student education in the long term. These include:
- Going to a 4-day instructional week
- Laying off teachers and increasing class sizes
- Eliminating planning periods and assigning more classes
- Phasing out foreign language in the elementary and middle school grades
- Ending payments for professional development
- No longer paying for Masters Degrees
- Consolidating bus transportation routs
- Banning field trips and some extra-curricular programs
- Postponing text book purchases
- Instituting mandatory teacher furloughs
- Cutting Special Education program funding and staff
- Increasing class size and consolidating courses regardless of difficulty level
The long term consequences affect students. Non-college bound graduates will find it increasingly harder to compete in a work environment that demands a high skill level. College bound graduates will encounter greater difficulties in freshman-level general education courses, swelling an already increasing college remedial program.
De-emphasized Education
The No Child Left Behind law emphasizes math, science, and writing skills. The dearth of writing skills also prompted the SAT to include a writing section on the national exam used by college admissions departments to determine, in part, an applicant’s success prognosis. Other areas of education, historically viewed as vital to a broad educational experience, have been deemphasized. This includes foreign language skills, history, geography, art, and music.
Such decisions conflict with the growing need for Global Studies and similar programs focusing on an integrated world community. If the United States is to remain a global leader, educational goals must include a broad spectrum of classroom experiences that address every aspect of human development, communication, and inter-cultural understanding. In this, the next generation is being cheated and may pay a heavy cost.
The Cost of Education Must be Separated
Recent demonstrations in California over increased educational costs and severe staff reductions brought together teachers, students, college professors, and parents. Unfortunately, no viable solutions to the budget crisis were offered other than taxing energy producers that currently pay no taxes to the state.
If the future of America is based in large part on the solid education of all citizens, educational funding must become immune from federal, state, and local budget cuts. At the same time, schools can explore methods to economize education without sacrificing rigor and student opportunities and without gutting instructional staffs.
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