How should funding equity issues be addressed?
We need to stop focusing on textbooks, and spend money on technology AND the training teachers need to use it effectively. Kids need access to computers and the internet, and teachers need to know how to help their students navigate the technology. The internet has resources that are on the cutting edge and are continually updated. Textbooks are outdated the minute they are printed. Textbooks are not THE curriculum, they are a tool to help students access the curriculum. There are so many other, more cost -effective ways, of providing these materials to students (trade books, novels, etc).
We need to find ways to provide schools with these tools and the infrastructure to enable teachers and students to use them effectively. Grants are an option, as is reforming school funding. Funding schools through soley property taxes is not equitable. Students in the city should have as much opportunity to utilize technology as students in a wealthy suburb. Funding through property taxes also puts schools and teachers at odds with the community every time a contract is up for negotiation.
I do know that school funding should become a number one priority. These kids are the future of our country and we do them a grave disservice by not providing equal access to a quality education.
Thanks for listening!
Traci Meziere
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Grants, maybe. This is a hard one because it's basically been proven that funding does not improve schools, and it does not improve student achievement. In fact, there are several schools here in NJ that are in inner-city areas, and that have been flooded with money to support them, and the money is completely wasted because students steal all the supplies and sell them, or it disappears through some sort of corruption. Money is not the answer to education (the textbook companies would like it to be, though!). We do need to get away from teaching "programs" and go back to actually "teaching". - Michele from NJ
Comments (2)
gail poulin said
at 6:28 pm on Jan 9, 2009
Could you please explain this question in more depth?
Lori Roe said
at 11:12 am on Jan 11, 2009
Funding is necessary to support any and all initiatives in education. The problem often is micromanaging from the top down. Strong leadership is often lacking in the area of strategic planning. Competitive grants and federal regulations have not created equity in distribution of funding. Funding for personnel, professional development, capital outlay, contracted services, materials and supplies, etc. needs to be balanced proportionately for successful implementation and sustainment.
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