Through the valiant funding of taxpayers, public schools stand as the icon of equal opportunity for all children in America. Through the system developed by a society who have always prided themselves on the future of the next generation, government-funded school systems stand as the precipice of opportunity for everyone. Is that truly the case, though?
Despite public school’s core purpose to offer all children an equal chance of success, it often appears that some schools cannot provide that opportunity. For example, Oklahoma ranked 50th in the nation for education quality according to a study done by WalletHub. The scoring and ranking was figured by comparing standardized test scores along with skill comprehension exams. (such as math, english, science, etc.) The ranking shows that students who hail from Oklahoma are more likely to develop minimal understanding of subjects that school teaches.
WalletHub also analyzed how different schools expend funds in order to better a school’s performance. According to the study, Oklahoma spends very little in their education system, ranking 49th in the nation.
So, states that put more emphasis on spending into their schools will have better performance academically, right? Of course not, that would be too obvious of an answer.
Alaska was rated 49th in education, however, was rated 13th in educational spending. Like a proper businessman, the Alaskan government is practicing throwing money at a problem and hoping it works. Kevin J. McCabe, an Alaskan representative, recognizes the fault in that plan and elucidates upon the statistical scrutinies of Alaska’s educational expenditures. He claims, “Alaska’s education system is already among the most expensive in the nation and among the worst for results. More money without serious reform will only lock in failure.” (Must Read Alaska) McCabe further notes how the state’s over spending is forcing families to expend more of their money for another kid’s faulty education, which is an overall waste of money considering how good of a job they are doing . He claims, “‘Alaska’s education cartel is counting kids for cash.’ And with fewer kids, they need more cash per kid to retain jobs. And this ‘cash’ is free to them; just get the NEA to trigger Alaskans via emotional, media-supported rhetoric, and voila, other people’s money appears.” (Must Read Alaska)
The National Center for Education Statistics was curious about state expenditure and found the differences between families that live in high income districts in contrast to those who live in low income districts. It states that 1 in 7 students lives in poverty. That means 14% of students live in poverty. Likewise, the families who suffer from intense financial hardships may not be paying essential needs to their fullest extent. A lack of money going into a state’s tax system inhibits the money that goes into schools. Essentially, if a state is doing poorly at supporting its citizens, the money that would go towards schools becomes diminished.
Therefore, how do states ranked near the bottom rectify their predicament? Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to every school. For instance, Oklahoma forces teachers from high-rated blue states to take an ideology test in order to teach. The test, however, is not a real test. In fact, it is impossible to fail. According to Janelle Stecklein, “you can get every answer wrong and still receive a ‘Certificate of Completion’ certifying that you have ‘successfully completed the Teacher Qualification Test.’ I know because I purposely set out to get every question wrong by picking the stupidest answers.” Essentially, Oklahoma is checking if someone can use google correctly. Because of this–among many other issues–Oklahoma is suffering a decline in teacher quantity and quality. So, obviously, Oklahoma is in need of an administration upgrade.
Of course, not all schools are the same. Schools and administrations need to put time and effort into understanding what issue they could be facing and how to properly resolve it. It will not matter how much money a school blasts at its system if the resources aren’t going where they need to. Schools need to be a place of equal opportunity, after all, not a tax checklist. A student’s future matters so schools should be able to put aside economic or political mistrust in order to help them. The future is not made by past grievances, it is made by onlooking hope.
