School funding can greatly affect the quality of education students receive

Currently, Illinois schools are funded, in part, by local property taxes. Well, this current system is not serving all the students in Illinois equally. Familes that reside in more affluent neighborhoods have higher taxes and therefore the schools are getting more funds. Families in poorer neighborhoods pay lower taxes; therefore the schools are getting less funds. The funds schools receive has a great impact on the quality of education students may receive. The funds schools receive can determine many factors such as the equipment the schools purchase, the resources the schools have, the teachers and supporting staff of the schools. Of course, the more money a school has, the more resources and so forth the school will have for students. On the other hand, if a school does not have adequate funding, it may be difficult to purchase appropriate and sufficient amounts of materials for students. There may be a lower number of highly qualified teachers as well.

Students need to have learning experiences that are pertinent and meaningful. There needs to be equipment available to suppport lessons. There needs to be qualified staff to teach in the classes. We need to have teachers with math degrees or math backgrounds teaching math, teachers with science backgrounds teaching science, and so forth. There needs to be buildings that have safe structures. Some schools are falling apart from the inside out. Students have to look at peeling paint, stained walls, and broken equipment as supported at http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php?title=School_Funding&action=edit. According to Wikipedia, buildings are in such bad conditions, they are not conducive to learning. Funding or lack thereof can impact all of these items. Everything cost money and schools need to have access to money.

As a whole, we as a society have a responsiblity to our children. We are responsible to making sure all our children are having access to equal learning experiences. All children are entitled to have books to read, computers to utilize, and qualified teachers to learn from in their classrooms. The resources available should not depend on zip codes. There is no doubt there needs to be some type of reform that ensures all of our children are learning and are getting an quality education in school.

One option could be equally distributing property taxes to schools. This may not be appealing to everyone, but it could eliminate many of the strains schools are currently facing. Because there is such a gap in the funding schools receive, it seems logical to use some of the excess money to support struggling schools. In Illinoism there is such a disparity in the amount of money schools spends per student. According to A+ Illinois at www.aplusillinois.org/media/articles.asp?pressReleaseID=467, some districts could afford to spend up to $23, 000 dollars per student whereas other districts could only afford less than $5, 000 per student. Now, being reasonable, there would be quite a difference between a $23,000 education and a $5,000 education. In other words, students in low income neighborhoods are getting the shorter end of the stick.

If schools are given equal funds, they will be able to afford many of the same equipment, resources, staff, and so forth. Students will be able to have the same opportunities in education regardless of their socioeconomic status. Education needs to equal to all and therefore, the funding should reflect this notion.