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Today, I want to address decision-making and funding. Yes, we’re going to talk about money… again. It’s important to remember that it’s not how much money is spent on education, it’s how money is spent on education. So, here are today’s problems, with some suggestions for how to fix them.
Politicians, Not Educators and Parents, Making Decisions
I started teaching at the same time that No Child Left Behind came out. Standards and demonstrating mastery of those standards became the most important part of education. These changes were brought about by politicians at the federal and state levels. Now we are experiencing Common Core Standards. Politicians are telling teachers what to teach, how to teach it, what constitutes mastery, and they’re tying money to it. If you don’t meet the bureaucratically mandated standard of proficiency, you will lose funding. Politicians, not educators and parents, are making these decisions and the educators are forced to try to adhere to them, regardless of whether it’s what’s best for kids.
I went to college to learn how to do what I do. I graduated with all these great ideas for how I was going to do things in my own classroom. Then I entered the world of public education. I have a lot less control over my classroom than I’d ever imagined I’d have. I am told what to teach and often I’m told how to teach it. Decisions are made for me but I’m still the one responsible for the outcomes.
What can we do about it? Politicians must be willing to relinquish control to educators and parents. This may be the hardest change yet because it’s really hard to put toothpaste back in the tube. This requires advocating for our children and telling our politicians we want their noses out of our classrooms, regardless of their party affiliation because both sides are guilty of meddling in public education.
Educational Hunger Games
It was infuriating to read that several years ago Congress gave the Department of Education $4.35 billion with no strings attached. And the answer to that was to start a new program called, Race to the Top, which required states to apply for grants to obtain this money. What an incredible missed opportunity. Rather than divide the money equitably among the states and District of Columbia the states were instead required to play some sick Educational Hunger Games, applying for grants to get extra money. This puts poorer states that do not have the money to hire professional grant writers at a disadvantage. A government that is supposedly of the people and for the people should not be using the people’s money to make educators jump through hoops to access the funds needed to educate the people.
What can we do about it? If Congress wants to spend money on education, give it to the states and localities to spend as they see fit. Some will need to update their facilities, some will need to hire new staff, some will need to update their technology, some will need to buy books, etc.. The states and localities have a better idea of what they need than bureaucrats at the Department of Education (many of whom have NO classroom experience). We have to contact our elected officials and tell them we want that money sent back to the schools, not to the Department of Education. Again, funding should go from the littlest kindergartener up and there is a lot of administrative fat that could be trimmed to free up funding.
Tomorrow I’ll address treatment of teachers and professionalism.