Governor Jerry Brown of California gave a brilliant state of the state speech in January, where he pledged to change fundings of public schools so that more money went to children with the greatest needs.
It sounded reasonable. It costs more to educate a child who can’t speak English than one who can. It costs more to educate a child with disabilities than one without them. It costs more to educate children with high needs.
But a Los Angeles Times poll finds that only half of the public support the idea of spending more for those with the highest needs.
This raises the question: Do we really believe in equality of educational opportunity? Or do we feel that it is okay that schools for children from affluent families have more resources than those for children of the poor?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’d say that this is unsurprising. For many Americans (though, thankfully, not all), ‘equal opportunity’ is viewed as a positive when they see it referring to themselves and those like them, and as “communism,” “socialism,” and “entitlements,” when it comes to people they view as “other.” As the late Richard Rorty suggested in CONTINGENCY, IRONY, AND SOLIDARITY, a great deal depends on seeing to it that we learn to expand our definition of who is “like us.” That’s a major part of what democratic, free education should promote. And it’s a major part of what anti-democrats try to undermine at every turn.
Look at Chicago. Look at New York. Look at the public schools in major cities that are being shut down. Where are the Democrats now? We already know that the Republicans want private school choice and vouchers. But so do wealthy Democrats who hide behind slogans like Race to the Top or whatever nonsense they’re promoting. The White House is solidly behind a corporate takeover of the public school system.
Neither Party is standing tall on this issue. We can’t even get the Senate to vote for a rational gun law. America in the 21st Century (more and more like David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest).
One teacher-one student; now that’s a revolution.
Agree that the White House sides with corporate takeover as many States do. Education is a sort of welfare; this country must strike a balance between capitalism and welfare/democracy.
“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
Justice Brandeis
Nearly a century ago, our greatest Justice fought for the democratic rights of the common members of society (families and workers); he championed reforming the bankers and the industrialists/monopolists who would gladly choose plutocracy over democracy.
The struggle has returned but who will stand up for the rest of us? Not President Obama. Not Eric Holder. Not Arne Duncan. They have sold out like so many Republican Administrations before them. Even President Clinton sold out to the Senate Republicans in 1999 and 2000 over financial deregulation. It’s another reason I believe in supporting a Bull Moose-like effort to reclaim a new nationalism.
I’m not sure that people saying all schools should receive the same per-pupil funding is necessarily equivalent to saying that schools for children from affluent families should have more resources than those for children of the poor. I think those folks are simply saying that both schools should have the same resources.
Parents from affluent families already are able to give their children more than parents of low income families. They go to schools where they receive far more than low income children. I want our low income children to have opportunities to see more and do more. I came from a middle class family in mid-state NY. By chance, I was able to go to England at the age of 14 with a family whose children I babysat. The mom was a bride brought from England with her Air Force husband. This trip opened my world for me. I knew I would not stay in this small town. I am the only one in my immediate family with a Master’s. I have traveled extensively. I know that not all children can do this, but a field trip to the Symphony or a National Park can open their eyes. Helping students with their disabilities and/or emotional problems can save the government far more later. They become more productive citizens. Besides, it is what is right. Perhaps if the troubled shooters of Tucson, Sandy Hook, Aurora, etc. had received help, we would not have had the horrific outcomes we have had.
Totally agree. How monetary is spent on education shows the mindset whether we do care about education, and children. Just think, some people are willing to be taxed more used for prisons and youth correction centers rather on Education. Wonder whether something is wrong.
In 2009-10 the US spent $610,000,000,000 on K-12 education. I don’t know if that is too much or too little, but it is ten times what we spend on prisons.
teachingeconomist: there is a direct connection between reading level and likelihood of going to prision. They usually have parents already there. We could reduce the number of people who end up in prision if we could teach them better.
I know I want to do more for them, but I am only one person, and getting more overwhelmed every day. Funding for more teachers (not more programs or bureaucrats!) could make a real difference. But since prisons are privatizing, it makes me wonder if we WANT fewer incarcerations.
I have no doubt that there is a strong connection between the lack of education and incarceration.
There are a number of reasons for the large prison population. You might be interested in this Mother Jones article: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/biggest-obstacle-prison-reform-labor-unions
The more segregated by class, race, and ethnicity we become and the more the economic system produces increasing distance between wealthy and not, I fear the notion of equality of opportunity will continue to wither along with the ideal of social justice.
I think the most obvious lack of our country’s belief in providing equitable learning opportunities for all students is the MAJOR discrepancy between the % of students in certain populations being taught by first-year teachers, un-certified teachers, emergency certified teachers or teachers who plan to make teaching an ‘experience’ as opposed to a career. I see the grossest examples of this when I compare the experiences of students in special education and students in communities with the lowest socioeconomic standing to students in primarily middle-class/ upper-class school districts. There are cases of high school students who have a non-veteran teacher every period of the day!!! There are special education students who have first year teachers every other year! This is not an issue of low teacher retention. In my state we have plenty of substitute teachers. This is instead, a very clear case of discrimination. It will take tough policy that holds cities/ school districts accountable to retain teachers, thereby operating in the best interests of students, to fix this problem. It is absolutely fixable though. Based on the latest results of the TELL survey as well as my conversations with teachers in all of these settings, it’s clear to me: we need to create environments in which teachers can be successful, if we want them to stay. I’d like to see policy that charges districts for having too great a percentage of non-veteran teachers. I think the right charge would be the difference between the non-veteran teacher’s salary and top step. This would remove any hope (on the part of districts) of financially benefiting from hiring ‘temps’ for the most important positions~ teachers… who are responsible for setting us up for a better tomorrow. (Also- I think the $ charged would be best used to improve teaching and learning conditions and managed by someone other than the district.)
Are you referring to the rural/urban divide?
In my district, many new teachers see special ed as a foot in the door. Once they do special ed for a year or two, they get regular ed jobs when a position opens. It’s pretty much the only way to get a teaching job in this economy. I do not know of anyone who has taught SPED beyond 5 years.
When we had layoffs, I did not have enough seniority to keep a regular ed job and had to teach sp. ed that year. I am not certified in SPED, I have no experience with SPED, but we get a one-year pass to teach any subject (they call it out-of-field emergency clearance). After that year, they moved me to kindergarten.
SPED is a job of last resort here, or a get your foot in the door job, and with merit pay based on test scores, it won’t get any better. So sad for the kids! Those SPED kiddos will never have a teacher who knows what s/he is doing.
Is there a shortage of teachers with certification in SPED in your district?
Rhetorically, most people would have the belief.
In reality, I do not think they do as all people want their own children to have advantage.
Unfortunately, we are in a political, economic and social climate defined by individualism. It is the classic case of defining winners and losers through mechanisms of ranking and sorting. Our country also believes that the poor are deserving of their lot in life and that the “taxpayers” have done enough to help. We have no clear message on the “common good” anymore because we have had 40 years of vilification of the poor, a rise in consumerist education/values and a huge decrease in civics education. In addition, we’ve had 40 years of bashing “government” with a concomitant belief that competition is the fairest way to measure success and is always better. The PR machines from both major political parties participate in the spin. Many people are afraid that poverty is contagious and wish to distance themselves from it. We also clearly see that it is sport to publicly humiliate people, especially poor ones, because there will always be exemplars of those who have risen from the depths of poverty.
We are in very ugly times where very wealthy people can make life and death decision for other people’s children without batting an eye. Where the very people who bankrupted the country can point to safety nets for poor and working people as the problem simply because we believe rich people are smarter and better. What’s the old saying? “If you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?”
Very, very well said, mrslewischem. I agree, 100%.
No.
I think theoreticallyl, Americans believe in equality but not if it means redistribution of their money for the less fortunate. Many talk about equality but when it comes to doing something about inequality, no one’s home.That selfish, capitalist mentality rules.
Cogently put, Paula. Do you assume that the only way to achieve “equality” is to spread the wealth around?
Thanks to well-funded “reformers” there is a widely distributed false narrative that has worked it’s way into the public psyche. Many people believe that schools either waste public funds and/or use the funds to overpay teachers. When schools really need proper funding to educate all children successfully, the general populous is skeptical and reluctant to lend their support. Unfortunately, our students are under-served because of this “reform” propaganda.
A well-informed public would repel such a false narrative. That’s our hope.
A number of years ago, citizens in Illinois were asked whether they wanted a state equalizer, so that poorer districts would have a chance at greater funding. My daughter went to school in a well-funded (high local property taxes), well-known, strongly liberal-minded city/suburb which abuts Chicago. I had just finished reading Jonathan Kozol’s Savage Inequalities, which infuriated me. Before the elections, our all-district P.T.A. Council met at a member’s home in our very liberal and socially conscious suburb. Imagine my surprise, then, when the state equalizer came up, and the president urged us all to vote no, “because this measure will take money away from OUR school district.” Many who were present agreed.
Inasmuch as Kozol’s book infuriated me and brought tears to my eyes, this “liberal” vocal majority made me feel quite ill.
Go to Rock Center’s website. Friday night’s show was about juveniles in solitary and how they are committing suicide. We all know there is a direct link between these kids not receiving the help they need and going to prison. Private prisons are the worst. Is this really what we want for our children? I know I don’t. I am against private prisons as well as charters. All of this is eventually going to backfire, but we will all pay the price before that happens.
I think that it comes down to “appearances”. Americans will help those that need it as long as they see those people trying to help themselves as well. Americans don’t like to see money wasted as in the bail out of companies then those companies giving bonues. Americans want to see results and so far they are few and far between. In NJ we give millions to inner city districts and really don’t see anything happening. What we need is success stories from the cities and special ed to see results. They are there, but in everyday lives being touched. We don’t always see the huge dramatic bang.
“But a Los Angeles Times poll finds that only half of the public support the idea of spending more for those with the highest needs.”
Of course, we already spend more for special education than we spend on general education. In some places, like NYC, we spend much, much more. So the question is really whether we should spend “even more” on special education. And as a practical matter, given that classroom spending is already falling even when overall budgets aren’t (as health care, pension, and debt service costs increase faster than tax revenues), spending “even more” on special education almost always means spending more of the same for general ed — rising class sizes, fewer supplies, less art and music.
I’m an ESE parent. I’ve been to 10+ IEP meetings over 7 school years. I’ve presented Neuro-psychological test results to show where the learning disability lies. I’ve asked for help for the teacher. My understanding is that each IEP is worth money to the school. If this is the case it was never the teacher or classrooms my child was in that benefited. (His disability is not an umbrella one such as A.D.D.) Is it possible IEP funds get misused? ? It’s tragic that ALEC and unqualified teachers are infiltrating public education, because public school teachers and students have it rough as it is.
Helping struggling schools and students makes more sense than misusing funds or being unwilling to allocate funds to a school who will use it ethically. It’s about investing in our country’s future. Bilking and fraud are draining America’s funds, not poor students.
I remember a middle school coach telling me all P E classes were outside, and the gymnasium was never used for p.e. But the gymnasium was beautiful, and it was 85+ degrees out. The reason? Because the year before a graffiti incident occurred….