How negatively do massive budget cuts affect students? School funding has been so drastically cut that prisons are now out funding schools by over three times as much; between 1980 and 2014, prison spending grew by 324 percent while school spending only grew by 107 percent. School budget cuts are leaving students underprepared for higher education, workforces, and many other aspects of life. In the Tulsa Public Schools District between $7 million and $20 million worth of funding cuts took effect on the 2016 to 2017 school year alone. Many people are aware of the massive budget cuts many public schools around the U.S. are facing but very few actually understand the implications of these cuts. Budget cuts to schools affect every aspect of student life negatively, these effects even go beyond the K-12 level and have negative implications on students attending colleges and universities. How do the budget cuts now compare to the budget …show more content…
The priority of students’ educations is taking a backseat when it comes to the budget cuts. Many schools throughout the nation have cut funding per-student even further than they did during the Great Recession. Nick Albares, co-author of “Most States Have Cut Funding, and Some Continue Cutting,” asserts that current budget cutting is surpassing the budget cuts that took place during the recession. As an expert with access to numerous fiscal sources and databases he states “In nine of these states, the cuts came on top of previous cuts, leaving the states further below pre-recession levels,” With cuts this clear it is obvious to see that when such cuts are being made students are not kept in mind. This is another example of a positive fiscal year taking priority over a positive education. Our economy is proving that we have the funding to better support schools, yet time and time again we are seeing the bulk of this funding distributed