Lack Of Funding By Julia Zwibelman

Funding can be viewed from its three sources: local, state, and federal. Due to the solutions to unequal education discussed so far, desegregation and the lack of access to resources and funding, Julia Zwibelman outlines a goal that strives for the “redistribution or resources, the retention of local control, and the effectiveness of increased spending.” Providing power and accountability to the school district itself would “ensure schools and the communities they serve work together to identify problems and develop solutions” (Feuerstein). However, the funding across individual school districts still shows great disparities. Many districts in areas of poverty collect less taxes because residents live in homes of lesser value, so what funding

In terms of the students’ home environments, advocates cannot forget the “impact of nutrition, adequate housing, safe communities, or adequate health care” (Langa-Riordan 139). Legislators must strive to cost manage efficiently without sacrificing the need for students to be “supported by adults, have positive peer networks, and feel safe” (Lagana-Riordan 141). The answer may be to require schools to complete a more thorough record of students’ home lives, including a survey of single parents, crime rates in neighborhoods, and parent’s level of education. Similarly to the way that a teacher’s attitude affects their students’ education, a parent’s attitude or willingness to help with homework and hold themselves and their child accountable for knowing and remembering the information taught throughout the school year can affect a child’s effort in the classroom or at home and the retention of information. However, it may be difficult to gage a parent’s participation honestly because of different values and any presumptions that may prevent an honest assessment with a simple survey. But if this information could be collected accurately, then it would open the doors to a new solution. The optimal outcome of increased or redistributed funding would be to identify and address unequal education from a young age to prevent a plateau in mathematics and reading capabilities. Nonetheless, older students that appear to have fallen behind deserve a second chance too, so creating school systems in which extra funding is provided for the specific use of social workers and promotion of better mental and physical health. Designating extra counselors and specialists to schools where most students would not need the resource would not be cost effective, but concentrating specialists into a single school and rezoning at-risk neighborhoods or pinpointing individual students for intervention