Underfunding Of Schools Essay

Schools have been desegregated by law since 1954, when the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education made it illegal, but today the effects of segregation can still be seen. Although there are a large variety of factors contributing to the underfunding of schools with high minority concentrations, the two largest contributing factors are the lasting effects of segregation and the overdependence on local taxes.

The high schools of Saint Joseph, MI, and Benton Harbor, MI, two neighboring cities with a history of segregation, are tragic examples of how segregation has affected education standards. Benton Harbor, a school with 99% minority enrollment, has only a 64% graduation rate, and only 3% of students have math and reading proficiency.

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation says that only an average of 7% of public school K–12 funding is federally sourced. Since federal funding is meager, the rest of the budget is raised by the state and local governments, which contribute 47% and 46%, respectively. This means minority communities, which already have lower incomes and other economic disadvantages due to systemic racism, are put in a position to pay for almost half of the school's budget, which leaves them underfunded. Most of this local funding comes from levying property taxes, and since less than half of minorities own houses as compared to 75% of white Americans, people of color are left with underfunded schools. A study done by the UK’s National Foundation for Educational Research looking at educational performance in OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) members found that Australia spends just as much on average per student as the U.S.A., but 27% of their funding is federal. Australia ranked 6th out of 38 OECD countries, and the US only ranked 15th. Higher federal funding has the potential to provide students in adverse situations (i.e., people with disabilities, the mentally ill, and non-English speakers) with equitable care on a large scale, meaning each student could have a fair chance at a good education according to their

The solution to combating this is to call it what it really is: racism, plain and simple. When school segregation is seen for what it really is, in regards to how to desegregate schools, the Cambridge Day newspaper had this to say: "comprehensive zoning reform and enforcement of fair housing laws on the state and local levels.". The article goes into further detail as to how this was carried out in the state of Massachusetts through rezoning, building more houses, and establishing more fair and inclusive housing on state and local levels. Desegregation like this would, of course, be a big investment, but a paper from the Century Foundation Press argues that, after time, it would actually save them money. The paper found that reducing segregation by half resulted in a 10% higher graduation rate. Setting up more students for success by having them receive their diplomas will generate $20,000 per student for the government in tax revenues and a reduction in crime and welfare spending. In addition to the $20,000 saved for the government, each student who graduates will earn on average $13,000 more due to the paths opened to them with their diplomas. Properly integrating school districts is an affordable investment that gives young people of color more opportunities to prosper after