Written by Grace Chen

With a dwindling economy, job losses, and severe government budgetary cuts, how will America’s public schools be impacted? 

 

 

When average workers are laid off and no longer generate an income, their regularly paid income tax no longer exists.  This means that an array of public programs, especially schools, ultimately lose a major portion of their funding.  In some cases, this means public schools are forced to make serious choices about lay-offs and job cuts of their own.  In other cases, a loss in funding means that students may have less elective opportunities, decreased exposure to new and expensive technologies, and increased class sizes.  With the many hard choices amidst the recession, nearly all schools are faced with an often devastating loss. 

 

 

Public schools are funded through an array of measures, including local property taxes, state funds, and federal funds.  However, as Intercultural Development Research Association explains, the majority of school funding is derived from local property taxes and state funds.  The state funds for schools come from sources such as gas taxes, franchise taxes, and other additional taxes. 

 

In the state of a recession, schools are hit by a loss from all three of these funding sources. For example, in areas with a high property tax, schools are generally provided with more funding; conversely, low property taxes usually result in schools with less funding. As many Americans report job loss and subsequent home loss, however, the amount of money taken in from property taxes is gradually decreasing.  If individuals are not buying and maintaining the ownership to their homes, the state and local government cannot take in revenue from the regularly paid property taxes. 

 

 

With a loss of funds, schools are forced to cut specific school perks and programs. The decisions regarding the allocation of funds is not within the realm of an administrator, but rather, policy makers, school board leaders, and other county / district officials. 

 

In cases of decreased revenue, schools are hit hard in an array of focus areas.  For example, when schools have less money, they tend to eliminate or severely decrease funding for elective courses in order to focus on the academic and core classes.  As students are forced to take standardized tests in math, English, and other core classes, school leaders tend to protect these subject areas more intensely than optional courses, such as art, music, and physical education. 

 

There are also other cuts made within public schools when funding turns south. Some schools are forced to eliminate teacher jobs.  This tends to lead to an increase in class sizes, as a smaller number of teachers must teach a rising number of students. 

 

This loss in teacher jobs has been evident in areas hit the hardest by the downturned economy. For example, in Michigan, a state crippled by the loss of jobs from the three big automakers, thousands of teachers reported recent lay offs, job cuts, and salary freezes.  As the Maycomb Daily, a local Michigan paper, explains, many Michigan schools are faced with a serious drop in funding.  As the report expounds, students in one local district will face larger class sizes in addition to school reassignments, as some schools are even being forced to close.  This attempt to move and resize classrooms is in an effort to improve student learning while coping with a $1.4 million budget deficit. 

 

Yet loss of programs and larger classes are not the only issues schools are forced to face. In addition to these academic concerns, many schools are now unable to provide their lower-income students with free and reduced lunch plans and basic support.  In fact, as the Maycomb Daily further explains, one local early childhood center in Michigan had to deter 40 eager students from attending their program. 

 

While this school and others are forced to turn some students away, other schools are struggling to figure out how to get some students back!  With job losses affecting specific areas, many states and cities are experience a case of “family flight,” where parents are moving their children to different areas in the country in search of more stable jobs. In again examining Michigan, one school reported a 35 percent decrease in student enrollment over the course of just seven years.  As students leave, schools simply have less money. In response, if teachers are laid off, they tend to move away as well.  With this trickle-down effect, whole areas (and even whole states) are experiencing greater difficulty recovering from the recent funding struggles.

 

 

While schools certainly face serious challenges with the funding decrease in recent months, some school leaders are focusing on a more optimistic future.  With the recent economic stimulus package, government officials assert that public schools will be provided with an additional $106 billion in federal funding. With this benefit, school leaders are anxiously awaiting new sources of income in order to regain a sense of solid and stable ground.  

 

 

ESchool News, “Saving School Budgets in a Recession,” available at http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=57403

 

Intercultural Development Research Association, “How Schools are Funded,” available at http://www.idra.org/Education_Policy.htm/Fair_Funding_for_the_Common_Good/How_your_schools_are_funded/

 

Hotts, Mitch.  “District to Lay Off Teachers,” The Maycomb Daily, available at http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2009/02/16/news/srv0000004713021.txt