A current educational issue here in Pennsylvania is financially
distressed schools. More specifically there
are many districts such as Philadelphia that are dealing with a budget crisis
that is having a negative impact on the school system. Senator Daylin Leach,
who represents the 17th district wrote about the education issues in
Pennsylvania and proposed solutions and the Education Voters of Pennsylvania also
discussed the Philadelphia Budget Advocacy.
According to Senator Daylin Leach, “financially distressed schools risk defaulting
on their debts or worse, closing their doors. Therefore, legislation is being
considered to create a framework under which the state can help by giving
expertise and money to these districts” (Daylin Leach Representing the 17th
Senatorial District, 2012). The
Education Voters of Pennsylvania are encouraging voters to “take action to
support Philadelphia’s public school students because without sufficient
funding, our schools can’t provide the basic programs and services that our
children need to have an opportunity to learn” (Education Voters of
Pennsylvania, 2015).
Lack of funding for the public school system is having an
influence on educational practices because resources for students are limited, and
many teachers have to cover the cost for materials that their students need to
make sure that they have the opportunity to receive an adequate educational experience. Classroom sizes have also increased because many
school teachers have been laid off as an effort to reduce the budget cost creating
a 30:1 student-teacher ratio in most cases. Increased
classroom size presents a challenge for many teachers due to the diversity of
the students and can affect the level of classroom instruction. Former Governor Tom Corbett signed a bill
into law that was “designed to help financially distressed school districts and
ensure education for the children who live in these communities” ("Gov.
Corbett Signs Legislation to aid financially distressed schools," 2012),
however the lack of funding for public schools have contributed to parents
exploring different educational opportunities for their children such as
charter, private and online schools.
The school reform law was designed to “set a course of action that
will help guide financially distressed school districts back onto solid economic
ground, because the state will provide financial assistance as well as
management assistance” ("Gov. Corbett Signs Legislation to aid financially
distressed schools," 2012). I believe that the lack of funding for public
schools will eventually lead to the elimination of public school districts in
the near future because of the increase of available charter schools and
homeschooling. While the lack of funding
for public school is very disturbing is has very little effect on my decision
to become a school teacher because public school education is one of many
different educational experiences that students can have so there are always
going to be available educational settings to teach. Charter Schools are becoming more available
and the learning experience is designed to be a combination of public and
private education that is tuition-free and that is where many inspiring
teachers like myself will launch our career as a teacher due to the lack of
funding for public schools.
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