Funding in the United States public school system has always been a topic of controversy. Public schools residing in poverty-stricken districts are constantly receiving less money from the government than those in wealthier areas. This pattern has caused a major set-back for the students living in the poor districts because they are not receiving updated resources and technology, causing them to fall behind the students living in wealthier areas. Increased school funding not only improves the quality of the education that these students are receiving, but also allows for better trained teachers and faculty creating a healthier environment for all parties involved. There are multiple factors that go into how much money schools receive from the government including the property taxes from the given area that school is residing in and various laws and regulations that each state must follow. The lack in funding for these hurting districts is having negative repercussions on their student’s academic performances and that is causing for major achievement gaps between the affluent and poverty-stricken districts. The lack of school funding in schools across the United States is hindering students’ ability to reach their full academic potential in that they are not receiving the necessary and updated resources they deserve due to the area they reside in.

Increased school funding leads to an overall improvement of the quality of education in the United States public school system. It has been shown that the schools residing in struggling districts receive older and used resources and many of the institutions are under-staffed. In Kandice Sumner’s TED talk, “How America’s Public Schools Keep Kids in Poverty,” she discusses the issues regarding the distribution of funds across schools in the United States. She specifically discusses the struggles the school she teaches at faces with respect to the lack of quality resources they receive and the handicaps that puts on the teachers and students in their learning environment. Here, it is evident of the true, harsh effects that the lack of funding can have on a school, its students and teachers, as well as the overall quality of education. Students who attend schools that do not receive new and updated resources tend to do poorly because they do not feel that others want them to succeed leading to poor self-esteem and no growth within the students. Not having the access to new resources is setting students back from reaching their full academic potential. It is causing them to follow in the foot-steps that are expected of them and to never go out of their comfort zone. Although it is difficult for many of the United States’ citizens to see, lacking these funds is greatly effecting the success of our future generations in that students across the country are being limited to the career and educational options simply due to the lack of wealth their families and school system have.

The debate regarding the power of choice within the public-school system has arisen over the past decade. In Gina Caneva’s article “The Focus on School Choice Has Resulted in Poorly Funded Schools,” she introduces the idea of school choice and that allowing parents to choose where their children attend school is causing the struggling school districts to receive less government funding because they have fewer students than the more affluent schools. Caneva states “Education leaders and elected officials must realize that school choice is meaningless without the right resources in all schools.” School choice in the public-school system does in fact benefit many students, but it also drastically hurts many as well. Allowing students to fight to attend the “better” schools near their area leaves the struggling ones in the dust, fighting to be noticed by the government, future and current faculty, as well as potential students. The schools residing in these poverty-stricken districts are being over looked because they have a smaller student body, yet they are the ones who need the most assistance and money to provide their students with adequate resources. While the more affluent schools have the funds and their students’ families have the ability to purchase new resources and technology, the students at the hurting schools do not have that ability. The United States public school system’s priorities do not seem to be in line, instead of building more and more schools, they should focus on the improvement of the schools already up and running in the states. Slowing the building of new schools can benefit all involved in the public-school system, struggling or not, in that the government will now be able to focus the funds that would have been spent on construction and hiring new faculty, on the improvement of the quality of education at their existing schools. The government and donors can do this by providing new resources and updating technology as well as providing further training and assistance to their teachers and faculty to ensure a safe and joyful environment for all those attending and working at these schools. Although focusing on school choice has been beneficial for some, it is hurting more. The students who are not fortunate enough to get chosen from a lottery or live in a specific school district are being left behind causing them to not want to learn and fall behind in their academic endeavors.

An increase in school funding allows for students to have a more available resources as well as a greater variety of classes for them to choose from when developing their schedules. The idea that increased school funding leads to the ability to choose and allows for a better overall academic experience can be supported through the article “International Evidence on School Competition, Autonomy, and Accountability: A Review” by Ludger Wobmann. Wobmann states that “choice can often be expected to exert its impact in a systemic way, affecting not only individual schools but the whole system.” The idea of choice has a large impact on the education system as a whole. It instills motivation within students because they now have some say in their academic endeavors and are no longer being forced into every “decision” regarding their educational experience. With many schools in the United States lacking proper funds, they are unable to provide their students with this sense of choice. Instead, they are struggling to even receive a few new textbooks and individuals to properly train their teachers which causes the students to feel unconfident in their actions, again, leading to a decrease in their academic performance.

The struggles with regards to educational funding is specifically hitting Massachusetts hard. Although many of the state’s schools are properly funded because they have educational funds within their budget, there are still multiple schools and areas struggling. In Gail Zeman’s article “Education Reform and School Funding in Massachusetts,” she states “Educational funding is primarily dependent on local property tax revenues, except in the poorer districts where property tax funding is deemed insufficient. Most districts are “departments” of their municipalities, so every year, schools are in competition with police, fire, public works, and other departments for the available property tax dollar.” This provides insight into the breakdown of funding for public services specifically for Massachusetts, however, it does not differ much for other states. This introduces the struggle with deciding where the little money an area has should go. The reason these poverty-stricken districts’ students are falling behind the growth curve is because they are not being provided with an adequate education and are not being provided the same opportunities the students growing up in wealthier districts have. The financial gap between the wealthy and poor districts is not only effecting the economy and the adults living in these areas, but it is also having a negative effect on the student’s educational experience which will greatly affect their futures. 

The lack of school funding in the United States’ public-school system has the ability to affect not only the current generations enrolled in the schools but also the future generations to come. Without proper resources, the school system is setting students up to fail because they are unable to be adequately prepared for higher education and the work force. Michael Leachman provides insight into this matter through his article “Most States Still Funding Schools Less Than Before the Recession.” Leachman states “To prosper, businesses require a well-educated workforce. The deep education spending cuts states have enacted will weaken that future workforce by diminishing the quality of elementary and high schools.” The irony of this is that most United States’ citizens and businesses are looking for the person to invent new technologies and to develop new ideas but with these large budget cuts, the up and coming generations who would have the ability to make these discoveries will not because they were not provided with the tools to help them succeed at a young age. This not only effects the individual student’s future but also the future of the country’s economy as well. If the future generations are not being invested into, the products and services on the market in the United States will not improve; there will be no growth in the economy and this will lead to even more budget cuts in the education system as well as other areas such as the fire and police departments. Currently, the government feels that cutting the budget for educational funding will assist in benefitting the economy and other government services currently but what is not being thought of is the long-term effects of these cuts. The perspective on educational funding must change, instead of looking at it as just another expense, individuals must begin to think of it as an investment into the future of the United States and its economy. Lacking funds does not only hinder a student’s academic potential but it also can give rise to issues regarding the success of their future and determine their position in the workplace. 

Although the financial state of a school plays a major role in the success of a student, many would argue that work ethic has an even greater effect on a student’s academic performance. In John P. Meriac’s study “Examining Relationships among Work Ethic, Academic Motivation, and Performance,” he states “Given that today’s students occupy many additional roles in addition to their classwork, individuals who are better at managing their time are more likely to earn higher grades in their classes.” Here, his conclusion that there is a direct correlation between work ethic and academic performance is evident. A student’s increased work ethic leads to an increased motivation and this leads to an increase in the student’s test scores and grade point average, displaying an overall increase in student academic performance. If a student does not have the motivation to do well they will not perform well in an academic setting no matter what school they attend. However, the idea that the lack of school funding is hindering students’ academic potential still stands in that no matter how hard a student works, if they are not provided with the updated resources, they will always fall behind the students who are receiving those resources.

The funds that individual schools and school districts receive, have a great effect on the school’s students’ academic success. With a lack in school funding, schools are unable to higher qualified teachers and are unable to provide their students with adequate resources that will assist in enhancing their overall academic experience. All in all, the lack of available funds for the public-school system in the United States is hindering students’ academic performance in that they are being withheld from proper resources and well-trained teachers. 
