The Financial Factor in the Public Education System

   In her recent extended policy address, Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos touches on her idea of a School Choice program, in which public funding is used to fund private and charter schools as well as public schools. However, one thing she said stood out in particular. DeVos asked, "At what point do we accept the fact that throwing money at the problem isn't the solution?"

   Should there be more funding for the public education system? 

   Although DeVos has not released her budget plans, here is what the budget has gone towards in the past. The majority, about sixty percent, of the budget goes towards instruction. This is assumed to include tools and curriculum. The next thirty percent goes to benefits (for staff) along with generalized support and the last ten percent goes to transportation and debt. All of these things are compacted into a relatively small budget of approximately one to five hundred billion dollars, depending on the fiscal year.

   While this seems like a large amount of money, with over 14,000 school districts, it can become an issue. The issue is not with the amount of money necessarily, but where it is being put and which schools or districts are being better financially supported. In this way, Ms. DeVos is right, throwing pockets of money will not solve any problems if districts are not given tools to work with. 

   With that said, funding for the public education system is still a very important aspect of how well education runs, so better funding is still necessary. Unfortunately, if the School Choice program is adopted, funding will lessen and the public education system will suffer greatly. Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, stated that President Trumps choice of Education Secretary "makes it loud and clear that his education policy will focus on privatizing, defunding and destroying public education in America."

   Over 50 million students attended public school in 2016, while only a little over 5 million attended private schools. If funding were to be redistributed in a way that even less is provided for public education, that is over 50 million children that are not getting the education they deserve.

   While "throwing money" at the system will not solve any issues, providing a big, well thought out and sound budget for the public education system to work with will help our children grow up in a positive environment where they can learn and be participating citizens. After all, the children are indeed the future, and how we choose to educate them will impact the future of our country. 

  

 

Honesty Is The Best Policy

   The commentary blog, "What Should We Do If the President Is a Liar?" written by Senator Bernie Sanders for The Smirking Chimp, discusses how trustworthy the current President of the United States actually is. Senator Sanders points out the fact that President Trump unfortunately has not proven to have the greatest track record for honesty. Although President Trump holds a very important office, it does not seem as though he treats it with anymore respect.
   
   Senator Sanders has crafted this post in such a way that calls the American people to action. He asks us how we should deal with such a President as Mr. Trump and those who do not expose him for these lies. His audience is the American people as a whole, for we all have the power to make a difference in the nation we live in. However, Mr. Sanders leaves this question open for interpretation, as there are many possible ways to go about dealing with an untrustworthy President.

   Senator Sanders has been in the political business for a very long time. He served sixteen years in the House of Representatives until becoming a member of the United States Senate in 2006. Mr. Sanders has also made history in regards to government membership, as he is the longest serving member of Congress. To say the least, Senator Sanders is experienced and well-respected.

   In this post, Senator Sanders argues that there is a possibility of "major crises" in the United States and even world-wide, because of Mr. Trumps presidency. Mr. Sanders states his concern by stating-

"If Trump lies over and over again what kind of credibility will he, or the United States, have when we need to bring countries around the world together to respond to those crises? How many people in our country and other countries will think that Trump is just lying one more time?"

Senator Sanders relates President Trump and his consistent lying to a "boy who cried wolf" type situation. As the popular tale goes, the boy continuously tricked the townspeople into thinking a wolf was attacking his sheep. Eventually, they all stopped believing him and coming to his rescue. When an actual wolf came about, nobody believed him, and he was left alone to face the wolf on his own. Similarly, Mr. Sanders fears that the more Mr. Trump lies, the less everyone will believe him. If this happens, unity and peace will be at stake, and that is precisely when the "wolves" come out to play. 

   I believe that honesty is important no matter what political or non-political occupation one may have. Unfortunately, our political system is not always full of those who tell the truth, and it definitely has an impact on us as a nation. There is never a time when every single person will agree with one another, but we should never have to question whether or not someone is being honest- especially the President. I believe that Mr. Sanders has some quite valid concerns, and it is up to the American people to strive for change.