My mother was a public school teacher for 40 years. She taught until the day she got a call from her doctor in her classroom, ordering her to report to the hospital immediately, as her test results had returned, very far from normal. A year and a half later, she died of liver cancer.
She gave so much of herself to her teaching, spending countless late evenings finishing her work and thousands of after-school hours tutoring students one-on-one to help them succeed. But she did it all because she loved public education and was happy to dedicate herself to its mission. If she was still alive, she would be saddened by the current state of Basic Education Funding. Pennsylvania has the widest funding gap between rich and poor school districts of any state in the country. Per pupil spending in PA’s poorest districts is 33 percent less than in PA’s wealthiest districts, according to the National Forum on Education Statistics 2015 report. She would be proud to hear her grandson speaking out on the matter.
This week, my family supported the Campaign for Fair Education in its fight for all students to get the education they deserve. Through a youth voice platform, my son answered questions about what he thought about the state of public school education funding—all asked in a way an elementary student could comprehend.
What is the Campaign for Fair Education Funding?
The Campaign for Fair Education Funding is a statewide non-partisan effort made up of organizations that, collectively, represent Pennsylvanians from every corner of the state. The campaign includes more than 50 organizations—everyone from advocates, teachers and school administrators to business, community and church leaders. They groups are all fighting for Pennsylvania to adopt and maintain an adequate and equitable system of funding public education by 2016. The campaign believes every public school must have the resources necessary to enable every child to meet state academic standards, be prepared for post-secondary success, and become productive, knowledgeable, and engaged adults.
Why is a funding formula needed?
Right now, not all students are armed with the things they needed to succeed. The absence of a funding formula, combined with state funding cuts in recent years, hits our students hard. A recent report found that 93 percent of school districts reduced staff, 50 percent furloughed teachers or other staff, 74 percent cut or reduced at least one academic program 57 percent increased class size. Without a funding formula, ALL students will suffer: rural, city, suburban and small town.
What are students saying?
Some of thoese students area speaking out about the issue on youth voice platform. Recently, Hear Me, a part of Carnegie Mellon University’s Create Lab, interviewed students across Pennsylvania and produced a podcast about their thoughts on the current state of public school education funding. Now, the group is giving all students, in grades K-12, a chance to be heard.
My son is only five; his reflection on the status quo isn’t deep. He merely wants there to be more blocks available in his classroom–a reasonable desire of any Kindergartner. I’m guessing he means the chalk blocks he fell in love with that allow him to do cool things like practice spelling words and create his own math problems at our kitchen table. We gifted a set to his teacher at the holidays.
I think these were the blocks he was talking about in the recording. He loves the way they make learning fun!
However simple the requests might be, each student has a voice that is worth hearing. To establish proper educational funding, we need to listen to our children; we need to hear what they really want and need in their classrooms. And then we must work hard to help them get it.
What can you do to help? Get Involved in the Campaign for Fair Education Funding through their website, and follow along with them on Facebook and Twitter.
Add your own family’s voice to Hear Me and speak out your own thoughts using their interactive website. You can also connect with Hear Me on Facebook and Twitter.
We love our public schools. We feel blessed to have such supreme education available to our children. Yet we recognize the deficiencies in funding and will continue to advocate for more balanced funding to the benefit of all.
Right now, going to school is something we celebrate it this house! We want to see this continue.
Kids want to learn. They want to grow and discover new things. If we can facilitate this with proper educational funding for the tools that help them meet this goal? That is one smart move.
****I’m teaming up with the Campaign for Fair Education Funding to speak out for students across Pennsylvania. Although I am receiving some form of compensation, all opinions remain my own. #FairFundingPA****
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Janine Huldie says
I loved hearing Isaac’s audio here and I definitely think your mom would be over the moon proud of him for participating in this campaign 😉
Meredith says
Thanks, Janine–this is so sweet!
Cynthia Gabriele Sprouts Consignment Boutique says
There has been lack of equality in schools for as long as I can remember. Let’s hope this will all end now with our voices being heard far & wide!
Meredith says
Thanks for supporting this, Cindy! Your words are spot-on!