We need funding in our schools
There is currently no state budget and no plan from our state as to how much funding will be given to the students this year. The school district taking out loans does nothing to remedy the solution long term and simply covers up a much bigger problem in the State legislature. If a budget does not pass, the school district gets one step closer to falling apart and if more money is not allotted to pay money back to the loan we just took out, future students suffer more.
Lack of funding has been a long-standing issue plaguing the Philadelphia School District. Over these past years, schools have seen cuts in teaching staff and faculty and student extracurricular activities – clubs and sports. Recently, we have seen a large number of schools shut down as a result of overcrowding, poor building quality and lack of funding, however, this problem can be managed and dealt with and worked out and for sure it will be.
The back and forth between our state legislators, however, seems as though it may never end. Almost three hundred million dollars are being paid each year towards outstanding debts. The situation is ridiculous and has been for some time. America is not, by any means, a poor nation and there is no reason for ten percent of our school budget to be paid to loans and interest that we wouldn’t need if not for a serious budget issue.
Could our schools have their loans paid off? A bailout of some sort? We know that we have received less than the students before us and we can only see this trend continuing and worsening for the students after us. It is imperative that a solution is found and quickly.
Tony Qiu and Devan Kartha
Masterman Class of 2016
