Show Me the Money
I remember vividly as a new mom a fellow teacher across the hallway asked if I had signed up for WIC (Women, Infants, & Children) benefits. I had not heard about this and began doing some research. Turned out WIC funds are set aside to improve health outcomes for mothers, infants, and children. Eligibility is also based on income. At that time as a teacher, my salary (or lack thereof) actually qualified me. I was married and our family income did not make us eligible but it all did make me think and realize how little teachers earn. I am a natural coach/mentor/facilitator/guide—call it what you will—so teaching made sense to me as a career. I wanted to become a teacher because I was inspired when I could help others learn. As a first-gen college graduate, I wanted to work in a school where I could introduce and open the doors of opportunity for students who might never know they existed. And, that is what I did. An inner-city, Title 1 school whose population was 99% minority. The school did not have much. I painted my own room, bought my own carpet for group time, used my own money for crayons and markers and pencils, and scoured yard sales and thrift stores for many items.
The pandemic opened the vaults and money flowed into our K12 education system at an unprecedented volume. Schools who had begged for dollars to do more for their underserved populations finally had the chance to invest as they desired to improve the outcomes of their students. Now that aid is soon to run out. Will the investments have paid off? Will the choices made help address the devasting loss of learning or close the achievement gaps? Only time will tell.
But it begs the age-old question, does money solve the problem? Yes, our schools and our teachers deserve more. I don’t think many will disagree with that. Perhaps a better question is, are education funds being spent in a way that is best for the students? Last year, an average of $15,120 was spent per K12 student (a total of nearly $770 BILLION) in the US. If an average class size is 22 students, that is over $330,000 per classroom. Deduct a teacher’s salary and overhead costs for the physical building as well as a percentage to cover things like activity teachers; there is still a lot of money left to be spent.
Currently, it goes to things like district office administration, principals, textbooks, laptops, transportation, copy paper, and extracurricular activities to name a few. Can you imagine what a teacher could do in a year if they were allotted that balance of money? How would they spend it? Would the learning gaps close? What if the teachers were allowed to define the annual school or district budget? How might learning look different?
Education is big business. However, it feels much of the time that our priorities have gotten flip-flopped. We have forgotten education is about the student and their learning. Shouldn’t our budgets reflect that? I had a superintendent whose favorite response to any new proposal, initiative, or spend was “Is it right for students? Will it improve learning?” More questions like that should be asked. We need to ask those questions about where we spend the education dollars. And, maybe bring a teacher or two into the budget session. Teachers are scrappy and know how to stretch a dollar. Imagine what they could do with a school budget!
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