By June 30, lawmakers will have to pass a new outline for constitutional funding and find more money. Republican state senator Dinah Sykes said that at this point lawmakers will have to find a legislative solution with or without the governor.
In this week's ruling, the court determined that Black, Hispanic, and poor students are especially affected by low education spending. The judges said the state system failed to appropriately educate students in basic reading & math skills which is disproportionately affecting half of the state's black students and a third of its Hispanic ones.Governor Brownback has also stated, "Success is not measured in dollars spent, but in higher student performance," but neither the dollars spent nor the performance are indicative of success.
Issues with educational funding in the state are not new; in 2010 four school districts actually sued the state for not meeting a constitutional requirement for state funding. Though state funding has increased to around $4 billion under Brownback, school officials have stated that it's not enough to keep up with rising costs and growing student needs.
If you were a school leader facing low performance due to what could be perceived as lack of funding, what do you think you could do to help see gains despite the needs? Ms. Johnson at Maynard Jackson stated the importance of finding and applying for grants, but what else do y'all think could be done in order to mitigate such a pressing issue?
Very interesting post. Its crazy to me that no one sees a problem with cutting funds for education, and our students not having necessary resources to be successful. This is the reality for many public schools in Georgia as well. For all who went with us to Maynard Jackson High School to tour with the principal, I think it was so important to see how she filled in the deficits in the budget by being diligent to apply for grants and free services offered in by professionals in the community. Technology, and resources make students capable of achieving more in a shorter period of time. Sadly, however, I feel a lot of the tools, resources, and technology that we have just sits. When facing an extreme budget cut, its vital that the teachers and leaders are resourceful. I am interested to know what cuts had to be made in the schools as a result of these very low budgets.
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