My mission is to get the word out on how our schools and students are being affected by the budget cuts and what you can do to help. How can the students or even the community of Philadelphia make progress as a city and community if we are taking away so much from our schools; the cornerstone for the future? All students in Philadelphia should have the right to a public school education, and all students should have the right to have a quality public school education. The Philadelphia public schools are lacking the funds and support to provide the quality education that they are striving for. The government needs to stop cutting from the public school budgets to make up for the deficit. This purpose of this website is to effectively show how the inequities in school budget's are jeopardizing future generations who will be responsible for leading this country. I have identified five major problems with in the current educational system, and provided solutions to each problem below.



        Right now our schools have many different issues including budget cuts, safety issues, health issues, and much more. The budget cuts within the Philadelphia School District is closing schools, laying off teachers, increasing class sizes, cutting art, music, sports, after-school and other extra-curricular programs. Currently one point two billion dollars are being cut from the budget for Pennsylvania Public Education in just 2011. six hundred and twenty nine million of that budget cut being from the Philadelphia high schools in 2011. The Philadelphia High School District will cut an additional thirty nine million in 2012, to balance the budget. Because of this, students are being negatively affected. Our schools need more money to fund staff, facilities, and repairs. The current system in place is not working. I have compiled some responses of actual high school students that are talking about what improvements they feel are needed in Philadelphia and how they feel about school.



"Our bathrooms are disgusting because of budget cuts. They cut cleaning staff so our bathrooms only get cleaned like once every week. They are actually terrible now and hard to even go into."
- Senior from Central High School



"We don't have money for books, our sports were on the line, and we don't have money to fix anything thats considered minor in the district."
- Student from Bodine High School



"Providing better materials for the students, restoring some favored programs by the students, and creating a better experience for the students and reducing some things that we have to pay for now due to the cuts."
- Student from Julia R. Masterman High School



The lack of voice or influence a student has in their own educational system, and class size/ student teacher ratio, is the first problem I am addressing. The point of these testimonials is not to prove that there is a conflict in the education budget that is clear. These testimonials show what the conflict is from the voice of the students. Many times students voices go unheard because of the shortage of power a minor has. The classroom ratio ranges from one on one, to thirty four on one (thirty four is the maximum amount of students allowed in a classroom). More commonly classrooms are configured with around twenty to thirty students and one teacher. There is only so much time the teacher can connect with each student which creates a system where a lot of students go unheard on a daily basis. Without the ability to be heard how can students express what needs to change in their educational system? well it seems like one major thing that needs to be changed is the fact that students don't have a voice.



The second issue is the lack of safety and school nurses. Major cuts have been to high school security and school nurses. Many schools have completely lost any in school medical attention and are running with few to no security guards. These are clear issues for safety. In more economically challenged areas violence has become a part of everyday school life. Students NEED a safe environment in order to completely focus on studies, and without any real security a safe environment is hard to imagine. Teachers are paid to teach not to babysit but unfortunately these teachers are being asked to do both (that is the teachers who are even being paid). School nurses handle all different problems from infection, to autism, to medication, to anything in between. Many students require medication throughout the day, and a lack of school nurse can turn an everyday situation into an everyday problem. The role of a school nurse is extremely vital to a safe environment, and without nursing small injuries or problems can be extorted into major conflicts for families.



My third conflict is in the policy and foundation of the school district. In Philadelphia the high school system is funded by the state administration in Harrisburg. This should change so that funds are coming from the people who actually run these schools and deal with them every day. Some possible solutions involve more federal funding and major changes in policy. Money is distributed to schools with the highest test scores, however this creates a system where the students stuck in low income schools are stuck because without resources to learn they do not have a fair chance to compete for money and the cycle continues. If the policy is changed so that all schools are given equal amounts of money then all students will be treated fairly and we won't see such vast differences in educational amongst the general population. In order to change policy hard evidence must be presented to the harrisburg administration showing the positive effects of equal distribution of the budget amongst schools.



The fourth problem is funds for building renovations, educational resources like textbooks, and the salary of the faculty. Funds to renovate buildings, add more appliances, utensils, and textbooks are all necessary for productive learning. Staff members should be motivated to teach and excited about their jobs. Building safety will create more friendly areas, the less hostile the environment is, equals greater safety of everyone around. Staff motivation encourages students to want to learn and to be interested in the material. Students can’t be excited about school if their teachers are uninterested. Many faculty members feel underpaid and find it hard to be motivated because of their poor wages. If the budget focuses more on renovations and staff then motivation will distinctly rise. When safety and motivation rise, students can focus on their studies without distractions of violence and dullness of a classroom. Students focusing on their studies will create better test scores which brings in more funds for their educational institution and all parties are better off.



The fifth and final issue is the lack of after school activities and community involvement opportunities. After school programs make huge differences in kids lives, sports, arts, and music all keep kids out of trouble. College scholarships are a huge part of after school activities but even the kids who do not advance into college scholarships benefit greatly. From team involved activities kids learn about community, morality, and sportsmanship. After school activities also give students the chance to be guided by positive role models. Team captains, coaches, directors, and other influential people can make a big difference in the decisions a student makes. These activities also raise school morale and can be an attraction for the entire student body if a program excels in competition. Activities occupy much of a student's free time lowering their opportunity to be involved in gangs or violence simply out of boredom. In order to have these after school sports schools need more funding. Each activity requires some resources that not all parents have the income to provide. Often times fundraisers and charity events are held to raise money for after school clubs but that is usually not enough. More funds need to be put into the after school activities so that students can explore their interests, and receive the guidance they deserve.



Philadelphia high school district needs to find more funding. Domestic, government, judicial, religion, environmental, and education are the six main social institutions our civilization's are founded on, and to hold education to such a low chance of success ensures our civilization will not expand positively. These facts should be presented and displayed in the attempt of a larger budget and more programs for the students. Students will have a large voice in how they want the money spent as well. This will not be able to completely fix every problem with the educational system but it will certainly help make the everyday lives of philadelphia high school students much, much better.

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So in conclusion, I am arguing that schools need full funding from the state and federal government to pay for nurses, security, building renovations, educational resources, after school programs, and faculty salaries. Further, the ways that this money is used at individual schools should be an inclusive system that weighs the values of students, parents, and faculty. We should not underestimate how important it is to listen to the people most involved and affected by the educational system. The current youth will be tomorrow's leaders, and their education should have no price tag.