By: Jose S.
Edited by: Audrey S.
Every so often, we hear the topic of school funding whether in the news, from a candidate, voters, PTA members, or teachers themselves. Oftentimes, we hear from students demanding answers about where the funding for their schools is going since a lot of their school’s programs are being cut. There is not enough teaching material ( or the material is outdated), and teachers have to use their own money to supply materials for their students.
Now, you may wonder where does the funding for schools come from? Funding for schools comes from local, state, and federal levels. According to Education Week:
“ 48 percent of a school’s budget comes from state resources, including income taxes, sales tax, and fees. Another 44 percent is contributed locally, primarily through the property taxes of homeowners in the area. The last eight percent of the public education budget comes from federal sources, with an emphasis on grants for specific programs and services for students that need them.”
This means that most of the funding public schools receive comes from a state’s income and sales taxes, the second source comes from property taxes of people within the school area. Lastly, federal funding’s main purpose is to grant money to specific programs/ services. One may think that the federal government could help schools by giving more federal funding to them, but it is a local and state responsibility, as written in the U.S constitution. Overall, it is up to the state and local governments to distribute the money. Federal funds are only set aside for national programs such as Reading First, ESL, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, among others, according to Public School Review Website.
Now the big question is, how is the money spent? According to the Intercultural Development Research Association, “ Policymakers determine how much funding schools will receive and how it should be allocated, while school boards and personnel make many of the budget decisions”. This means that most of the money is being granted by the state, so policymakers are the ones who decide where/ how much money is being granted to the schools. On the other hand, school boards are the ones in charge of making the budgets, meaning how much money the school’s respective districts receive.
School funding is not a federal responsibility, it is in the hands of local and state governments. As mentioned before only eight percent is federally funded and it is exclusively used for national programs. The rest of the money comes from State and local taxes. Not every state is the same; This means that not every state thinks of education the same way as other states do. This is why it is important to vote, advocate, and be involved within the school community because education is funded with money that comes from their communities. Communities are the ones who know what is best for their people, therefore the right thing to do is to be aware of where the funding is going and how it is being used.
Sources:
https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/an-overview-of-the-funding-of-public-schools
https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/school-finance/2007/12