Courtney+Sutherland

=How do budget cuts affect the schools academic environment?=

Where does the funding come from?
===[|http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=12&sid=1fe5797e-4b4a-4463-8429-e68dbb10b4a1%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eft&AN=508437614]=== ===Funding for schooling varies from school to school. There is a variation among the funding because funds generate from the community, state, and federal government. In general, the money is dispersed to many areas, including athletics, school supplies, and cafeteria lunch and breakfast meals, along with the multiple departments in the schools curriculum.===

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===The school board is in charge of distributing the funds into the separate areas that benefit from them. In economic times like we live in today, decisions on how much money can be granted to each portion of the system is becoming a more rigorous task. The schools are being given less money, due to deficits in budget cuts, yet are still expected to excel in various areas of the students educational system.===

====Reaction: After reading the articles, I was in shock when I saw some of the numbers. I was aware that the country was in an economic downturn, and that school based funding was declining as a result, however in the articles, it said that some schools were being cut millions of dollars. I never accounted for such high numbers.====

How are the teachers affected by the budget cuts?
===[|http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/pov/detail?vid=6&hid=12&sid=b8a7f87b-e675-4abd-9672-5639db942f69%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#db=pwh&AN=2W63378210453]=== ===Teachers are affected by the choices made by the school board on which curricula to cut. When it comes down to it, there are one of two options; either the teachers position is entirely cut because their area of study had to be eliminated from the program, or the teacher must struggle to make ends meet, even at the work place. If a teacher’s position is cut, it raises to the poor economy, with less currently able to stay in the work force. However, the other option is not a stroll through the park either. If the teacher is lucky enough to keep their job, they must make do with the budget cuts. This means that an art teacher must buy her own crayons, markers, paint, paintbrushes, paper, and clay, ECT. As of 2010, 60 percent had no choice but to make-do with the budget cuts.===

====Reaction: In high school, it seemed as if the teachers who had the most to complain about were the art teachers. They would always remind you how, “Things cost money! Be respectful of the materials because they are other peoples property, and the cost of things add up.” Prior to looking over this article, I did not understand how much supplies could cost, especially on top of providing for yourself with that money. It seems silly to spend so much money in the same place you make your money from. I also was able to better understand why in some cases, a teacher may have another part time job, because one job didn’t pay enough.====

Opinion Articles (1)

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=== On one side of the argument, the “sole purpose of education is to prepare for future employment.” While on the other hand, one may believe arts do things for you psychologically and academically. Opinions on cutting the arts as opposed to other classes are that the arts are subjective, and do not use concrete conclusions. Where as in a math or science class, a student is taught to reason and test ideas. It is thought that giving equal attention to the arts risks taking away from the necessary fundamental aspects of a child’s curriculum. Art could arguably be expressed institutionally outside of school, through museums or exhibits. === === On the refuting side, the arts allow a student to make connections to other academic and life aspects through skills, analogies, and techniques. Art can still be just as useful as science, math, history, or language classes because the skills learned are connected in multiple areas. For example, inventors, and scientists are actively engaged in arts as adults. Perhaps we should look at art as more than coloring pictures, and look at the big picture. Art should be given more credit, after all, it is not the history professors whom we go to in order to build a bridge, we would need an architect, or an environmentalist to make encryptions on a widely used computer application. There are many well-respected jobs that involved passing many classes in the arts. ===

====Reaction: The article’s both in favor of, and opposing cutting the arts form the curriculum are both very strong arguments. I am not entirely sure where I stand on looking at the argument as a whole, but I can understand why the arts are important to development, and how the arts can be connected to other areas of life, yet I can also see how when it comes time to pick and choose why the arts is booted out first. In my opinion, I see the effects of each side to be a loose-loose situation.====

Reputable Articles (1)

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=== Some schools, such as a Lanchester, Pennsylvania elementary school, are faced with budget cuts. When a school is dealing with a $20 thousand deficit, drastic decisions need to be made on what is important to keep and get rid of. Superintendent, Pedro Rivera, is quoted saying, “It was either library or kindergarten;” this alone shows how immense the deficits really are. ===

====Reaction: Schools are put in extremely difficult positions. Some of the faculty, specifically those in the art department and the administration are in a state of panic or helplessness. Those in a state of panic know that they may possibly loose their job, which they have had for forty years, because of something they really have no control over; the economy. The administration faces helplessness because they have to fire staff who have been helping educate the children, because they either have to refuse an entire grade to be admitted to the school, causing problems for the community, or they have to cut one area of the curriculum that they believe is beneficial.====