2020 teen dream- Uplifting the Unhoused
My dream is to ensure fair and equitable education. Which means we have to take a look at how the current education system is funded and disadvantages us as a society.
Education is largely regarded as the tool of development, an investment for both the individual and society as a whole. The more educated a workforce the more productive that society becomes. However largely our education system reflects a lot of the inequalities that we see in other aspects of life. But what is educational inequality?
It is the unequal distribution of academic resources, including but not limited to; school funding, qualified and experienced teachers, books, and technologies. Overwhelmingly these communities are disproportionately Black, Latino and Native Americans.
In our current system we fund education through primarily property taxes. The problem with this is that this strictly funnels resources into already advanced communities.
Not allowing the circulation of funding to schools that really need it. Which affects how the schools are able to allocate experienced teachers, Extracurriculars, AP courses, and other basic materials for their students.
First, I propose that instead of funding strictly from the property tax of one local community we allocate educational funding from statewide sources. Now a struggling community has access to state funding which would make up the difference that they don’t have locally.
Second: I would distribute funds effectively throughout the state this way each school gets equitable funding based on the specific needs of a local community.
Thirdly: If the funding is not enough to sustain a particular school effectively then we can change the amount of money that people get taxed per state to create an effective and fair funding process. Lastly, this would elevate some of the inequality that causes educational discrepancies: allowing for a more equal tomorrow.