EDUCATION SYSTEM

State and Federal Aid in Education system

[Writer's institute]

State and Federal Aid in Education system

Introduction

There have been issues that have sparked controversial debates in recent years. The question about the source of education funding has been there for a few years but people are more concerned about it now than they were in the past. One of the most daunting challenges that the policymakers in education system have been facing is of disparity. The motive behind the foundation of current education system was to provide equal opportunities to each and every student in the education system. The education system's philosophy is based on the philosophy of John Locke that the access to public education should be free for all the students and the states should provide adequate funding (Huerta, 2009). Despite this belief that exists even today, the dream has not been materialized. The paper will talk about the need of equity in funding and an alternative revenue generation source for schools in any state.

Discussion

The new shift in the school funding has been seen in the recent years due to the emergence of the financial crisis of 2008. Most of the concerns raised by the public are about the sources of school funding as the main source has always been the taxpayers' money. The concerns have been raised due to the escalation of property tax in the wake of financial crisis (Monk & Brent, 1997, p. 128). Many people have advocated the notion that the state should shift the burden of school funding over the sales tax as the slump in property, in the recent years, has forced everyone to consider the rate of tax that is levied upon property owners. The taxpayers' have been arguing against the increasing burden because of the dependency of school funding over the money raised through property tax.

One of the most important things to be discussed here is the problem of inequality that prevails in our society. Most of the high-poverty schools seem to be getting less money than those that are affluent. This has deemed one of the most serious problems because of which the acquisition of quality education has become a dream only. There is an achievement gap that is evidently noticed by the district authorities as the students that are less privileged would not be able to surpass those that are studying in affluent schools. It has been noticed that this disparity does not exist because of discrimination or the bias in the education system but prevails because of the presence of highly-paid faculty in low-poverty schools (Bireda, 2011).

On the other side the high-poverty schools have less-experienced teachers hired, who are paid less because of their seniority. The budgeting system, in this regard, is flawed as it awards compensation on the basis of positions, which in turn induces inequity in the system. Despite the fact that the low-poverty schools are given more funds than the high-poverty ones, it is noted by the government that the students in high-poverty schools need more finance ...