Video
Moms Matter Road Trip: Public Schools in Crisis (VIDEO)
I've heard complaints about various public school districts over the years, but I've seen few that match up to the deplorable situation in Reading, Pennsylvania.
It's so bad there, in fact, that I actually cried during one of the interviews. I'm betting you'll tear up, too. Click through to see our report.
See what I mean?
Since this is Behind the Vote, I'm going to get personal with you. My kids' public school is amazing, and so it has been easy for me to read about budget woes in other school districts and to tell myself that those districts really needed to figure it out on their own.
I thought, naively, that it couldn't possibly be as bad as they said it was in the newspapers and on television...
I was wrong.
The Reading School District just cut more than 200 employees from its payroll, mostly teachers and teachers' aides. At least some of Reading's school buildings are in deplorable condition - I would be livid if my children had to go to school in the building we featured in our story. The pre-K program is now gone. And as a result of the layoffs, the number of kids per class is larger- I heard one estimate of up to FORTY children per class.
Having talked to furloughed teachers in Reading and having seen video of school building conditions, I think it's safe to say that we have a problem. No child in our public school system should be facing these conditions. And Reading is far from alone- Do a news search for "school budget cuts" and you'll read about school districts across the country that are facing similar budget woes and cutting everything from arts and P.E. programs to kindergarten.
Something is wrong here.
The question is- How do we fix it?
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HistoryMamaX3
We demand that high paid administrative costs be cut. The Supes can pay for their own cars... and parents NEED to sit in on school boards and DEMAND they fix the budgets. There is so much waste and so much overspending on non-classroom issues that the money falls through the cracks. It is disgusting and it is disturbing... but the business of educating our children has become a joke and very few are laughing.
Part of the problem also comes along with ridiculous state and federal mandates that cost the school money and do NOTHING to help the kids.
melissa
LittleFrogsMA
The budgets are being cut. Fix the budgets. In Michigan, per pupil spending is on par with what it was in 1994 but the requirements have increased significantly. However, they have chosen to cut school funding to serve their policital goal of destroying public education.
zizzler
JAFE
I would also redo the budgets. They're so old. They should be done every year. Also, make the teachers and the staff the "boss." No more parental influence on punishment. Parent's are ruining our schools because they argue with everything because their kids say "I didn't do anything." It's a huge problem. In my opinion, parents are one of the biggest problems. They don't make their kids accountable for anything.
Aunt_ning
With PA though, its not the current Governor's fault. With our previous Governor, we had a large surpluss of state funds when he took over, those funds are gone, and we were left in terrible debt, and he used the money for stupid things like stadiums and casinos, and bonus's for his cronies. Also, schools here were idiotic too. Rendell used part of the Stimulus money given to the states to give the schools extra money, but He did warn the schools that this was a one time thing and that the extra money would not be coming every year. Instead of listening the schools gave their teachers raises, and included the money in their yearly budgets. Then when Corbitt took office he had no extra money to give the schools, so he put the budgeted money that the state gives the schools back to where it was the year before. Now people are complaining he cut school funding, but he didn't. He just doesn't have the stimulus money to give them any more. Nor is there a surplus to pull from, only debt thanks to Rendell.
Guest
I live in one of the most well funded school districts in the nation. They are always screaming about how "underfunded" they are too. You certainly couldn't tell that if you google up their pay schedules...
The question is; where in the heck is the money going?
This is not a money problem, it is a management problem.
Pennsylvania Public School Spending Continues to Grow
-Overall K-12 revenue and spending has dramatically increased in Pennsylvania over the last 15 years.
-Pennsylvania's K-12 education revenue increased from $13 billion in 1995-96 to $26 billion in 2009-10. Adjusted for inflation, that represents a 44% increase in revenue per student.
-Pennsylvania school districts spent more than $14,000 per student in the 2009-10 school year.
-School construction and debt spending has more than doubled in the last 15 years, increasing by 140% from $1.2 billion in 1996-97 to $2.9 billion in 2009-10.
Guest
Public School Staffing has Increased while Student Enrollment has Declined
-Student enrollment has decreased by 35,510 since 2000 while schools have hired 35,821 more staff members.
Public Schools have $2.8 Billion in Reserves
-At the end of the 2009-10 school year, public schools had $2.82 billion in fund reserves.
-This includes $1.7 billion in undesignated funds, and $1.1 billion in funds designated for specific future use.
-School reserve funds have grown by 140% (from $1.3 billion to $2.8 billion) since 1996-97.
Laura S.
layh41407
How do we fix the problem?
Parents need to step it up. Granted, there are those that do a lot, but they are the minority. We are spending money to have "No Child Left Behind" when the children do not seem to care. When a teacher calls home, the parents do not care either. Parent Teacher meetings need to be attended and the supporting organizations need help. Parents need to instill a sense of caring in their children. This includes for them to NOT 'tag' buildings, to pick up their trash and not punch holes in walls when they get made. This also includes having them understand that an education is important and actually have the child go to school and to complete assignments.
In other words, parents need to parent. There are some GREAT parents in Reading, PA. They are the ones fighting hard for the district. Too bad the deadbeats are bringing them down.