AS noted in a recent post, funding for education in the US is precarious, and in some cases and states, under extreme duress. One state, that decades ago had one of the better educational systems of any state, is in an ongoing ideological battle for educational funding between the Dem led legislature, and the Repub Governor. It’s gotten very rough and nasty at this point, with the education of the state’s kids in the balance.
Recalls to mind, the recent Higher Education veto of funding by NM Governor Martinez. Eventually, that funding was temporarily restored at the last-minute before the new fiscal year, but only in a short-term fix. Which as noted here, is an ongoing battle as to what the future of higher education in NM will be.
Other states such as Washington have been undergoing similar fights over how to fund education. It’s not just a battle over sufficient funding, but it’s also a battle over equitable funding for various schools and school districts. And that has involved and still involves the courts stepping in to direct policy.
LAUSD in LA, where charter schools are getting a great deal of support to try new approaches to education, is an experiment to watch. Teacher’s Unions are logically concerned about job loss with learning innovation, and many states, including NM, cannot afford to lose quality teaching position jobs. This is a very hard circumstance to deal with, but we must, of course, come up with solutions.
PSA believes there’s a potential middle ground where action to improve and distribute cloud learning tools, can do both…reduce costs and meet the responsibilities of government for education of the populace. Which BTW, is not just the K-12 arena: workforce training and lifelong adult learning are essential for the US to compete in a global 21st-century economy. However, that’s a big transition that we aren’t, as a nation, seemingly ready to make as yet.
Things may get worse before they get better. Eventually, the parents will “insist” that all parties come up with solutions…as they see their kids being used as hostages by both “sides”. That can’t happen too soon, from PSA’s perspective. Note two current battles about education in Illinois, and in NM, below:
[gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Illinois-governor-rejects-school-funding.pdf”] [gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Senator-New-Mexico-doesnt-know-how-to-teach-poor-students.pdf”] [gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Washington-state-legislature-passes-44B-budget-heres-what-it-means-for-taxpayers-KIRO-TV.pdf”]