Schools Underfunded and Overtested

Schools underfunded and Overtested

The Austin Chronicle posted an article this morning discussing the debate of Texas schools being underfunded and also being overtested. With the small fundings the teachers have to work with and also getting minimal pay to be a teacher, this article intrigued me personally and politically.
The article starts off explaining what has gone on in the past year(s). Written in the story, they included the amount that was cut last session by the state which was $5.4 billion. Donna Howard, an Austin Rep. spoke about the politics side of the Public Education debate, '"Legislators need to hear, particularly from their own constituents, and this really did have an impact. It will continue to have an impact if we don't restore the funds."

If you're like me and didn't know you probably asked yourself 'Where did the funds go?' Well, according to Donna Howard, '"we were told we can't use the Rainy Day Funds because we're going to need those for Medicaid. And here we are, with an 8.8 billion surplus, and we're told that needs to be used for Medicaid, and we still can't access the Rainy Day Fund...one of the reasons we have money in the bank is because we underfunded public education. People should be outraged about that, and demanding that we restore those funds."'

The author's intended audience with this article is mainly the public, what happens if we keep donating and giving money to the schools and yet the money is not being given to them or even if it is, what if it is not the full amount. Personally, I am always trying to give to the teachers and donate to schools, especially because one day I'll be there in their shoes one day. This article really informed me of what I was not seeing before.
The author's claim is that the education system is being robbed! The teachers pay has gone down, the schools can't afford certain items that they need! The school system's are crashing, closing, and the thousands of children and teachers are being pushed else where.

I agree with everything the author wrote, about how we do need to pay more attention to the education systems, though this article was more of an information article, in my opinion the author way making a statement. More than informing us of what was going on. We, as in educators and the public, need to take a stand and demand that the education system be given that "Rainy Day Fund". If we keep going down this road, cutting school funds, closing schools, where will that leave our kids, or the teachers?