Blogged Bib Entry 1

 Abshir said 

Dr Paul Mcormick 

English 1101.01 

02/02/2023 

 

My research question: How does Uneven Public-School funding and schools inability to retain qualified teachers affecting the American education system and how can it be Fixed? 

 

Garcia, Emma, and Elaine Weiss. “U.S. Schools Struggle to Hire and Retain Teachers: The Second Report in 'The Perfect Storm in the Teacher Labor Market' Series.” Economic Policy Institute, 16 Apr. 2019, https://www.epi.org/publication/u-s-schools-struggle-to-hire-and-retain-teachers-the-second-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/ Links to an external site.. 

 

The Authors are asking “How does the working conditions and environments impact the ability for schools to retain qualified teachers?”. Their answer is to tackle the problems which are at the root of the problem with WHY teachers are leaving in the first place; Low pay, unfriendly work environment and weak professional development in schools, it also touches on giving extra funding to schools in poverty-ridden areas because they need it more. Their evidence includes statistics showing that an increasing number of teachers are leaving year after year. The author's viewpoint is that they would like to tackle the root causes of what is causing teachers to call it quits. 

 

This article gives me insight on some of the specific reasons that teachers are leaving and some of the major challenges that schools might have in retaining them. The article states “The teacher shortage makes it more difficult to build a solid reputation for teaching and to professionalize it, which further contributes to perpetuating the shortage.” The article also states; "These difficulties are also shaped by a dwindling pool of applicants to fill vacancies. From the 2008–2009 to 2015–2016 school years, there was a 15.4 percent drop in the number of education degrees awarded and a 27.4 percent drop in the number of people who completed a teacher preparation program.” This shows to me a clear correlation between teacher retention and the amount of new college students interested in pursuing teaching. 

 

Raikes, Jeff, and Linda Darling Hammond. “Why Our Education Funding Systems Are Derailing the American Dream.” Learning Policy Institute, 13 July 2022, https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/blog/why-our-education-funding-systems-are-derailing-american-dream Links to an external site.. 

 

The authors are asking “How is the current public-school funding system hurting students? And what solutions can fix it? Their answer is that school districts spend too little on the per student to meet all the students' needs and that Rasing that “spend per student "will eliminate all gaps between affluent students and poorer students. Their evidence includes a large-scale study of over 15,000 students over the time frame of 40 years showing that a 10% increase in per-pupil funding will raise graduation rates by 10% and a 22% rise in funding would eliminate the gap between poorer and more affluent districts. The authors position is that uneven funding in public schools is a priority and funding the next generations education will help society in the future. 

 

This article gives me specific information and evidence about what is causing the uneven funding in public schools and provides statistics to back up the solutions that it provides to the problem, showing readers what is possible with increased funding. “This study estimated that a 22% increase in per-pupil spending throughout the school years for low-income children would be large enough to eliminate the educational attainment gap between children from low-income and nonpoor families.” This shows me that there is a number that can be reached to eliminate or at least reduce the problems funding poses in schools, I will use this source to inform about the practical solutions to uneven school funding.