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Skybox-Bleacher Gap
July 12, 2011
Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.
-Isabel Allende, Chilean-American Writer, Teacher, Journalist
-Isabel Allende, Chilean-American Writer, Teacher, Journalist
"Sadly, the public education your child gets often is only as good as the public education you and your community can afford. When state funding cuts put a popular program or teacher or even a planned building at risk, parents and boosters sometimes are asked to step in, reach out, and come up with money to fill the gap. Depending upon the wealth of the community, parents, boosters, and organizations often can offset some of the lost funding. However, no amount of private capital can replace the public funds and civic support lost through budget cuts.
"Of course, not every community is able to raise private funds to help. And the level of need varies from school to school and community to community. A wealthy school district may need only new landscaping. Many districts, however, particularly those with significant populations of low-income families, don’t have enough textbooks or well-trained teachers.
"Like their socioeconomic peers at ballgames, students in education skyboxes are buffered from realities most students face by their well-appointed educational accommodations: 'Need an extra AP program? Right away, sir. Would you like an International Baccalaureate with that?' Meanwhile, the vast majority of students sit in the equivalent of bleacher seats, or they are stuck behind a pillar, squinting to see their teachers in overcrowded classrooms. Given the magnitude of the current budget shortfalls that states and school districts face, no amount of boosterism or checkbook philanthropy can close the skybox-bleachers gap. More than ever, we need strong public advocacy to help resolve our schools’ fiscal woes."
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Comments (2)
Displaying All 2 CommentsEugene, OR, United States
This is exactly what's happening in our community after years of statewide cuts to education, and a failed attempt to pass a local income tax for education. Instead, a handful of school booster groups have stepped up to raise record amounts while lower income schools go without. Sadly, even the extravagant fundraising is only going to restore basics like music and PE - things we know have an essential impact on children's physical, cognitive and emotional development (but apparently have too little instant impact on test scores to make the budget).
Wheelock College
Lincoln, MA, United States
In the middle of potentially massive budget cutting, this article has the germ of a good idea. Can the Congress find legal language for encouraging more skyboxing for community-based programs that are being cut back, maybe incentives for contributions from wealthy Americans who pay low taxes, but don't create new jobs?
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