Comparison

`           Poor funding in public school systems in the U.S. is a reoccurring event that should not even take place to begin with. Public schools in the late 1980s in the urban areas of Chicago faced several issues that are occurring in the years between 2012-2013 in Reading, Pa. For instance, in Savage of Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol, Kozol demonstrates how the poor, urban areas of south side Chicago’s children were facing extreme measures of the lack of resources and teachers all due to the deficiency of proper funding and due the large amount of property taxes that were being taxed to the poor, but non of those taxes were being benefited for the school’s funding system. This is relative to the poor in Reading, Pa., in the article School Funding Inequity Forces Poor Cities Like Reading, Pa., To Take Huge Cuts by Joy Resmovits explains how the poor taxpayers are being taxed largely and are only able to afford smaller school budgets, which is not extremely beneficial towards the public schools funding. Parents are struggling deeply with debt, to help their children have a better experience within their schools, but cannot do much due to poverty. This demonstrates that nothing has changed from the late 1980s to now, for the U.S. public schools are currently being poorly funded due to poverty and the lack of the state’s aid.

            Another reoccurring issue that happens with the students due to poor funding is, in south side Chicago where “those the system chooses to save, are the brightest youngsters, selected by race, income and achievement” (Kozol 73). This demonstrates how the children that are most in need of aid, in regards to their education, are not being chosen due to their race and financial stability, but the ones whom are richer that lives in the suburbs are chosen and aided very highly. That similar unfairness is still taking place, today in Reading, Pa. Resmovits explains how the local funding sources are favoring wealthier school districts over the needier areas and there is more money than necessary that is being spent. Rather than helping the public schools in the urban areas that are lacking efficient funding, are taken in consider of. Only the ones that are properly funded, public schools in the suburbs, are becoming more beneficial, rather than making all public schools equally beneficial.

            Due to improper funding, schools in the 1980s and even now in Reading, Pa., are experiencing similar situations with not being able to keep their teachers. According to Resmovits, in June 2009, more than 300,000 teachers lost their jobs–– August 2012, school cuts 7,000 educators from their payrolls creating an increase in the student-to-teacher ratio for the first time in the decade. And due to that, intermediate schools and high schools are flooded with extra kids with rehires that are teaching in unfamiliar subjects.  This was relative the schools in the 1980s where Kozol explains how the largely flooded classes that are not being properly taught due to the huge amount of students and one teacher. The issue of letting teachers go was also occurring in the late 80s due to the same factor: poor funding, and were required to keep elderly teachers for they were unable to keep young and energetic teachers with out proper funding.