Proper School Funding You are in ninth grade in a Philadelphia school. The neighborhood is poor, although not all the students are. Your school has very little money for things like computers or technology. One day you walk into second period, sit down, and discover that the floor next to your desk is damp. The teacher explains that there is a leak in the roof and that the school cannot afford to repair it. The school can't afford to fix the leak or buy computers because it doesn't have enough funding. So the government kindly lends your school money not only to fix the leak, but also to buy computers. But does that necessarily motivate you to improve your grades? You suddenly decide to do your homework because the leak is repaired? Probably not. The government makes sure your grades stay the same, and two years later, when our school needs to hire more teachers and cut classes, the government denies the school that money. They say that since money didn't help your bottom line last time, why should it help you now? But the truth is that smaller class sizes and better teachers improve student outcomes. Members of our government say that giving more money to schools will make no difference, but that government funding for schools must be used effectively to see a change in student outcomes. (Connell) The reason some schools can't do things like buy computers and maintain their buildings is because the school financing system is very inefficient. The U.S. government pays only 7% of all school money, and the rest is up to states and taxpayers. Any money the states won't pay is paid as school tax, a portion of your property taxes, which are higher or lower depending on the value of your home. But that means schools in poor neighborhoods get little money while rich schools, like ours, get almost everything they need. You don't see leaky roofs at our school. Even if the state pays a lot of money, that doesn't mean the schools are well funded. In Hawaii, there is only one school district and the state provides almost all of the funding for that district. Only 2% comes from property taxes, with the rest coming from income taxes. But think about industry in Hawaii - agriculture and tourism, middle of paper ... which reduces class sizes. If the school itself cannot afford to educate its students, then the government must provide the necessary funds to do so. They are also children of America. Works Cited “Overview”. Inequity in school funding. ©2000. Noreen Connell. “Underfunded Schools: Why Money Matters.” » Inequity in school funding. March/April 1998.©2000. NEA Government Relations. “Facts About School Modernization – Hawaii.” National Education Association website. May 23, 2001. Susan Snyder. “AP to study school district finances” The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 4, 2001. Julie Green and Erica Lepping. “Education Report – Shows Poverty Is Linked to Student Achievement.” » Inequity in school funding. September 8 1998. ©2000.>