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Arcy Fuentes

Professor Batty

English 101

December 10, 2019

The Failing K-12 System

In a 2016 study from the Center on Education and the Work force, the college

educational gap has grown 29% between Latinx students and their white peers. The resource

deficiency in the k-12 system has led to a broken foundation for Latinx students. With the k-12

system failing Latinx students, there are less incoming freshman who are P.O.C. Although the

government gives equitable funds to each district, this is simply not enough. With having the

state and local government focusing on giving more attention as well as more funds to

extracurricular activities, there will be a better chance on educating as well as keeping students

interested.

The reason these Latinx students are not prepared for a higher curriculum is that they lack

the needed resources from their district. California gives each district the same bare minimum

amount to fund each school. In the article, California’s School Funding Flaws Make It Difficult

For Districts To Meet Teacher Demands, written by Louis Freedberg, states that “California

spends far less than most states in per-pupil funding so that there is simply less money on the

table to provide what teachers feel they need.” Freedberg then continues to explain how the State

of California has set a minimum amount for education spending and argues that the current

funding system is insufficient and unfair. Having California give more funds can help allow

schools to create programs that could potentially help student achieve a better educational

background.
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Each district varies from one another and providing the equal amount of funds to each

district can lead to an equity gap. In Recognizing Regional Costs in School Funding Formula is

Both Equitable and Affordable by Jennifer Bestor, she explains how the identical funding can

harm certain districts. “California’s regional cost differences documents a “bare bones” budget

for a family of four in San Francisco ($123,442) that is over twice as high as one in Fresno

($59,440) or Bakersfield ($57,898),” this shows even though there may be funds they can be

insufficient for some. With these “bare-bone” budgets, schools are left to cut off necessary

activities that could lead students to achieving their highest potential in school.

Not only do latinx students receive bare minimum funds from the state, but as well as

their local district. In The Concentration of Poverty in American Schools by Ronald Brownstein,

explains how most latinx students attend low income schools, “In about half of the largest 100

cities, most African American and Latino students attend schools where at least 75 percent of all

students qualify as poor or low-income under federal guidelines.” Latinx students are not only

struggling to keep extra-curricular activities but are struggling to have the needed resources to a

basic education. And since 58% of funding comes from property taxes, wealthy school districts

don’t necessarily need the extra hand. Latinx students are being given the short end of the stick.

In The Concentration of Poverty in American Schools, written by Ronald Brownstein,

argues that low-income communities can then lead to economic isolation from upward mobility.

Brownstein writes “…concentrated poverty is tightly correlated with gaps in educational

achievement.” These lower-income schools are then faced with canceling programs such as arts,

after school programs, STEM programs, and sports. They are also faced with overcrowding

classes and not enough school supplies for both the teachers and students. As a result of all of
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these problems, students are left disengaged with the material and unable to obtain the

appropriate resources to fulfill the rigor of higher education.

Funding is not the real problem in the k-12 system. In Financing California’s Public

Schools written by Patrick Murphy and Jennifer Paluch they explain how California public

schools receive funding. Murphy and Paluch inform us that “California public schools received

a total of $97.2 billion in funding from three sources: the state (58%), property taxes and

other local sources (32%), and the federal government (9%).” A minimum of 40% is required

from the state to fund k-12 education each year. The state of California funds more in

education than anything else. There is more than enough funding for each school and how

each school allocate their funding may be insufficient in serving their students. It’s not the

governments fault.

Although California may give more than half of its taxes to all school districts, each

district's basic needs are not even close to being met. Less than three thousand dollars are given

to the whole state to fun programs such as the arts, sports, and college readiness programs for the

whole state. These programs are usually funded by the local government. Each local government

may not even be able to give enough to fund these extra programs, and for low-income schools,

these funds are often placed to support necessities. Being “equal” to each district isn’t as equal or

helpful as people may think. Each district has different needs and some more than others.

With the lack of equitable funds from the k-12 system we see how Latinx students who

often attend low-income schools fail to have a fair education compared to their privileged peers.

Without the strong foundation of resources such as an arts program, sports, or any other extra-

curricular activity can lead to uninterested and unprepared students. For the success of the Latinx
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community more needs to be done both from the institution and state. Equality isn’t whats

needed, equity is.

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Works Cited

Chen, Michelle. “How Unequal School Funding Punishes Poor Kids.” The Nation, 14 May 2018,
www.thenation.com/article/how-unequal-school-funding-punishes-poor-kids/.

Freedberg, Louis. “California's School Funding Flaws Make It Difficult for Districts to Meet
Teacher Demands.” EdSource, EdSource, 21 Feb. 2019, edsource.org/2019/californias-
school-funding-flaws-make-it-more-difficult-for-districts-to-meet-teacher-
demands/608824.

Gándara, Patricia. “The Crisis in the Education of Latino Students.” NEA, 2008,
www.nea.org/home/17404.htm.

Janie Boschma, Ronald Brownstein. “Students of Color Are Much More Likely to Attend
Schools Where Most of Their Peers Are Poor.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 29
Feb. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/02/concentration-poverty-
american-schools/471414/.

Lynch, Matthew. “18 Reasons the U.S. Education System Is Failing.” The Edvocate, 3 Apr.
2017, www.theedadvocate.org/10-reasons-the-u-s-education-system-is-failing/.

Lynch, Matthew. “Poverty and School Funding: Why Low-Income Students Often Suffer.” The
Edvocate, 15 Jan. 2017, www.theedadvocate.org/poverty-and-school-funding-why-low-
income-students-often-suffer/.

Martin, Carmel, et al. “A Quality Approach to School Funding.” Center for American Progress,
Nov. 2018, www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-
12/reports/2018/11/13/460397/quality-approach-school-funding/.

Moreno, Eric. “Latino College Students Are Falling Behind Their Peers.” Salud America, 8 Oct.
2018, salud-america.org/latino-college-students-falling-behind/.

Yellin, Tal. “Education vs Prison Costs.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, 2018,
money.cnn.com/infographic/economy/education-vs-prison-costs/.

Murphy, Patrick, and Jennifer Paluch Paluch. “Financing California's Public Schools.” Public
Policy Institute of California, Nov. 2018, www.ppic.org/publication/financing-californias-
public-schools/.

Brownstein, Ronald. “Students of Color Are Much More Likely to Attend Schools Where Most
of Their Peers Are Poor.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 29 Feb. 2016,
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/02/concentration-poverty-american-
schools/471414/.

Ebudget, http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/budget/2019-20MR/#/Department/6255.