Hindering the education of future generations

Kaylee Keith, Staff Writer
February 1, 2012
Filed under Opinion

Sleeping-in and hanging-out with friends are luxuries students enjoy on vacations. Due to the drop in the economy California students have been able to receive more “vacations,” which, unfortunately, means furlough days. 

California’s education system is becoming one of the worst in the nation. According to CalFacts, California  falls as the 49th state in the nation in a student to teacher ratio. The state only spends 3.3% of its taxable resources on education, which means students in California are no longer able to receive the education they used to.

Times have changed and the economy is hurting the future generations. Students may enjoy having that extra day off, but in actuality that day off is hurting both students and educational workers.

In Modesto City Schools (M.C.S.) during the 2011-2012 school year there is a total of 7 furlough day, which means that students are losing 7 days of education and the educational workers are losing 7 days of pay.

This loss of pay and education may not seem too detrimental; unfortunately for California’s lagging educational system, it is. California students are becoming less educated and losing days of school does not help with the growing situation.

According to CalFacts, California is ranked as the 48th states in the nation for Math achievement and 49th for reading achievement. This terrible score is based off of the testing on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

California is becoming one of the worst states for education and a large factor of this is because of the economy. The state no longer has money to afford paying for students’ education and it is hurting the population. If the students of today are unable to receive a proper education then this will simply lead to a downward spiral for California.

The California  budget crisis is becoming a greater issue everyday and something needs to be done before it continues to hinder the education and progress of students.

Often times people blame the students’ lack of determination and desire for an education for the drop in the testing scores. However, that is not the whole problem. There is no longer enough time in the school year and all of the information is simply crammed into students’ brains. Few students are able to actually retain the information. Thus, California’s educational system is failing.

In Japan the school year for students is about 240 days long, which is almost 70 days longer than M.C.S.’s 2011-2012 school year. The Japanese receive fewer vacations and are not having to take furlough days to further decrease the amount of education, which explains why they are so intelligent.

Education is one of the most important things students need to receive in order to improve their lives and futures. Without a good education, students won’t be able to lead in the future and there will be even more problems.