One of the biggest problems in the United States is the under-funding of high schools all across America. According to a study done by The Century Foundation (TCF), high schools are being underfunded by over $150 billion dollars annually. The federal budget puts aside $296.6 billion for secondary schools, which is only four percent of the national budget. This may seem like a lot, but compared to the $826 billion spent on military, it is not as much as it could be. This under funding of schools could be vital to creating mental health centers that students could go to if feeling overwhelmed.

As a result of corporations trying to create perfect employees, another problem has arisen from the influences on education. Students are being pushed into a competition to see who can be the best, to the point where they forget to focus on anything other than school. Perfection has become the new normal, an unachievable feat. Perfect grades for all is unattainable, all students will have a degree of failure. However, this has not stopped schools from pressuring students from trying to attain. When perfection is not met, students become distraught and lose sight of everything else in order to try to achieve it, including developing poor eating habits and a lack of self care. Academic validation is needed by many students, and when their grade point average (GPA) is not as high as they want it to be, students often suffer from anxiety and depression. Burnout from striving for an unachievable goal of perfection causes students to drop out. When students are not able to reach their level of success , many turn to drugs or alcohol to make themselves feel better. Schools need to help students strive for achievable goals to help them with their mental health.