Pin, Laura. “Does Participatory Budgeting Lead to Local Empowerment? The Case of Chicago, IL.” Alternate Routes, vol. 28, Jan. 2017, pp. 114–140. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=sih&AN=122658375&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
The Author, Laura Pin is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at York University, which is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She Published this academic journal in Alternate Routes Journal Carleton University Sociology & anthropology Department in 2017. This article illustrates that there is a history of parental and communal concern regarding the budgetary situation in Chicago Public Schools. Even government personnel expressed doubt over the transparency of the process by which funds are distributed. The author contends that "Participatory Budgeting" is a mixed bag. "Participatory Budgeting" is defined by the author as "the allocation of a budget by residents, rather than politicians or bureaucrats" (114). The author expands her scope beyond education to include social reform, and rightly identifies lack of funding in minority neighborhoods. Since all school systems are locally funded the challenges presented by impoverished communities have a direct impact on education levels. This becomes a reciprocal problem as low education is widely known to correlate with high crime and low graduation rate. As a result of the restricted nature, the Participatory Budgeting problems cannot be addressed at their root. The article provokes the question that if children who don't know where their next meal will come from, or if the police will respond to their calls, or if they have to worry about surviving day to day, then how can they possibly have the time or energy to worry about being successful at school. In addition to the current state of affairs, it seems that procuring additional funding for the Chicago Public School system is needlessly difficult, these are processes and decisions that should not be made in smoke filled rooms or on golf courses. This work is suitable to my research paper due to the fact that my concern is about the correlation of funding of public schooling to the success rate of students as well as how the budgeting is being managed.
Peña, Rodrigo H., et al. “Low SES High School per Pupil Allocation and Its Effect on Achievement.” Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, vol. 21, Oct. 2018. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=eric&AN=EJ1194258&site=ehost-live.
The authors of this research paper selected 40 public high schools in the state of Texas. It was based on the per pupil allocation of Socio Economic Status demographics and studied whether school funding correlated with test scores and the success rates of students. The article detailed the percentage the school's funding came from on a local, state, and federal level. The authors mention that public schools need to think of new ways to create an environment for student success because of the lack of funding and budget cuts for low socio economic status and at risk students. They argue because schools are not making the right choices for school funding cuts, student achievement has not been able to improve. Alongside budget and funding, the study also reports that there are not enough resources for the at risk students who need more one on one time with educators. There has been an increase of classroom sizes because schools are unable to keep highly qualified and skillful instructors, therefore the teacher to student ration has increased. The authors also explain the effects reduced funding has on several other states, and the correlation of budget cuts and failing student accomplishment.
Lee, Jaekyung. “Educational Equity and Adequacy for Disadvantaged Minority Students: School and Teacher Resource Gaps toward National Mathematics Proficiency Standard.” Journal of Educational Research, vol. 105, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 64–75. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=eric&AN=EJ948595&site=ehost-live.
Author Jaekyung Lee of the University at Buffalo is a researcher on the educational gaps and inequality found among the different racial and socioeconomic groups. Lee published this study in "The Journal of Educational Research in 2012. He proposed the question, "What kinds and how much of extra resources are needed to meet common rigorous national standard of proficiency?" (64). The study researched the opportunity gap faced by minorities and how they have not been meeting the standard school performance goals at a national level and goes on to offer reasons of why this is so. The samples used to conduct the study were national. In addition to tracking success and failure rates, it also studied the chances for success and failure against performance goals. The study further illustrated the difference in spending on education among minority groups. It focused mainly on Black and Hispanic students as opposed to their White peers. The focus of the study also included faculty. The elements included the level of college obtained, qualifications, the correlation between those qualifications and the student's food subsidies, and the general qualifications of teachers in majority minority schools. The data for this report was obtained through three government programs dedicated to tracking various aspects of the public school system and compared and analyzed in context of each other with special focus on funding and in class training. There are many states that are unable to provide equal education to their students due to lack of resources and funding.
Neymotin, Florence. “The Relationship between School Funding and Student Achievement in Kansas Public Schools.” Journal of Education Finance, vol. 36, no. 1, Jan. 2010, pp. 88–108. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=eric&AN=EJ893879&site=ehost-live.
Florence Neymotin wrote an article for the "Journal of Education Finance" and was published through the University of Illinois Press. The project was funded by a grant from the University of Kansas School of Business Center for Applied Economics. This study focused on the state of Kansas and its program to increase school funding and its effect on graduation rates. It specifically examines the results of redistribution of funding toward the at-risk youth community. The data comes from the time period between 1997 and 2006 when there was a major overhaul to the way Kansas spends its funds on education and cites the School District Finance and Quality Performance Act as its source. This data is compared to a previous study of the same name from the years 1989 to 1995 in which both studies student dropout rate was also a factor being tracked. The article argues that according to the data there is little evidence to suggest that funding alone makes any significant impact upon performance, both for high school graduation and the likelihood of continuing education. Further emphasis is given to the historical narrative of the fluid nature of American education. This includes not only the singular aspect of funding when it comes to educational success rates, but also the context of real world practicality. The article also mentions the historical purpose of education, including the primary purpose it was used for in immigrant and Native populations. Affirming the importance of education as a whole to the community, it is attempting to argue that money is not the only problem, which is contradicting my argument that the financial crisis is to blame.
Eng, Norman, and Allan Ornstein. “Introduction: Reframing the Inequality Debate toward Opportunity and Mobility.” Journal of Social Issues, vol. 72, no. 4, Dec. 2016, pp. 619–628. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/josi.12186.
Norman Eng and Allan Ornstein wrote an article for “The Journal of Social Issues” which was published in 2016. The authors explore the reasons why there is still inadequate educational funds that are intended to help at risk students who are in the working and middle class. They acknowledge the political obstacles and bias the discussion gives rise to as well. They also use data from multiple polls and focus groups on education to support their arguments. The article explores the dichotomy between the desire for a reduction in the wealth gap versus the amount of opportunity and mobility available. In addition, the authors believe in the need for better resource appropriation and improving faculty qualifications and training including internships. The authors also point to contextual events in contemporary history, like the housing crisis of 2007 and so-called "great recession.” The article is also arguing for wide ranging solutions that include things like early childhood development improvement, receiving greater attention from all aspects of society and not just politics, and improvement of local communities as a combined effort. Finally, the authors acknowledge that there are probably a number of different ways to approach the important issue as they see it, that is the issue of opportunity and mobility. However, they defend their approach as being the most efficient at benefitting society as a whole. This article helps focus on solutions to the financial school funding crisis instead of being an argumentative, political, or special interest piece.