No Child Left Behind?

Looking at the budget of the 2017 School Year, I came across something interesting. Did you know that 2017's budget is $69.4 billion dollars in discresionary funding, and $139.7 billion in mandatory funding for the US Department of Education. That is up $1.3 billion over last year, and a total of $209.1 Billion. Does this make sense to you? Where does all the money go for this budget?

Of this, $15.4 billion goes to Title I grants. These go to lower performing schools to get the tools they need to offer better education. How can this be? They continue to shut down school and do not assess the over-crowding issue either. Every year, for example, Chicago Public Schools shut down 3-4 schools after each school year; and fire all the teachers and staff from said schools. How is that benefiting any child? Yet, they are always looking for teachers. This is not a safe environment for your children, let alone us teachers.

We give out all this money to schools and yet teachers are still buying supplies they need for their students- out of their own pockets- taking from their families. And now, these teachers cannot be reimbursed for these purchases? How is that fair? From how I see it, these politicians don't care about the education the lower income and some middle class children get. We have the law, No Child Left Behind, and it is not enforced. How can we let people know that it is just to easy to give up on these children. These children are our future here in this country and they are the ones who will be looking after us when we are old and decrepit. So why not give them a fair chance?

Don't you think we owe it to our children to give them all the opportunity to succeed in this crazy and unconventional world? This is part of the reason I decided to start homeschooling my daughter. I want to give her all the tools to succeed in life. I want her to know I am her mom and a teacher. But, I'm a teacher that has her best interest at heart. It's part of who I am- a teacher.

How many kids in think we as parents are always out to get them... I'm sure they are out there because I was one of them. My parent's were very strict with me and always said they knew what was best. Their version of best was yelling, arguing, pushing buttons, and being verbally abusive. No child deserves that. I want my daughter to know that I am her friend to a point. That point comes with her education and her choices. As long as she doesn't make poor choices or give up her opportunities in the world, I will always be her friend. We as parents owe our child a friends- the world is too cruel not to be that. You will know when that line comes and they need to know not to cross it. We cannot keep leaving children behind.