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With recent budgetary issues and decreased funding for public schools, many administrators are being forced to cut teaching positions for the upcoming school year. The loss of teachers means that nearly all students will be forced into a larger class size in the future. Will your child be prepared to successfully handle the change?

Lower Budgets and Larger Classes

As all public schools cope with the loss of funds, leaders must make difficult balancing decisions. Most controversially, many school leaders are being forced to cut teaching positions to keep their schools running.

As the population of students stays the same and the number of teachers declines, students are being shuffled into larger classes with less personal time with each instructor. Los Angeles, for example, is one of the leading examples of a city facing a budget and job cut crisis. As reports, Los Angeles’ Board of Education recently voted to cut thousands of public school jobs, including both teachers and support staff members. With an estimated 600 million dollar deficit, the school leaders assert that public schools must let teachers go at the cost of larger class sizes.

This TED Talk explores why our schools are failing.

Will Your Child Succeed?

As the average public school class size has changed dramatically over the past several decades, experts are still debating the impact of class

Biology, algebra, English, and history classes are often no longer sufficient on their own for high school graduation in 2026. With steadily rising graduation standards, many school districts now require students to complete community service or service-learning hours before earning their diplomas. As a result, many teens are finding unique and engaging ways to become involved in their local areas.

Volunteer Requirements

States and major districts, including Maryland and large urban systems such as Chicago and Los Angeles, have implemented or expanded community service expectations as part of graduation requirements. For example, Los Angeles Unified School District continues to require students to complete a minimum number of verified community service hours with approved nonprofit or government organizations in order to graduate.

Schools implementing these service requirements report both immediate and long-term benefits for students. As students volunteer, they are exposed to different cultures, social settings, personal backgrounds, and new experiences. With these experiences, public students are able to add depth to their learning and development, which helps them both as teenagers and adults.

In contrast, some districts stop short of mandates and instead require schools to offer structured, accessible community service opportunities. In New York City and similar districts, education leaders continue to prioritize expanded access to voluntary service opportunities rather than strict mandates. District policies now emphasize that schools should actively connect students with vetted service opportunities through school partnerships and community organizations. With approximately 1.1 million children in New York’s public schools, many community

In light of the recent recession, many schools are being forced to cope with serious budget cuts and impending financial setbacks. As a result, some schools with more grave financial needs may be forced to either close down or shift a majority of their student population to alternative surrounding schools.

Adding to budgetary issues, many public schools are beginning to reassign students to ensure that everyone receives equal educational opportunities, regardless of one’s socioeconomic status. Ultimately, all parents are beginning to wonder: Will public schools soon reassign my child?

The New Wave of School Re-Assignments

School Budgets

In areas that have been severely impacted by local job loss and recession struggles, schools may be forced to cope with such setbacks by closing various campuses and / or removing teacher positions.

For example, Detroit’s automobile industry layoffs have severely hindered the local economy, and the region currently holds the nation’s highest unemployment rate. As a result, these former tax-paying residents are no longer receiving their standard income. Ultimately, without taxable steady incomes, schools lose funding, as a large portion of public school funds are provided by income and property taxes from local residents.

Adding to the burdens of local lay-offs, many unemployed workers may relocate to a new area to seek work. Not only does this reduce tax dollars contributed to school funding, but the number of students in each district falls as well. With a decrease in the student population, schools

Standardized testing has become a widely adopted approach to measure student progress and performance – and based upon some of President Obama’s proposals, more tests may be on the horizon for your child. In fact, the federal initiative No Child Left Behind even made standardized testing mandatory for all public schools.

While standardized testing may be one way to effectively measure student learning, many educators argue that students spend far too much time in school simply learning how to take tests. As a result, students and teachers lose out on more valuable lessons and complex instructional activities. Ultimately, leaders are looking ahead to see whether or not students will be forced to endure even more hours of rigorous testing.

Former School Testing Policies

Former President George W. Bush initially created his No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act in order to ensure that all public schools were effectively educating its students. As a result of NCLB, every public school was required to give their students specific subject area tests.

If students failed these tests, their school was put on an action plan and potentially lost some of its funding. On the other hand, if students passed these tests, their school was often financially rewarded with increased funding. While on the surface level, it appears as though NCLB would help reward successful schools, many experts argue that it has only severely punished kids who are in schools with lower budgets, less supplies, and larger class sizes.