The dilemma of public school funding | Lizeth Ramirez | TEDxChallengeEarlyCollegeHS

All throughout her time in high school, Lizeth was made aware of the connection between attendance and funding for schools, since it is a concern of most public school campuses in Texas. That led Lizeth to inquire about the details of the "ADA" system of attendance utilized by the State of Texas - she comes to the TEDx stage to share what she's discovered and to challenge the current format. All throughout her time in high school, Lizeth was made aware of the connection between attendance and funding for schools, since it is a concern of most public school campuses in Texas. That led Lizeth to inquire about the details of the "ADA" system of attendance utilized by the State of Texas - she comes to the TEDx stage to share what she's discovered and to challenge the current format. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@dennishenegar6332]

Ms. Ramirez does a good job of analysis on the numbers with regard to state funding and I commend her work and her presentation. Unfortunately, she is only addressing one piece of the funding, specifically state funding. Another large chunk of funding comes from local property tax dollars ... the problem there is obvious. The low-income areas typically have much lower property values and so on the basis, the disadvantaged students in those areas lose again. Texas legislators have attempted to address this through what was originally called the Robin Hood plan that forces "richer" school districts to distribute funds to districts with much lower property values (and taxes). Does that destroy Ms. Ramirez's argument? Not necessarily. It just means that it is more complex picture than you are seeing in this analysis. Then you have to factor in Federal dollars for special funding streams. There are federal programs like IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and 504 (the right to free and public education) that are meant to help schools meet the needs of students in what is called Special Education. And then there is funding under Title 1, which provides funding specifically for economically disadvantaged students. I realize that Ms. Ramirez is in college somewhere by now (she should be), but not including these other funds makes her analysis incomplete. But again,, I commend her sincere effort to tackle a challenging issue that even many legislators do not fully understand.

[@seventhcompactor1505]

Why is it a problem. Low income people are free to pop out kids as they wish. But, they have to handle the consequences. Those wealthy areas have parents who behave very differently than the low income caste.

[@seventhcompactor1505]

We over-fund schools. And we see no benefit from any of it

[@barneycasting8331]

Remember for high-need school districts, the state as well as the federal government needs to provide WIC, SNAP, and Medicare benefits. So even though there is less funding for education for high-need school districts, those students and their parents reap the benefits of subsidies utility bills, government housing, food stamps, and free healthcare. By God man USA is much better than a socialist country providing the poor this much of benefits.

[@elqbuscaencuentra8332]

@@seventhcompactor1505 let’s keep in mind how our immigration policies ultimately affect the high need communities. More strain. That’s why we need a stronger border.

[@seventhcompactor1505]

@@elqbuscaencuentra8332 agreed

[@reyndor1583]

ADA does seem to punish districts that have a higher percent of low income students. Add this to the fact that most cost for schools are set cost and thus don’t go down when students are absent (you need to pay the teachers and have the lights on whether there is 3 students absent or not) and the ADA model shows that it isn’t a good way of assessing the amount a district should receive.

[@killuaz5039]

Then how about switching it to test scores?

[@icarusrex8897]

THe ADA model is the absurdity. We should not be spending so much money on students who can't compete

[@killuaz5039]

@@icarusrex8897 we should also fire teachers who student can't compete

[@icarusrex8897]

@@killuaz5039 No, fire the parents

[@SamuelDimitrov]

@@icarusrex8897 lol

[@RyanWeaver-fp5kq]

A lot of very real and very connected issues.

[@skysharksingh]

A kid presenting this discrepancy to adults is appalling. Our education system needs to become competitive to increase accountability. Money talks the loudest and hurts the hardest. Milton freedman use to want vouchers so parents can take them to the school of their choosing this way schools don’t have a monopoly, this leading them to becoming complacent.

[@otterzrkuhl]

Education shouldn’t be competitive. Everyone should be able to get an equally good education no matter what.

[@seventhcompactor1505]

Our education system is competitive. The top 2-3% of american students are the world's best

[@nebwachamp]

​@@otterzrkuhlhow do u intend to enforce that

[@otterzrkuhl]

@@nebwachamp to enforce good education for all? Wtf kind of question is that.

[@carterdaum4610]

anybody tryna clutch up and make an mla citation of this? or explain how cause this essay due at 11:59

[@EarCandyPisces]

No, because APA is the standard for most discipline outside of English/Reading/Arts 😅

[@RyanWeaver-fp5kq]

Values

[@ire1398]

Private schools should be illegal (home schooling too). If the only choice is public school then Congress would be forced to actually fund it, and since their own kids would have to go, they would be invested in it instead of just doing what their corporate owners tell them to.

[@charleswest6372]

School sucks. It's control of your kids b4 they are old and think for themselves. I refused it.

[@jasonkgotso5058]

Mwalimu

[@Cheeto848]

Is it just me or does Ahmet sound like stewie from family guy ? 😂

[@SamuelDimitrov]

why is this here lmao

[@nicholaskruger5313]

fake news

[@ayrecoote7154]

There is no 'dilemma' with public school funding. The "Dilemma" is what to do about 'parents' who pop out kids they can't afford. Reckless procreation is the dilemma.

[@bassbeatsonepieceo1189]

interestingly enough property tax-based funding and attendance-based funding have no correlation whatsoever to one parent's life situation and economical situation. The child here is much more informed than you and clearly lays out the dilemmas with funding

[@andysalcedo1067]

punish the child that didn’t choose to be born ?

[@rafikitho]

why cant they afford them? did the educational system not teach and train them to be more financially responsible?

[@otterzrkuhl]

@Ash Hegde maybe they made poor economic decisions because they weren’t taught about making good economic decisions because their school was underfunded.

[@seventhcompactor1505]

@@bassbeatsonepieceo1189 You didn't study correlation. Go back and read again.

[@seventhcompactor1505]

There's no dilemma. If you can't afford kids, don't have them. And if you pop them out anyway, don't whine that things are horrid.

[@SamuelDimitrov]

Why should we pay for kids who don't go to school, hmm? Give me a break.

[@SamuelDimitrov]

If they don't go to school, we are wasting our tax dollars. If we are going to pay kids who are not at school, that's wasted money. Everyone would rather have their money not wasted, you know.

[@aidanchen4600]

If schools had more funding and gave their students access to technology, books, more qualified teachers, and better afterschool programs, wouldn't that give students more incentives to go to school? Your logic seems to only uphold the detrimental status quo of student absences.

[@SamuelDimitrov]

@@aidanchen4600 Some people hate school because they are lazy. To suggest that they don't go to school because of lack of funding is logically incorrect.

[@everythingisfine9988]

Why would any kid want to go to prison? school surrounding them barbed wire, arm guards and metal detectors. It's a f****** prison.

[@SamuelDimitrov]

@@everythingisfine9988 so basically you want society to be a bunch of morons with no literacy whatsoever and can't calculate how much money they are spending.

[@icarusrex8897]

There is no dilemma. Good parents live in good neighborhoods, instill discipline in their kids, and fund good schools. Bad parents pop out kids they can't afford, and then complain the public doesn't pay for the costs.

[@everythingisfine9988]

Interesting you got the numbers down. The poor people will always outnumber you a 1000 to 1. Is a word for that, surrounded 💀

[@bassbeatsonepieceo1189]

I imagine your brain is the size of a pea if you actually believe someone's living space automatically determines their morals & their kid's morals not to mention their individual ability to succeed and contrarily literal inability to succeed with fewer resources.

[@bleepbloop9123]

Wow dude

[@danamarrazo7338]

education isn’t about parents it’s about children. kids can’t help what areas they are born into, whether they’re born into privilege or not. ur actually ridiculous to think that children should bear the brunt of their parents decisions.

[@otterzrkuhl]

Good parents need money to live in good neighborhoods. To get money they need a good education which they did not get because they grew up in a poor area. They had kids they can’t afford to raise because they weren’t educated on how to avoid having kids because they grew up in a poor area. Now their kids aren’t getting educated either, and the cycle repeats itself.

[@johnmcclane2401]

she has such a whiny voice i am not listening to this lol

[@lilyrose-mo7iy]

Thats a highschool student lol

[@suksukbuckley1326]

Pay attention!

[@bleepbloop9123]

Sir this is a child