Country Budget and Education: Achieving Development and Growth - Essay Example

Education is definitely the backbone of a county’s development as it contributes to the upliftment of the family as well as the country on the whole. There is increasing awareness about the importance of quality education and governments are doing the utmost possible to encourage children and educational organizations. Education in the United States has been making the headlines in the recent past. While some developments have had a positive effect on the educational system, others have left a negative impact. Hikes in school fees and job cuts in universities owing to a limited budget have garnered a lot of attention in the recent past (Dillon; Vasagar; Asimov). However, the $46.7 billion dollar budget proposed by the Obama administration to improve key areas in education is creating a positive impact among educationalists, students and parents. According to policy analysts, education has not received such an attention since the No Child Left Behind act which was passed in early 2000 (Sorrentino). Issues were raised when schools across California charged their students for using textbooks, taking part in courses such as arts and home economics and for undertaking advanced tests as it challenged the right to free public education for children. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a suit against the state with the charge that 35 district schools across California have raised their fee structure exorbitantly over the years. Parents have expressed their views about their children’s inability to participate in sporting activities due to the increased fee. Various legal suits filed since the 1970’s have put forth the lack of adequate funding for public schools, however, the recent cases have dealt primarily with charging fees from children for their education and other co-curricular activities while it is prohibited by law. While there are some permissible fees which the schools can charge from students, reports revealed that students are forced to pay fees for uniforms and taking tests which actually be borne by the schools (Dillon). While educational institutions have been accused of charging unwarranted fees, educationalists have also pointed to the huge cuts in budgets allotted for these institutions. The recent 40% deduction in teaching budgets is a befitting example. With this move the government has allowed universities to charge a higher tuition fee from their students. Arts and humanities have been hit hardly with the government maintaining its support for other fields such as science and technology. Many universities fear that it will not be able to deliver quality education with these deductions and they fear that the demands from the students for better facilities will be more if they begin to pay more. While those in the scientific community have expressed relief that the science budget has not been cut, some other hoped that it would be increased as many countries are increasing investing in science and technology. Thus universities are faced with a daunting task to find replacement funding to these cuts as they have become a threat to the survivability of certain universities (Vasagar). In order to meet the changing educational scenario, universities such as UC Berkeley, have proposed job cuts with about 200 job eliminations due early next year. Such administrative job cuts are mainly aimed to improve efficiency and to eliminate unnecessary job positions. A consulting firm hired by the university has concluded that such job eliminations and cutting purchase expenditure the university could save nearly $75 million per year. They have also suggested that by improving operational efficiency the money spent on administrative costs could be diverted to teaching and research purposes. There have, however, been oppositions to such job cuts stating that it could result in inefficient management of students, but certain positions such as many vice chancellors are still being considered useless (Asimov). In these circumstances, the priorities given to the field of education in the 2010 budget proposal of the Obama government has given a great sense of relief both to educationalists as well as students and their parents. President Obama’s budget for education has garnered at lot of attention mainly due to his proposal improve four key areas in education which includes early childhood education, educational assessments, provide support for teachers and access to collegiate education and support its completion. Stressing the importance of education during the formative years of a child President Obama has proposed to implement his zero to five systems as discussed by him during his campaign trial. He budget also indicates the need for reforms in educational standards that will give due credit to student achievements and also improve the assessment procedures. Retaining teachers has also been recognized as vital for the success of an academic institution and hence the budget also includes appropriate incentives and rewards for teachers in order to motivate them. Finally the budget has also addressed the need for higher education which it plans to improve through easier access to federal student loans, increasing Pell grants for students and by providing incentives to colleges to support the higher education of low-income students. Hence the educational budget mainly aims to provide better access to education and training for children and youth as the government strongly believes that only a strong educational background will help students survive in this global economy (Sorrentino). Thus despite the various problems and challenges faced by schools and colleges, implementation of good reforms and provision of adequate funding to support deserving students will help change the education scenario across the country. Budgetary reforms and funding play a key role in bringing about this change and hopefully the government will take all the necessary measures to realize its proposals and thus help to create a better standard of education for all classes of children. Reference 1. Sorrentino, Johanna. “Obama’s Budget Delivers on Education.” Education.com. n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Obamas_Budget_Delivers_Education/ 2. Dillon, Sam. “Public Schools Face Lawsuit over Fee.” The New York Times. 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/education/10education.html 3. Vasagar, Jeevan. “Universities alarmed by 40% cut to teaching Budgets.” Guardian.co.uk. 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/oct/20/spending-review-university-teaching-cuts 4. Asimov, Nanette. “UC Berkeley plans to cut another 200 jobs.” SFGate.com. 23 Sept. 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-09-23/bay-area/24085143_1_job-elimination-efficiency-positions Read More