Opinion ID: 1789805
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Why Does This Constitutional Defect Matter?

Text: The property tax-based system, as noted, confines many local districts to an amount that the law has deemed to be adequate and, as a practical or legal matter, does not allow for a district to get more money than the adequacy amount. If you, the reader, have read every word of this opinion so far, struggling through the tedious parts and enjoying the wit and wisdom of the rest, chances are you have spent countless hours educating yourself beyond the minimum that schooling has had to offer. After all, our schools are still following the 19th century agricultural calendar that allows the children to be available to toil in the fields during the growing season. Schooling occurs in fewer than half the days in a calendar year. The school day itself begins around 8 a.m., when many adolescent brains are not fully awake, and extends to mid-afternoon. This allows ample time for participation in sports or other extra-curricular activities orin the absence of parental or other adult supervision or perhaps in spite of itfor channel-surfing, Internet-surfing, criminal mischief or sex. Extracurricular time may be productive and may count as socialization, but one would be hard-pressed to find more than a few hours of each school day devoted to time on task for mastery of academic subjects or vocational skills needed for a productive life. [50] This is not exactly the kind of education designed to prepare our children for competition in the global marketplace. What would a school district need to engage its pupils and students in full days of learning and useful activity in a school year that stretches through the growing season? Money. The amount of money currently available to many districts may be adequate only to ensure mediocrity. Having more money, of course, does not ensure that a school district will produce a world-class education. But not having enough money nearly always dooms a district to mediocrity. Legislators are in charge of the funding system; they can congratulate themselves when the funding for schools exceeds funding provided in the past. But the fact that past funding may have been inadequate is no guide to what is needed now and in the future. It is little comfort to those who seek education for their children to be assured that the resources available are adequate according to 20th century standards. The real question is whether the resources will be adequate for our children to receive an education that will help make them competitive in a world marketplace in the 21st century. The United States in the past has made up for some of its deficits in education by allowing immigration of highly educated persons from other countries to fill gaps in our needs for scientific, medical and other specialized professionals. This has allowed the country to stay at or near the top of scientific achievement for many decades. This attention to the top perhaps has distracted from the need to develop a maximally educated and trained human workforce in all sectors of society. States compete with each other and with other countries in attracting companies with jobs by offering tax breaks and other economic development incentives with scant attention to the attractiveness of a well-educated workforce. The nature of such global competition increases the anxiety that many in this country feel that their own children will not achieve the same standard of living that they have had. One of our country's great attributes is that it is easyrelative to much of the rest of the worldto be well off. But often overlooked is how difficult it is to be poor in America. [51] Education is the difference for most of us who did not inherit wealth. Schools ideally are helpmates to parents in the education of children. But they have taken on greater roles as the demographics of families have changed with increases in single-parent households and households where both parents work outside the home. Many children have opportunities for educational enrichment that are available outside of schools. For others, schools are the only chance. The resources that the General Assembly can command make the difference. Thus far, I fear, we and our legislators have failed to do the right thing for many of our state's children. We can believe that all our children are above average. Belief is a powerful part of encouraging children to succeed. But belief, without sufficient resources, is not enough. [52]