Quotes: Why Don't Reformers Fight For School Funding?

Isn’t it strange that you never see a group like “Education Reform Now”... advocating for smaller classes or more librarians or a reversal of budget cuts. -- Diane Ravitch via Mike Klonsky (it's a good point, esp. given the looming sequestration of funding for FY2013)

Comments

[Cynthia]

How interesting. I have the same exact question.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 30 states in 2010-2011 were below funding levels for 2007-2008 (same number of kids if not an increase in children attending K-12 through population growth, mind you). Source: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3569

A similar number of states project budget shortfalls that will entail K-12 budget cuts for 2012-2013. (Also CBPP: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=711)

In my own state, California, $20 billion has been cut from K-12 education in the past five years.

To my mind, current "ed reformers" have no credibility whatsoever unless they are serious about funding education properly all the way from pre-k to higher ed.

Until they get serious about these real crises that result in shuttered school libraries, and volatility in teacher hiring/firing, loss of art, music, and other important classes, reduction in access to college by middle class families, I'll be forced to conclude from so-called "ed reformers" that they don't care about the quality of the curriculum and that in fact, austerity is a shock doctrine applied to the states to weaken public schools and prime them for "ed reform"-style privatization.