Every sector of a country has a budget set for the year. A budget is an estimated amount of expenditure and income that is set for a certain period. Schools also have budgets i.e. classroom budgets, which is the amount a class has for its learning purposes. Most of the resources that are within the classroom budget may include glue, paper, pencils, and workbooks among other learning materials used by both students and teachers. If these learning materials exceed the budget amount of the classroom budget before the term ends, learning may face a negative impact. As per the moment, schools are being urged to cut on the classroom budgets to save more funds for other purposes. Cutting the classroom budget may bring with it other problems in the education sector, therefore, to reduce the classroom budgets well some factors have to be looked at to ensure that the best outcome will be achieved in the end.
According to Clifford B. Janey, the Superintendent of the Newark Public Schools, the best thing to do is to look out at both the expenditures that can be reduced and should be reduced and at the same time flip to the other side of the ledgers thus making sure that there are funds associated with innovation. This initiave will help the budget to present a whole list of view regarding the way of reduction of the expenditures doing so strategically and flat fully and gearing up on the side so as to be seen as an innovation district in difficult times.
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Elsewhere, the Co-Director of Strategic Management of Human Capital, Consortium for Policy Research in Education, Allan R. Odden, has it that the institution needs to think about its overall strategy. This is from improving performance, the spending levels of the institution and if there are things that money is being spent on at the moment which is not part of the strategy. Odden considers the above expenditures as the expenditures that need to be cut.
Also, the Director of Education Research Strategies, Jonathan Travers asserts that he works with a restriction to two things. The first is coming up with a perspective that is not just how much is being spent but also how well the spending is. Therefore when thinking about reductions, the first question to ask is "what is the overall strategy of the resources?” which maybe investments among others. Doing this may start with the articulation of strategies and what will get them in the end. Then, mapping how the resources are being utilized may follow then quantifying the opportunities among others.
One thing needs to be done at the beginning of all the classroom budgeting processes, and this is understanding the actual situation of the budget. In school and education finance, there are a few things which may be considered as cuts when in the real sense they are not cuts. There is only one thing that needs to be considered, and that is the total amount of cash spent on every pupil within the community. Also if the amount spent each pupil incapacitates all the other costs, like facilities and buildings or the annual expenses alone, finding out the amount of money spent within the school may be of great value. This is because if there are disparities within different schools or every pupil’s figure in other schools, then there will be a need for re-strategizing to see where the rest of the funds is going (Rotherham, 2011).
More so, knowing what will be cut from the classroom budget and the reason as to why may be of great importance to the school. Parents may come in pushing to know what is being cut and why this may not be of great value than the question of whether the district of the school is responsible in determining the effective programs. Also, it is important to ask whether the decision to cut or keep a program is similar to the evidence. For instance, paying teachers with advanced degrees more has no effect on the learning process of the students, but this is what is being done within district schools. Another thing is considering the amount spent paying for individuals going for various certifications and degrees with respect to the amounts spent on salary increments as a result. This money that is being used could be saved and used in other sectors thus saving more for other classroom learning activities I.e. extra-curricular activities among others (Rotherham, 2011).
Cutting on the classroom budget may bring problems along with it, for instance, a deficit within the education sector. Cutting classroom budget may lay off teachers as well as cutting on other learning processes and activities. According to the Minnesota School Administrators, if the lawmakers fail to set aside extra funds for education then they will have to cut programs as well as teachers (Post, 2015). Education budgets were trimmed by the government by reducing the supply budgets to schools. It (government) also went further to eliminate bussing at lunchtime, as well as cutting on the budget set for the professional development of the teachers (Barry, 2016). For first graders, it may be hard to learn in a classroom where there are no books, paper, crayons, and pencils among others. Other teachers like Randy Foust need to spend from their pockets to ensure that their classes remain where they have to be. She spends $100 on the class worksheets and other learning materials which are barely enough. What’s worse is that she has to print the classroom worksheets on already used papers (Salcedo, 2017).
Also, cutting on the classroom budgets will mean that classes are squeezed as a result of overcrowding in one class. The result of teachers being laid off is that some classes will be left without teaching staff. To keep the students on the right track and ensure that the learning process continues classrooms will be squeezed as more room is created for more students. It has been noted that in Los Angeles, the average size of the Mathematics and English classes for the ninth-graders has increased from 20 to 34. On average of the eleventh-grade as well as the 12th–grade classes on the two subjects (Mathematics and English) stands s at 43 students (Dillon, 2011).
Cutting the classroom budget may bring with it other problems in the learning sector, therefore, in order to cut the budget classroom budgets well; some factors have to be looked at to ensure that the best is achieved in the end. Cutting on the classroom funds will mean reduction in the levels of education of the nation simply because learning processes will be interfered with. It is, therefore, important to note that education is the greatest asset of a nation which needs not to be interfered with. Investing in education and funding it more will ensure that the best is achieved from education and thus proper leadership for tomorrow and success for the nation as a whole.
References
Barry, G. (2016, April 14). Bigger classes, fewer teachers as budget trims school system. CBCNEWS. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/classroom-sized-combined-classes-newfoundland-budget-1.3535966
Dillon, S. (2011, March 6). Tight Budgets Mean Squeeze in Classroom. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/education/07classrooms.html
Post, T. (2015, May 4). Capitol budget plans will force classroom cuts, school leaders warn. MPRnews. Retrieved from https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/05/04/school-budgets
Rotherham, J. A. (2011, June 23). Budget Cuts in the Classroom: What's on the School Chopping Block? Time. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2079421,00.html
Salcedo, V. (2017, February 26). CPS teachers on their own for basic classroom supplies. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved from http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/cps-teachers-on-their-own-for-basic-classroom-supplies/
