Note: “Perspectives in Pedagogy” is a new column featuring Op/Eds written by the students of UW-Eau Claire professor Boris Krichevsky, an assistant professor at the College of Health and Human Sciences, education studies department.

Education policy expert — and my mentor — Dr. Jane West, often says, “If you’re not at the table, then you’re on the menu.” In the education context, this concept resonates now more than ever. Too often, decisions about education are made without educators. Policies around what lessons teachers can teach or what books students can read are created by policymakers who are far removed from the classroom. In this Spectator series, future teachers in my course, Education Studies 212: Exploring Schooling in Grades K-12, join the table of education policy and contribute to topics and tensions on the education menu.

There are many images that flood the mind when one mentions “American education.” Overcrowded classrooms with a stressed-out teacher, dilapidated schools not renovated since the ‘60s, and rotten school lunches. 

Meanwhile, 10 minutes away, the next district over is building a brand-new football stadium. Of course, that begs the question, why is American education like this? Fortunately, there is a simple answer to this question, and it is taxes. 

For context, schools are primarily funded by local property taxes while receiving a small percentage of funding from the state and federal governments. The result is lower-income districts having the inability to hire adequate educational professionals and less resource availability for school supplies and renovations.

For starters, the most profound yet subtle impact of property taxes being the source of funding is the inability of districts to hire adequate staff. The first noticeable effect comes down to classroom size within the district. 

Due to poorer districts being unable to hire enough teachers, districts will consistently have large class sizes. These large classes are well known to harm student learning due to allowing less individual time between teachers and students. 

Additionally, the lack of funding doesn’t just affect teachers — it also impacts other essential educational staff. Social workers, counselors and literacy specialists are all essential in providing an adequate education to students, and when the funding isn’t there, neither are these essential staff. 

Fewer literacy coaches — especially currently, when literacy comprehension is at the lowest level in modern American history — is especially potent. Students with lower reading comprehension are, on average, poorer, and this creates a vicious cycle. 

Lower-income students struggle with reading due to a lack of support and continue to suffer from poverty in their adult lives, thanks to a lack of literacy. This ensures the poor stay poor and continues a cycle of chronic underfunding, turning into chronically low reading comprehension. 

Meanwhile, wealthier districts, thanks to having naturally high property taxes, can afford to hire enough staff to fulfill the needs of their students.

Finally, every other resource becomes harder to fund, thanks to property taxes being the main source of funding. Most school funding is allocated to paying staff, and when the time comes for textbooks and school supplies, the remaining budget is tight. 

If money is tight enough, teachers are often forced to cover school supplies with their own cash. While the lack of proper school supplies is an obvious issue, teachers being forced to pay for their own supplies only worsens the situation. 

The fact of the matter is that teachers will gravitate to districts that give teachers allowances to buy supplies over districts that require teachers to spend their own little money on supplies. This further compounds staff shortages and continues their downward spiral. 

The inability to purchase proper school supplies puts students at an inherent disadvantage compared to their peers in wealthier districts, who receive updated textbooks and a proper place to learn. In poorer districts, buildings are often dilapidated, rotting boxes of concrete without proper air conditioning, making learning much more difficult and threatening the health of students. 

Would you want to learn in these conditions? Students don’t, and unsurprisingly, the rate of absenteeism is significantly higher in these schools. The evidence doesn’t lie; rundown schools actively harm the learning of students, all because of the way schools are funded.

In conclusion, funding schools with local property taxes traps millions in the cycle of poverty. This ensures poor districts struggle with hiring educators and have fewer resources overall for school supplies and renovations. 

Wealthy districts benefit from high land value to properly fund and educate their students, widening the gap between the rich and the poor. We let school buildings crumble for years — that neglect is locking kids out.

Johnson can be reached at johnsocp8685@uwec.edu.