Fayetteville Observer Promotes Increased Public School Funding

In response to the recent report from the Southern Education Foundation, the Fayetteville Observer endorsed increased spending on public education to counteract the effects of poverty on the region's public schools.

Low-income children outnumber their peers in public schools in the South. That’s the grim news from the Southern Education Foundation. The phenomenon, which hasn’t occurred since the 1960s, means school systems — already struggling to reduce dropout rates, raise test scores and find good teachers — must find a way to educate growing numbers of students likely to struggle.

Putting more money into school systems is the way to do it. However, Southern states fall short in that regard. The foundation found states in this part of the country spend less per student than in the rest of the nation and low-income children receive the least in educational resources.

The article concludes by highlighting the inevitable cycle impoverished students and families will be subjected to across the South if changes are not made in the region's public schools.

Research shows that young people from poor families have greater difficulty reaching grade-level benchmarks, constitute a large percent of high-school dropouts, and are less likely to go on to college. Those young adults who lack high school or college diplomas become low-income parents of disadvantaged children. The cycle will continue until Southern states invest the kind of money in education that can slow the tide of underachieving.