The state of Arizona is worse for the wear in the current economy. Despite the stimulus package, it faces a multi-billion dollar deficit and has few places to cut in the budget.
In fact, the only few places left to cut from concern the state, health care, and yes … education. Already, state parks are being closed to help with the budget, and it seems that many low-income people are going to lose their free health care. That leaves education up on the chopping block, though it seemed like last year it had already gone through its fair share of slashes.
Why is it that when money becomes tough to come by, education is one of the top choices in line to take a fall? Does that mean citizens do not care about the knowledge of the future?
It seems rather ironic since the future generation will be the one inheriting the economic tangle and expected to untie it. This could lead to serious backlash if people cannot pull Arizona, and our nation, out of debt. The education budget will continue to be cut, and people will not have the chances a well-funded learning environment provides.
Arizona currently spends some of the lowest amounts on its education compared to any other state. More cuts will have severe consequences. Opportunities for students will become more limited, and the atmosphere of education will continue to change. Schools may lose their art departments and other creative outlets that students rely on. The technology that some schools like Empire High School rely on will become too expensive to maintain.
Empire is already suffering from budget cuts. Where freshmen students would have gotten free new laptops on their first day of school, they now receive older laptops. If they want a new one, they have to buy it. With even more cuts, there is a good chance that the number of laptops students can use will decline because the school will be unable to afford more.
Also, paper is likely to become more expensive than it already is. While it was free to print last year at school, it now costs money. That is likely to increase.
This, of course, is all from a student’s standpoint. The teachers will really suffer. There was already a mass lay-off, and now more teachers will lose their job when less money is put towards education. The teachers that do work already face abysmal pay. Even the supplies that they need to purchase as supplements to their classroom will become short in supply.
When the education budget is decreased, a whole section of society is harmed. It would seem that people would want to give their future — and those teaching the future — more tools, yet education is always at risk as soon as the economy faces harsh times.
There is no clear answer on how to deal with the budget problems, but it seems that there would be some area in Arizona that is less important than education and can actually afford the cuts. It seems that education is thoroughly undervalued, and hopefully soon people will come to terms with how important and necessary it is.
Until then, Arizona education faces some serious challenges ahead for students, teachers and administrators who trying to stretch money across all schools. As for close to home, the Vail district came off relatively better than other Arizona schools concerning the budget cut. It may face darker days this time.
About the author: Abby Strassman is a Senior at Empire High School.
