Budget Shortfalls & School Closing

560 Words3 Pages
Emory R Fair Jr Budget shortfalls that affect school closings: Why is it that when a school district experiences a budget shortfall, one of the first things they do is close schools? In 2010 Kansas City, Missouri school district had a budget shortfall of fifty million dollars. The financial struggles caused the district to close thirty one schools and let go a fourth of the district employees which included 285 teachers (Greg, T. (n.d). From 2001 till now, Chicago, Illinois public school district has shut down forty four schools. A study was performed on the students affected by the school closings. This study claims that the displaced students had no positive or negative impact on their learning (De la Torre, M., 2009). Children are our future and regardless of the situation, schools must remain open so children can have a decent education. Closing schools impacts the entire community, has very few gains, and could be avoided by taking a different approach. A study conducted on schools closed in Chicago, Illinois showed that closing schools has little to no gain. They compared students from schools that were shut down and students who were not displaced by school closures. The results show that closing schools do not have a good impact on students. Most of the displaced students ended up in schools that were no better than the ones that were shut down. It leaves many to wonder, what else could be done instead of closing schools (Aarons, D., 2009)? In Arizona, one school district has found alternatives to closing schools. Moving the times children start school to a later time is one of the things they have done. They are also expanding before and after school programs, dropping block scheduling, and shortening the school year. All of these options will save the school money and keep them from closing down (Emily, B., n.d). Here in Oklahoma the public
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