Change Your World Week Fall 2021 (Archived)

Our goal is for better funding for low-income schools in Saginaw. With the world in the current state that it is in, it is more important than ever for our youth and ourselves to be properly educated. Education and knowledge are two of the most important things to demonstrate not only for ourselves but for the communities we are a part of. Being educated helps us become better citizens, get a better paying job, and could also show the overall difference between good and bad. Education shows us the importance of demanding work and, at the same time, helps us grow and develop. Thus, we can shape a better society to live in by knowing and respecting rights, laws, and regulations and having the proper education to do so. To have active law-abiding citizens everyone should have the same opportunities to learn reading, math, science, and social studies or history as the next. Therefore, being addressed is a local issue within my community of Saginaw, Michigan. That is the educational systems and funding for both The City of Saginaw Schools and Saginaw Township Community Schools. Funding and education itself vary from both parts of the city and are two of the issues and the differences of establishments, appearance-wise outside and within.

The township schools conclude that 49% of the students are proficient in reading and 36% are proficient in math, Saginaw public schools are 32% proficient in reading and only 25% proficient in math. Niche, the school ranking website, gives grades for systems of the schools of all areas. Saginaw Public Schools received a “C” in Academics “C+” in teachers and a “C-” in resources and facilities. Whereas Saginaw Township schools received a “B-” in Academics a “B” for teachers and a “B+” for college preparatory. What that data explains to me is that both schools could be better, however, one system suffers more than the other. The township is halfway proficient in reading and in the high thirty percentile for math proficiency. Whereas Saginaw public schools barely make it out of the 30 percentiles for both reading and math.

What government action can be taken to address the issue?

The question is, has anyone done anything to contribute to this problem? While researching an U.S News article “In Most States Poorest School Districts Get Less Money”. I found that states like Illinois, Missouri, New York and Alabama rank the lowest among those poverty districts. Even Saginaw County Median income with children  is 27,675 total, while the percentage of students in poverty is 42% (MLIVE). They overall  began to discuss how low-income schools deserve more appreciation and access to more tech, early education, counselors and advanced courses. While leaning on the bright side some of the highest poverty districts like Georgia, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, South Dakota and Utah receive 15 percent per student than the “high income schools”, I’ll say that's some action to take of schools, but it could be more.
 In fact The Education Trust examined the funding issue. They discovered that highest rated poverty schools receive 1,000 dollars less per student in state in local funding. They also expressed that they would like to help with expenses for other students in need of extra support in schooling funds. State legislators eventually approved funding that could potentially help bring more resources to poor inner schools.

When it comes down to any situation within a community, there will always be two sides as to who agrees and who disagrees with how a problem is being handled. In this case, there will be those who think that Saginaw schools need more funding in order for the schools to function better, along with giving children the proper education they need to succeed, whereas others will disagree and claim that money is not the issue and that other things need to be fixed instead of putting money into areas that simply do not need it. According to an article published by Ben DeGrow on https://www.mackinac.org/saginaws-lowest-performing-schools-get-the-most-money, the opinion that more funding won’t fix failing schools is stated and is followed by statistics as well, mentioned by the Senator, “The recently released final evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education’s $7 billion School Improvement Grant program showed that it “failed to produce meaningful results” (DeGrow, 2017) and that “Two of the Saginaw ISD’s lowest-funded school districts, Swan Valley and Freeland, operate some of the county’s highest-performing schools on the state of Michigan’s Top-to-Bottom Rankings” (DeGrow, 2017).

This research is based on logic and opinions, therefore, an individual has their own choice as to why they may agree or disagree, but still have the opportunity to gain insight into what these important companies/people think about school funding and why they would disagree with what is being said, as well as getting to witness two sides of an argument.

The stakeholders involved in the issue with Saginaw school funding are: 

• Students: The students are affected by the choices that people make related to school funding because they are the ones who attend school almost every day to receive the education that is needed for success. 
• Parents of the Students: The parents of the students attending Saginaw schools are considered stakeholders because most of them want what is best for their children, including education.
• Teachers: Just like the students, teachers are affected almost as much due to their concerns about giving their pupils the best curriculum and not being adequately prepared to teach properly with the resources they are given. 
• Michigan State Legislature: The Michigan State Legislature (House and Senate)  is one of the main sources as to how schools are funded. 
• Principles: The principal is an important stakeholder in this topic because they are the ones who run the schools and make sure everything is kept under control while enforcing changes that are made. 
• Board of Education: This is also a big stakeholder, as the people on the board of education meet up to discuss how to keep everyone happy (students, teachers, and parents) as well as set appropriate policies. 
• The community: The community works as one and when education is affected, the community will be as well due to lack of common knowledge that everyone should be taught.
• Tax Payers: A majority of taxes from a community are put into schools, so when the schools are not giving children a proper education, taxpayers are affected due to their money going towards something that is not being fixed. 

Help us take action for our community by signing our, Petition for Better Funding for Inner-city Schools of Saginaw!

Interact With Peers On Our Social Instagram Page !

Visit Our Instagram Page Manually Username: funds_forthefuture  

Hope to see you guys soon !

DeGrow, Ben. “Saginaw's Lowest Performing Schools Get the Most Money.” Mackinac Center, 3 Feb. 2017, https://www.mackinac.org/saginaws-lowest-performing-schools-get-the-most-money.

Hohman , James M., et al. “Michigan School Funding Deal Chooses Schools over Schoolchildren.” Mackinac Center, 18 Aug. 2020, https://www.mackinac.org/michigan-school-funding-deal-chooses-schools-over-schoolchildren.

Knake, Lindsay. “State Official on Saginaw Schools Financial Crisis: 'I Don't Think There Have Been Any Surprises Here'.” Mlive, 5 Feb. 2014, https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/2014/02/state_official_on_saginaw_scho.html.

Board Approved Budget - Saginaw Township Community Schools. (2021). Saginaw Township Community Schools. https://www.stcs.org/District/Department/2-Business-Office/Portal/board-approved-budget 

City of Saginaw Public School District. (2020, January 31). Annual Education Report. Saginaw Public School District. https://www.spsd.net/aer/ 

P. (2021). 2022 Best Public Elementary Schools in Saginaw County. Niche. https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-elementary-schools/c/saginaw-county-mi/ 

Bakuli, E., & Mauriello, T. (2021, October 6). Michigan schools worry about funding loss as student count day looms. bridgemi.com. Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/michigan-schools-worry-about-funding-loss-student-count-day-looms. 

Camera, L. (2018, February 27). In most states, poorest school districts get less funding. usnews.com. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-02-27/in-most-states-poorest-school-districts-get-less-funding. 

Goetz, D. (2021, October 6). Mid-michigan schools, libraries received nearly $4m from American Rescue Plan Funds for digital upgrades. mlive. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2021/10/mid-michigan-schools-libraries-received-nearly-4m-from-american-rescue-plan-funds-for-digital-upgrades.html. 
 

Mack, Julie. “Michigan's Poorest School Districts, Based on Median Family Income.” Mlive, Advance Local. 7 Jan. 2020, https://www.mlive.com/news/j66j-2020/01/945bf5f5b85735/michigans-poorest-school-districts-based-on-median-family-income.html.