These results further support the fact that increased school funding creates more opportunities for low-income students, while reducing the incidence of poverty. In fact, according to a nationwide New York Times poll conducted in March 2005 found that 85% of Americans believe that having a good education is either “Essential” or “Very important” for getting ahead in life” (Class Matters 251). The need for school funding reform, becomes apparent upon reviewing various studies and statistics that indicate disadvantages that low-income and minority students face, are systematic and persistent. Multiple studies prove inadequate school funding set disadvantaged students up to struggle from an early age, to the rest of their lives. In fact, a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that a 20 percent increase in per-pupil spending each year for all 12 years of public school for children from poor families leads to about 0.9 more completed years of education, 25 percent higher earnings, and a 20 percentage-point reduction in the annual incidence of adult poverty (U.S Dept. of Education). 51% of Americans polled believe special tutoring for college preparation is “Essential” or “Very important” to help a child make the most of his or her life (Class Matters 258). According to the …show more content…
Lupton wrote that, “The government needs to take the plunge and implement more wide-ranging reforms that could really enable schools in poor areas to work as well as schools anywhere else” (672). The government should start programs that can provide resources to schools that lack essential needs. Also, “additional staff may be needed in pupil welfare or parental liaison roles… Funding for these initiatives needs to be secure, not provided through short-term competitive funding streams. The sums needed are far in excess of what is currently provided… additional management time needs to be provided so that the burden of running new projects and managing new staff does not overload” (Lupton 671). There should be a more qualified staff per school that will be able to dedicate their time to their specific area of expertise. Lupton also suggests that there should be an “...adjusted curriculum, learning resources and pedagogic approaches to enable effective teaching and learning to take place. At the level of the classroom, teachers need to be equipped with suitable resources for working with low ability pupils, and mechanisms need to be developed to transfer expertise from special needs to mainstream education” (Lupton 671). As