On this edition of Your Call, we’ll look at public school funding. Investment in K-12 schools has dramatically declined over the past decade. Why have states cut public education funding so deeply and what are the consequences?
California ranks 41st among all states in spending per K-12 student. In West Virginia, educators are taking part in a statewide strike over stagnant pay and rising health care costs. Underfunded districts have cut school to just four days a week in Oklahoma. How are cutbacks affecting students? And how are public education advocates fighting back?
Guests:
Mike Leachman, director of state fiscal research at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
Mike Ambrose, staff attorney at the California School Boards Association, which speaks for school districts around the state
Katherine Bishop, exceptional needs teacher and vice president of the Oklahoma Education Association
Heather DeLuca Nestor, middle school teacher and the leader of the West Virginia Education Association chapter in Morgantown, West Virginia
Web Resources:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: A Punishing Decade for School Funding
The Economist: What’s the Matter with Oklahoma?
Fortune: West Virginia Teachers Are Planning To Stage a Walkout This Week
