A First Hand Look at the Condition of Education

I graduated from this past June, and with the budget cuts slicing deeper and deeper, it wasn't the experience I had hoped for.

I've always believed school to be somewhere that my beliefs would be challenged and an oasis of knowledge. As much as I enjoyed my time at Logan, it was far from what I had hoped. 

As my high school expeirence furthered, I noticed that the class sizes grew and grew until there were more students in class than seats. Coming to class on time became increasingly important because not only did you miss material, but if you were late, you didn't get a desk. Class time became more like a day care simply because there were just too many people for one teacher to teach. Studies have shown that an ideal student-to-teacher ratio is about 27-1. My math class alone had more than 43 students. A teacher is only human, and no mortal being can provide a quality education for fourty-plus teenagers in a one-hour class period.

The system at hand made it easy to fall through the cracks. Many of the friends I graduated with said that they learned little to nothing in their years because we quickly learned that if we didn't speak up, then we were ignored. This was not at the fault of the teacher, but it happened simply because there were just far too many kids in a classroom. I know I'm beating this point to death, but I'll get to my point soon enough.

A school should have a library. That should not need to be bargained for. Students should have the ability to walk into their library and get a book. Logan's library is, simply put, by appointment only. The students are not getting the education they deserve.

The system at hand is class-warfare at its finest. Public schools continue to fall through the beuracratic cracks day in and day out because we as a society believe that more money should be spent on prisons than in schools. It makes perfect sense though, once we fail the youth in the schools we'll have to shell out the cash to make sure we house them behind bars like zoo animals. The system in place needs to change if we ever hope to live in a society that actually serves its people.

The blame is not to be placed at the hands of the administration. They have gone above and beyond to try and help the students. The New Haven Boosters have put in countless hours to help the students. The district has restructured its budget on multiple occasions to ensure that the schools can still function, but the state continues to drop the ball.

Because it isn't looking like they'll pick it up anytime soon, we have a duty as a society to collectively help our students receive a quality education. Just because people cannot afford to attend private schools does not mean that they should be subject to a second class education. 

Granted the term "tax" makes many shudder, is honestly for the collective good of our society. The $180 annual tax, though not permanent, will give the students some breathing room to help their education. We're really doing ourselves a disservice if we do not ensure the passing of this legislation. It's our job as a community to take a stand and see to it that the leaders of tomorrow are prepared to succeed. 

I really hope the readers will make the right choice when this measure comes on the ballot.