It is common knowledge that there is a budget crisis befalling America at the moment, and in California this is especially true.  A great, yet depressing, example of this is the L.A. school district’s plan to cut 5 days from this year’s school year and 7 from next year’s school year.  While kids in America are already academically behind their companions in other countries, some of which have students attending classes 6 days a week and even have a grade 13, the schools are looking to make more budget cuts at the expense of the future generation of America.  It would seem that education of children should be one of the top priorities of the government, not only in L.A., but across the country.

Teachers spend countless hours at work and at home to help benefit thousands upon thousands of children and young adults to prepare them for college, work, and life in general, yet get paid a salary that is also being continuously cut, if not being laid off from their jobs entirely.  The L.A. school district is not the only one looking to cut out more days, lay off teachers, and supersize classes, but no school should ever have to consider any one of those options.  Students get less one-on-one attention, and many of them desperately need that.

The first classes to be cut are art, music, and sports- some of the classes and after-school activities which are keeping students in school, if only to do what they love.  Getting rid of these programs is taking away the incentive for kids to keep working hard and have good grades.  While school districts and the higher-ups may be under the impression that these plans will save them money and put them better-off, they are entirely incorrect.  The most this will do is discourage kids from going to school, hinder their learning and growth, and want for creating a better life for themselves.

The government surely needs to be taking a step back and looking at the effect in both the long and short runs, because these children and young adults are the future of what this country is going to become, and it’s not looking too great anymore.



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