Deficit_in_the_United_States

Deficit in the United States Rough Draft In the book “Common Sense” by Blasé Bonpane, he talk about how the United States spend so much money on war while not focusing on more important things. National and State budget also play a role on why education is so bad in today’s society. As a country we are just focused on imprisoning people and making taxpayers pay for everything but education. The essay explains how war would the downfall of the United States, how laws that are supposed to help our education really do not do anything, and how our money is spent on prisons instead of education. The war in Iraq was unnecessary and would eventually bring the downfall of the United States. It started with George W. Bush who once said “You are either with us or with the terrorists” (p. 13) and of course people listened to this rubbish. There were many people in favor of George W. Bush and to think that we were going to have to pay for all the expenses. But of course, many people had not thought of the effects that came along with going to war. Instead, the money that should have gone to healthcare was useful for building a “lemon” (p.85) called the B2-bomber, but it was only one billion dollars. And any money that was supposed had gone to education actually went to the developing of nuclear weapons. This war also impacted unemployment insurance that was running out and to the cut payments doctors were receiving. Our former leaders were not people that cared for the “common good of the commonwealth” (p. 88). Instead, they were people that were assigned certain tasks and managed to oppose them. For example, Bonpane, says that if our presidential appointment is assigned to defend the country, they turn into blood thirsty warmongers. They war warmongers intended to pay war with our money and to think that they even had recruiters at the very steps of our children’s high schools. Now, the No Child Left Behind Act is no different. It was 670 page long law that included a requirement of all public secondary schools. The outrages requirement was that recruiters would have access to the schools along with the contact information of all students. If a school would not abide by the law, they would face a cut off of all federal aid. They tell students that it is all fun and games, but it really is not. In kindergarten, children are often lied to and told that America is a great country. In reality, children should be learning about facts and how many atrocious wars have led to millions of deaths. A great example would be the article on the Oakland School District. These elementary school kids are being taught to think with their own mind not by others tell them. It was a weekly class that was teaching the kids how to resolve problem without fighting and many of these kids asked question that we should have been asking. For example, a student by the name of Emma Styles-Swam said, “We think it’s strange to go to war with a country you taught war to” (p. 75). All districts should have been using Oakland’s district as a model of knowledge and self opinion. But it does not all stop there. Imprisonment has also taken a strong toll upon the United States. The United States has been known to spend thousands of dollars on prisoners. But why is it that we spend so much money on people who commit non-violent crimes. For example, the sentence for a non-violent drug offender is longer than the one for child molestation, robbing banks, and rape. It seems outrages that our tax dollars should be going to towards unjust purpose. If a person has not hurt anyone, than why should they be put in jail' In my opinion, that money can be used for many other things like education and or healthcare. There are hundreds of people in jail because of possessing drugs, but in fact they are not worried about those who are actually hurting others. That is why the United States budget has gotten out of proportion. National Debt is something that United States is really involved in. In Fiscal Year 2009, the United States spent $383 billion dollars of our money just on interest payments to the holders of the National Debt. You can compare that to education at $53 billion dollars and the department of transportation at $73 billion dollars. Now, before the Bush left the presidential seat, the deficit of the United States was $407 billion dollars and the debt was $12.867455 trillion. And in 2009 the deficit of the United States is $1.171 trillion and the debt has gone up to $14.078 trillion. With such money to pay it is no wonder that the United States education has drastically gone down. Now, every year more and more students are not taking education seriously, which is why high school rates have stooped so low. The United States is losing its edge on education. Among adults of 25-34 years of age, the United States is ninth in industrialized nations that have a high school diploma. In 2005, children were compared with their peers in Europe, and Asia, “the United States is below average in applying math skills to real-life tasks” (tad. in U.S Education Slips in Rankings). As of today, the United States rank 18th among the 36 industrialized nations. Now, other countries are catching up to the United States and will surpass it if nothing is done. For example, in South Korea 93% of their students are graduating High School. The United States better should be more focused on education than war now that such statistics are being made. Today, LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified District) has really fallen behind in many aspects. There are thousands of kids not graduating and dropping out of school. These kids do not even complete high school and they are already giving up on education. The drop out rate for the year 2007-2008 in LAUSD was approximately 13,936. This means that there are 13,396 kids are either on the streets, up to no good, or simply staying at home doing nothing. It is a really scary thing, thinking that all these students do not have the drive to succeed in live. It seems like they just want to work a nine to five job all their live. All ethnicity groups are included in the drop out rates. And in regards to enrollment, Hispanic rank first with 74.2%, Blacks with 10.8%, and white people with 8.4, and so on. This means that most of the kids dropping out are either Hispanic, black, or white, with a few exceptions. Population is also plays a big role in regards to LAUSD and its drop out rate. Many in classes in LAUSD are overcrowded with children. There are many times that the teacher cannot even answer a simple question because of all the disturbances happening in the classroom. And most of the time students cannot hear the teacher lecturing because the class is too loud. Each teacher gets about forty students or more in a classroom that only holds about thirty five. The classes are completely crammed, which really makes learning a big issue. A teacher cannot satisfy all of the students needs, therefore there should be someone else to help them. LAUSD lacks teacher assistants in classrooms, which can really make a difference when a question might be asked. For example, if a teacher is lecturing and a student has a question, the teacher has to stop and answer the question. This usually leads to a teacher not finishing a lecture because of all the interruptions. But if a teacher assistant is available, they can help the child with their question while the teacher continues to lecture. As for budget cuts, LAUSD is going to be immensely impacted by it. Los Angeles Unified District is considering going to extreme measures this year because of budget cuts. LAUSD schools are facing sharp cuts in spending on basic supplies, classes sized could grow even larger, and all employees might be facing holiday furloughs without pay. With a $133 million shortfall this year, LAUSD is planning to cut $44 million in school office supplies and cutting $15 million in campus discretionary funds. With such cuts being made, kids in classrooms are going to be more cramped and the supplies will not be enough for every classroom. This cutting of money will definitely impact LAUSD schools and the teachers that work in the district. Now, the question is why is it that LAUSD always manages to build new school every year if there are so many budget cuts' It seems dumb to build new schools instead of improving the ones that already exist. Schools in LAUSD are losing many educational programs such as music. There are many kids that love music and are willing to learn how to play an instrument. But based on how LAUSD is dealing with recession, it seems unlikely that children will ever get to learn an art such as music. And the children that currently are learning how to play will lose their teacher and instrument. It is not fair that a child’s education should suffer just because of people that do not know how to mange money. The state of California is also having some budget issues as we speak. The state of California is suffering from an ongoing budget crisis. The state faces a shortfall of at least $11.2 billion. And it is determined to surpass the $40 billion mark over the 2009-2010 fiscal years. In 2008, the governor of California decided to reduce the spending of money with state employees. The governor decided one furlough day per month, which was equivalent to a reduction of pay of about five percent. The elimination of holidays such as Columbus Day and Lincolns Birthday would supposedly save money as well. In December 2008, the governor ordered mandatory furloughs as well as layoffs for all state employees. These actions were supposed to achieve savings of 10% in the General Fund. But it is obvious that the state in California is not improving. In fact, the citizens of California pay more taxes than any other state. And our tax dollars are supposed to provide money for the common good, but it seems like that is not the case in California. In California, we spend more money on prisons than we do on education. And for the first time, and unique among big states, California will soon be spending more on its prisons than on public universities. It has been said that in the next five years, the state’s budget for putting people in jail will “rise 9 percent annually” and “compared with its spending on higher education, which will only rise by 5 percent” (qtd. in Prison vs. Education Spending Reveals California’s Priorities). It is a scary thing to imagine a state that cares more about putting people in jail than helping other succeed in life. And this is just because the state California lacks helpfulness in regards to graduating high school. There are thousands of kids dropping out of high school and not going onto to college. These kids never go back to school because they never got the help or they simply do not like it. Therefore, most of these kids turn to dealing drugs, doing drugs, or joining a gang. Furthermore, they get sent to jail, which means that another there is another person added to tend for. Now, the issue always goes back to school and education. If the person had completed high school and gone to college, the trip to jail might have been preventable. But spending money on the prisoners is not only the reason why California spent so much money on prisons. A prison must meet certain living standards. For example, prisoners cannot be treated like animals and cannot be fed food that will make them ill. They also need beds to sleep on and water to shower. Today, the average cost of incarcerating an inmate in California is costing about $47,000 dollars a year. Over two thirds of these costs are for security and inmate healthcare. And since 2000-2001, the average annual cost for an inmate has increased by about $19,500. The United States is in debt from left to right. This country spends so much money on useless things like war instead of important things like education. That is why many countries have surpassed us in many aspects like money and education. Our money is being spent on other useless things like imprisoning people who commit non-violent crimes. My suggesting is, for this country to overcome such obstacles, education and public health should be our first priority not our last.