Closing the Acheivement Gap Between Low-Income & Wealthier School Districts

We the undersigned, believe in an equal education for all American citizens.

A good education is one of the most important things needed in becoming successful. Without a good education, people are unable to make wise decisions throughout their lives--with business, finances, and everyday life decisions. As a secondary education major, I know that I will have a great impact on the future generations and will need to make sure they know all that they need to know--or at least as close to that as we can get--in order to succeed in life. THroughout schooling, many different things are learned--how to behave in social situations, how to work in teams and individually, and basic knowledge such as reading, writing, math, and verbal skills that are necessary for being a successful adult.

A decent education teaches people how to behave in socially acceptable ways and teaches good social skills. Good social skills are essential for pretty much any career. Going to school and working with classmates creates better social skills. Some social values that are learned in school are working in a group and individually, getting assignments in on a timely matter, interacting with a diverse group of people, and how to be comfortable around people. In order to be successful in the workplace, one must be able to work in a team as well as on their own, be time efficient, and deal with all sorts of different people whether it be different clients, coworkers, or bosses--school prepares someone for all of this.
Good business people will create a good economy. If people learn how to invest and spend wisely--using what they learned in school--the economy will be much better off. The teamwork and cooperation learned in schools can help even the most selfish of business people as well--they obviously needed to know certain people and know how to say things to get to the top. Interacting with different people and knowing how to say what they want to hear is something that you learn from getting a good education. In the school environment issues may arise with other students, or even teachers, and although one may not actually be sorry for what he/she did, in order to move on from the situation they must say what the administration wants to hear and apologize--then in order to remain out of trouble, they must make sure to act on those words. Knowing how to talk to people and how to behave in certain situations are skills that are developed throughout schooling, and then practiced throughout a career.
Especially in today's economy, qualified teachers are very much needed. Without good teachers, the youth don't learn everything they need to know, and therefore aren't ready for the real world once they graduate high school. When they go into the real world without being prepared, they make poor decisions and huge mistakes. If everyone knows how to invest wisely, make educated decisions, get along with people, and communicate well, they will do fine in the business world. If however, they don't receive the proper education, and it fails to teach them each of those assets necessary for being successful, they may lack in certain areas and that will be evident in their performance in the work place. A well educated person helps keep the economy going, while a poorly educated person hinders our economy. Even the lowest paid job helps the economy, and although a high school diploma may not be necessay, basic knowledge and communication skills are usually required. This basic knowledge isn't something one can simply get from observing, they need interaction, such as in a school environment, to make sure these skills are the best possible.
What educators needs is a law that helps make sure their students succeed. There are far too many students slipping through the cracks in public education simply because of the lack of funding their schools receive. The bill that I am proposing is to ensure that all children who are U.S. citizens are provided with the resources and access to resources necessary to allow them to receive the best education possible, no matter their socioeconomic class. Resources include, but are not limited to, the following: qualified teachers, up-to-date text books, computers with internet access (at least 75 computers for every 100 students in the school), a safe and sanitary learning environment, and basic classroom materials (i.e. calculators, writing utensils, tools used in science classrooms, etc.). If a student lives in the poorest ghetto, they will still be provided with the same resources and tools that a student in the wealthiest suburb is provided with. Not only will this law allow each student to get the best education possible, but it will also help close the achievement gap between higher and lower income school districts.
Our Constitution currenly has amendments that protect women's rights, voters' rights, the individual's righ to free speech, but not the students' rights to a decent and equal education. In order to achieve equality--or at least the closest thing to it--more attention needs to be paid to the inequality throughout schools across the U.S. A student shouldn't have to suffer by receiving a bad education simply because their family can't afford to live in a better school district. Rather than forcing the parents to pay for private schooling or the town to bus students to other school districts, the federal government should makre sure that each school receives the beset resources possible to allow each and every American student to succeed.
Although former President Bush's administration tried to deal with the issue of the acheivment gap by introducing the No Child Left Behind Act, they didn't go about it the right way. The NCLB has yet to show the benefits--as far as I can see, it's either no child left behind, or every child left behind. When a school doesn't do well on the standardized tests they lose funding, when they do well they receive more funding. That only creates more of an acheivement gap because it doesn't allow the schools that need the resources the most, the low-income schools that don't do well on the the standardized tests, to receive the funding necessary to provide their students with the required resources.
Without this law, the achievement gap is going to get bigger and bigger, until eventually children in low-income school districts just give up and deal with living in a poor environment their entire lives. When students know that there's no hope for them to succeed, and know that the system is designed so that they fail because they don't have the same opportunitites as those who live in wealthier school districts, they see no point in staying in school. As the drop-out rate increases, the jobs that require degrees will not be able to be filled, and the economy will suffer. Without a qualified workforce, there's no way our economy will be able to do well and another Great Depression is inevitable.
Although this amendment may initially cost the American tax payers more money, the benefits it will have in the future for the economy and society as a while will be far greater. When students receive the best education possible, they are able to do the best they can with those resources and will become more successful in the long run. Also, the more resources teachers are provided with to teach their students keeps them motivated to teach--many teachers lose the passion for teaching because of how difficult it is, but with more resources comes less difficulties, especially in low-income school districts. If teachers are more willing to work in low-income school districts, those students are given better chances at succeeding and doing well in the future.

What we're asking for isn't an unreasonable request--it's simply something that will take time and effort. Obviously the education system cannot be perfected overnight, but ensuring that every student is provided with the same resources and access to resources, no matter their socioeconomic class, definitely helps the situation. Every child should be guaranteed the right to a decent and equal education, and this law would help to make that happen.

Thank you for your time and support :)