Why Funding Public Education Matters

By Delany Moreno

A formative moment from my educational experience was the lack of sufficient support for students who were not considered competitive high academic achievers, due to the large number of students in the school with such limited staff. Through my firsthand experience as an “average achieving” student in middle school, I noticed career counselors often directed my attention to school activities like drama club while my friends in honors classes were already discussing AP classes and potential universities to apply to. As a result of the large number of students, the resources to pursue a higher education were often prioritized for students in honors or AP classes. Moreover, the attempt at moving up to these higher placement classes as an average student proved to be challenging due to the limited one-on-one support available to all 40 students in one classroom.

An event that sparked a period of personal growth was choosing to attend Ellen Ochoa Prep Academy. I was raised in a small working class Latinx town bordering Los Angeles. While proud of my hometown, school choice was not an option for students and parents. We had a number of elementary and middle schools, but it was established early on that I would have to attend the only high school in the city, just like my sisters and relatives before me. Our local public high school had overflowing classrooms and limited funding and resources. I noticed how some of these systemic problems impacted my relatives’ career trajectories and, in a sense, failed them. My school district did not have options for low-income students whose parents could not afford to pay tuition for a private school or had the ability to drive them to another public school outside of the city. 

My educational path took a drastic turn when I received a letter from a newly accredited magnet public high school. I was amazed at the thought of attending a high school with not only more course options, but one whose leadership and values aligned with my own. School choice was such a new concept for my parents, but after numerous conversations, they decided to give it a try. I chose to attend Ellen Ochoa Prep Academy because I finally believed I had the ability to make a decision on something pertaining to my future. 

Despite there being a solution to the issue of overcrowding classes, the issue of poor funding for public schools leading to the prioritization of overachieving students still persisted. I once overheard the school staff having to make the difficult choice of selecting which students to take on a UC Irvine field trip based on their “likelihood” of being admitted. It was devastating seeing the teachers and other faculty feel so powerless when it came to making decisions like these due to the lack of funding. Fully funding public education should be a priority because all students deserve to receive the academic support they need to fully consider or prepare for college and higher education.