Education, Music, about myself.

I believe the education system in America is underfunded.  While President Barack Obama was still in office he sent Congress a proposed budget request of $582.7 billion in discretionary budget authority to fund the Department of Defense in Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 2017) (Department of defense, 2016).  That is more than the next 7 highest spending countries combined.  The second highest spending military is China, the Chinese government peg the country’s 2016 defense budget at 954 billion yuan ($144 billion) (CSIS, 2017).  This amount of spending is absurd and the second highest country on spending doesn’t even come close so what is the point of this over reliance on the military.  Instead we should be spending on peace and not war.  Books, schools the future of America things that could help end not start wars.  I am very lucky to come from an area in the United States were education is a top priority.  My high school James Madison was ranked 3rd in the state it has a college readiness index of 75.9%, AP tests at 83%, AP pass of 88%, Mathematics Proficiency of 91% and a English Proficiency 98%(US news, 2017).  This is due to higher spending on there students.  While only around 20 minutes away in the nations capital 83 percent of the eighth graders were not “proficient” in reading and 81 percent were not “proficient” in math (CNS news, 2014).  There is a large divide due to poverty in the United States and people from lesser backgrounds cannot keep up due to how poorly the education system is for them.

We are not the highest spending on education in fact we are 5th.  Luxembourg comes in first with Secondary per-pupil spending running in at $16,182 while the U.S spends $12,731.   Now considering how much we already spend on the military we could easily just put more money in education instead considering how big of a difference we are from everyone in that spending habit we will not all of a sudden be in danger.  One of the big complaints from some Americans as to not increase the budget on education would be because it would more positively help the lower class.  Though with more proficiency from school when poor Americans become better workers from there better education system there productivity will go up.  Crime also drops due to higher levels of education.  This could also lower the level of incarceration and a lower need of a policed force.

The New York times found a study that school funding reforms over the last 40 years or so shows just how much of a difference money can make: For low-income students who spent all 12 years of school in districts that increased their spending by 20 percent as a result of court-ordered reforms, graduation rates rose by 23 percentage points and adult poverty rates fell by 20 percentage points. The students’ family incomes were about 52 percent higher than they would have been without the greater education investment. The effects were large enough in many cases to entirely eliminate the gap in adult outcomes between those raised in poor families and those raised in non-poor families (New York Times, 2015).

Information-giving making it easier for Americans to have knowledge on many subjects will help make this country and much safer and smarter place to live.  If children are better educated through public schools, we will have better futures for American children in lower income backgrounds and the crime rate will lower because more people can have more legitimate futures.  If someone from a lower income area is given more resources and is pushed harder in school then they will be more likely to do better in school and be more highly motivated.