Schools miss the mark with spending

ery school year, hundreds of millions of dollars are poured in-to standardized testing in school districts all across the country.

“All of those tests, they were pointless, it felt like we were just taking tests to pass the time,” senior Janae Marion said.

Junior year we took the Nebraska State Assessment (NeSA) in Mathematics, Writing, Reading, and Science, and the Acuity test at the beginning of the year.

We don’t think it’s the money that matters. It’s the time that teachers invest in their students that will determine their success in school.

According to the United States Census Bureau, in 1992 it cost approximately $5,001 to send a student through a K-12 education system. Spending per pupil has since doubled to approximately $10,615.

Although there has been no study done on this topic, in classes where teachers take an interest in their students, we’re more likely to apply ourselves and try. Whereas on the opposite end of the spectrum we tend to just shut down and give up.

“When teachers give me more attention, especially when I’m missing assignments or failing, it really helps me when they reach out,” said Marion.

The perfect student excels in every class without the teachers guidance, scores a 36 on the ACT, turns in all of their homework on time, holds down a part-time job, and still manages to have a social life. So we’re held to these same unrealistic expectations.

But where are we supposed to find the motivation to do these things, or to even try in a class, when some teachers could care less if their student’s pass or fail?

“I get paid either way,” is heard much too often slipping out of the mouths’ of teachers while in front of a class.

That doesn’t sound very motivational to us.

With adjusting to a new place freshmen year, learning to balance work and school sophomore year, back to back testing junior year, and constantly worrying about college senior year, maybe we just need someone to take an interest in us and make us feel like we matter. Especially when some of us don’t get that at home.

We’re being loaded down with so much, and sometimes we need a little help carrying our weights.

So maybe the next time you see that kid in the back of your classroom struggling, instead of feeding them more tests in the next school year, offer them a hand, or lend them an ear, and you’ll be surprised by the change that occurs.