Public Education: Free or Not?

Quinton FisherAVID

The Fun Stuff in School

What were your most favorite activities to do in school?Mine weren’t filling in worksheets or packets of work everyday, instead they were field trips, participating in cool science experiments and labs, etc.

FREE Public Education is Introduced!

Problems with Free Education

A new state law has banned schools from asking parents for fees.

"As a teacher, we already get nothing for our classrooms. I spend about $2500 annually for supplies for my kids in my classroom...this is just sad because it will lessen the exposure to materials which will then lessen the quality of the education... I guess we get what we pay for, right?"

As a result, fees have been replaced by asking for donations.

Money Problems The state would have to give more money to

schools to cover items if schools can’t ask parents to pay

The general method to do that is by taxing the state Is this any different then paying funds for your child’s education out of your pocket?

The Reasons Jeffrey Sachs argues “that the cost of

making all public higher education free in America would be between fifteen and thirty billion dollars” in his book The Price of Civilization. "Currently, only 30% of Americans who start college or university end up graduating.” If public colleges were

free, what would stop a student from dropping out if they’re too lazy to do the work?

The Reasons Less funding means less schoolsSchools with no funding will shut down in quality, orIts quality will decrease The United States would need a

higher educated workforce to compensate

A student who’s parents had to pay for their school will be more dedicated to finish.

The Benefits of Free Education The United States needs

more educated citizens As colleges are defunded,

they have to slash their enrollments and raise their fees.

Result is that everyone actually pays more, and we produce fewer graduates.

In Conclusion… It would be nice to have free education, but it

isn’t realistic in today’s society. College education is not a right, but a privilege

you must earn.