Bryanna Sierra English 1102 Professor Sippy 9 April 2013 Inquiry Project: Academic Conversation Draft #1 Setting: The

scene opens on the set of Good Morning San Francisco. The host Michelle Steele opens up the talk show to an audience and live television camera. Michelle is peppy and excited for todays episode. [Scene 1: On the set of television show Good Morning San Francisco. Three large couches are shaped around a half circle.] Host: Good Morning San Francisco! Im Michelle Steele and it has been a long anticipated arrival of our guest this morning. They have flown from all over the world including Saudi Arabia and England just to be here with us today. Why dont we give our guests a great big round of applause! Direction: Guests walk in stage left and crowd claps Host: We have 5 guests representing either their own work or combined work today in order to speak with us about the very controversial issue of money and education. Please welcome Philline, Bryan, Teixerira, Helena, and Joanna. Direction: The crowd stands up and cheers loudly! Host: So Im just going to jump right on into this. My son actually attends a public school, as did my husband and myself. We have always told our son that the education he obtains is solely dependent on his time and energy he puts into it. Philline: Michelle I couldnt agree more! I studied this concept in depth in Saudi Arabia. There has been an ever-growing stigma associated with the private school education laying down a better foundation down for their students. However my peers and I studied the long-term success of students in both public and private education systems. We concluded that students in these low-income homes, in public education, did just as well peers in the private education. Joanna: I am going to have to slightly disagree with this. I am not saying either of you are completely off center from my views. However I just believe that a great deal of the money in education really feeds into an important factor, which is, teacher effectiveness. Helena: Joanna, I think that is an important argument to make. This can also lead into the fact that the more money funneled into a system can really improve the overall success of the students. These were the kind of finding I concluded in my eight years of research in England.

Bryan has a confused look as he questions in a demeaning tone. Bryan: Helena I am just curious how exactly are you assessing the overall success of these Saudi Arabian students? Helena remains a calm tone but becomes somewhat defensive. Helena: Well Bryan, there were actually multiple factor that went into evaluating the total success of these students. We looked largely at the students scores on the state required testing. When we did this we saw a drastic increase in students test scores. Proving that the investment was in fact worth it. Bryan gives a skeptical look. Bryan: Interesting. Michelle smiles at the camera and focuses her attention back at the audience Host: Could we talk a little more about this correlation with money, education, and teacher effectiveness? What kind of role does this play on the system? Joanna is quick to respond with great enthusiasm. Joanna: I think that money has an interesting way of intertwining with the education system. Many people chose public or private education for different reasons. I believe that sometimes people cannot give their children the necessary attention needed to succeed in a public education system. Therefore they turn to the private education system to fulfill this attention to their child. The smaller hands on classrooms can really help develop a child under these conditions at home. Phillene interrupts with a condescending tone. Phillene: You mean that these parents with money are able to pay off their teachers and school system, to hold their childs hand because theyre too busy? Thats interesting teacher effectiveness. The crowd lets out a low chuckle. Joanna: That is not what I was saying at all actually. I just believe that there are different teaching styles and methods that foster different needs. Teixerira: I really believe there is another angle to keep in mind about private education and money backed behind this institution. There is a push that the private sector incorporates that is key in the success of education. That is competition.

Joanna: Exactly! Private schools save the U.S. government up to $200 million dollars a year. This is money that would else wise be needed in public schools to accommodate for the increasing number of children in the system. Bryan: This is true. However I believe it is crucial we keep in mind the autonomy level that is lost when a school digests money into its system provided by the federal government. Host: Bryan what do you mean by this? Bryan: I mean that in my book Money, Mandate, and Local Control in American Public Education. I talk in depth about the linear correlation between the amounts of funding a school receives and the control in proportionally hands over. This could go into a strong argument about public education and not only teacher effectiveness but also the actual motives behind their agenda. This is due to the swayed amounts of money. Joanna: I really like the way you tie these two ideas together. I agree that the money that is fed into public schools can definitely set a different agenda for teachers and in juxtaposition this can be said for private schools and the freer reign they have over their autonomy. Teixerira: I agree and currently as we know the government is trying to cut budgets and therefore this is definitely pushing the favor increasing towards private education. Helena jumps on the topic, responding instantly. Helena: Teixerira that is such a heated topic for me. In my research I was able to discover the fundamental benefits to pumping money into the public education system. Bryan: I see where you are going with this but there is a lot more to consider when evaluating overall success. This includes student reflections, parental satisfaction, mastery of skills, and other aspects. Through my research I definitely saw a very similar correlation especially with big budget consumers like No Child Left Behind and other programs implemented. Host: I understand these arguments however; regardless if one chooses to use the public education system you are still paying for it in your tax dollars, what your ideas on this? Joanna: I think again this just challenges that competition we spoke about earlier. Teixeria: I suppose. But also this can feed into an aspect of supply and demand that is crucial with this relationship of money and education. Host: Could you expand on this, I never really did well in Economics class The crowd giggles

Teixeira: Sure. This is talking in circles a little back to what I mentioned earlier about the money creating this type of competition, which in turn drives the education system. Because not all people can find the means to obtain a private education, it fuels a demand for it in society. Creating in return more marketable skills. Host: Okay, I see what you mean there. I think thats all we have time for today folks. As we can see money and education have many deciding factors but finding a suitable education system for you requires analyze all of these great research findings. Lets give our special guests one more round of applause. Crowd stands and claps [End Scene]

Bryanna Sierra English 1102 Professor Sippy 9 April 2013 Inquiry Project: Academic Conversation Draft #2 Money and Education is no foreign topic to most anyone, anywhere. There are many ways and entwinements between the two heated topics. Money has a stereotype of being able to buy a reputable education. Whether this is by means of being in a private primary education or private secondary education. The belief of stereotyping money in education is deeply ingrained in society. The thoughts behind public education and the money funded at various governmental levels holds a couple different key positions in society. Public education can be said to only muddle through the routine in order pass required state testing and keep their funding. Others believe teacher effectiveness in public education plays a key role in the juxtaposition between money and education. There are many views to dissect on this controversial topic. I believe both sides hold strong arguments that I plan to dissect in order to construct my own judgment on money and education. There is a direct relationship between the amount of money a school receives and the control it proportionally hands over to the government. This strong linear correlation described by Shelly in his novel Money, Mandates, and Local Control in American Public Education speaks about this and also arises another important topic, autonomy. The autonomy levels associated with money play a key role in private v. public education systems. Should public schools accept such a lack of autonomy and decision making power that they can consequently make for their students, just in order to keep funding? Government should allow slack on this strong linear correlation because

although it is important that the public sector maintain a strong across the border foundation. More precise observations can be made locally and this can help create an education more tailored to the specific students in an education system. Money in the public education can also be seen in terms of programs enacted, such as the well-known No Child Left Behind Act. These budget busters seem to be an extremely heated topic in society. The reason being is these acts dispense a lot of tax money into the public education system and its effectiveness is key in the process of determining its worth. In Holmlund, McNally, and Viarengos Does Money Matter For Schools? They conducted an extensive eight-year study on the increased budget allowance for public schools in England and found in the end, that the governments increase in spending was worth the investment. They measured the success of the program by analyze past and present required state testing. This is another key correlation to dissect in the study between money and education. One may wonder though, what actually determines a student's overall success in an education system. Money is a prominent component in the outcome of students but I believe one should beyond just look at test scores. Student reflections, parental reflections, mastery of skills, and happiness are also very important. By touching on different aspects and different studies in my research I was able to see the different ways in which money influences the education system. Private schools incorporate an aspect that is crucial to the continuance of public education and that is, competition. I believe that different education systems and styles are more properly suitable to certain students. This competition allows the survival of both public and private education systems. Private schools on average save the U.S.

government up to $200 million dollars a year (Wane). As most know the budget for public education is already very tight. Cuts in this budget are frequently discussed economically in the U.S government. This can at times push the favoritism towards private education. This by no means threatens the survival of public education but instead pushes this economic gap within the middle class. This creates a supply and demand curve that is vital in the drive for competition. The reason is that not everyone has the means to obtain a private education but in return this allows for both education systems to flourish in different means of money and education styles. Both in which tailor different student needs. Money and education can be directly correlated to a business and a market. As funds funnel into the system a diminishing return can be directly calculated. This is the point of balance we desire in the end. It is fundamental to keep in mind the overall success that is derived from the relationship between money and education. Though this is an extremely difficult topic to judge because assessing success can be done in numerous ways. By analyzing multiple studies and even applying research from other cultures that aim towards a similar relationship I was able to formulate my own personal opinion of the topic. I believe that money does create a network and reputation for itself. However I also believe that the effectiveness of an education system solely depends on the students needs. Some students are lacking parental attention and therefore need more hands on private school with small classroom sizes. Others need to guide themselves through a public education system in order to learn responsibility. Some schools can acclimate students differently than others. Private schools allow for a free market experience. Parents are able to shop for different needs and wants for their student. This includes

teaching styles, athletics, and much more. I truly believe the relationship between money and education is vital to the healthy competition that drives the education system.