I went to public school from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The recent education budget, or lack thereof, threatens my school and all the public schools across the country. The large amounts of cuts that these schools will face will ultimately cause many of them to close, leaving many children and young adults without the education they need to lead productive lives or the opportunities for them to pursue any higher education. The arts programs that keep many kids active and engaged in other classrooms is also facing certain death. I am astonished that the millionaires and billionaires leading this country seem to have no compassion or consideration for the lowest of the low income families and their children. The choices these people are making are threatening the very stability of the country by simply cutting away education.

Public school can be rough for some people. Some people leave public school because of the poor management. I actually know someone who has, but that isn’t the issue here. The issue with public schooling and education seems to be simply that. Education. I have learned that the best countries have many educated people running the government. The large cuts to the education budget are taking away the education that is required to run a successful country. That makes me scared for the future of our country. We might end up with a small generation of uneducated youth because of the budget cuts. Not enough money will go into schools to keep the schools running and many will end up having to close. However, this doesn’t just mean that schools in poor areas have the potential to close.

The budget is cutting $11 billion from public education and twenty-two (22) programs that will help kids in K-12. These programs include after school programs, arts programs, physical education programs, Special Olympics, teacher training, and foreign language programs. That’s just naming a few, of course. These programs directly benefit the kids during their time in the classroom as well as their future.

Arts programs in particular are a big help for kids. Some may be stressed by their classes or their home-life and find solace in the arts. Developing an artistic talent and learning about the arts is bound to increase their attention during class time. Actually, any student from any arts program will tell you, in their own way, how the arts helped them concentrate in other classes. For me, arts helped me think a little more outside the box and helped me develop my critical thinking ability. I have trouble with planning and execution of my plans. In my art classes, I learned, or started to learn, how to take an idea from my head and put it on paper or canvas. This translated to other classes when I was given a project to complete. I thought ahead and I was able to plan everything out prior to actually doing it. I still do that with college when I make outlines for my papers. Instead of a large fleshed out outline that appears to already be your paper, I give myself directions and section things off. That came from my time in the art room. For other people, the art programs are there for destressing and for a time to relax and create something with their own hands and imagination.

Foreign language learning programs are so beneficial to a student’s future. Future employers might highly appreciate that their new employee is fluent in a certain language. Learning new languages will help your child get ahead when it is time to enter the professional world. The key to learning a foreign language is to start early, so hold foreign language classes when kids are in elementary school, not when they are in high school. The language will stick to young kids like glue. But, with this new budget, you can just say good-bye to these programs.

A lot of people I know would say they are proud to be from a public school setting. They got the education and are on to bigger and better opportunities because their school prepared them with the correct materials. What I think that some of those rich and self-absorbed individuals should do is come down to Philadelphia or some other public school in a large city. See how much the teachers struggle with what little they have. See how much the teachers need to buy with their own money so their students, who might also be too poor to purchase their own supplies, can be prepared for school. There are far too many people in the country that will suffer from the cuts. Far too many people might go uneducated.

If you are someone who is saying “why should I care if I don’t have kids in public school”, you might want to look ahead at the future. Like I said before, there might be a small generation of people who went uneducated because of this. They will not know that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell because they never got the chance to know. They might grow up to eventually hold a seat in the Senate or House of Representatives. Do you want someone running the country who never got their basic education? I sure wouldn’t. So, you should care for the future of your country. You should care because you may have grandchildren one day who can’t get education because the local public schools all closed because money ran out. You should care because the millionaires and billionaires of running this country sure as hell do not care about the future generations. Does making America great again mean sacrificing education?

One last thing: An educated country is a successful country and yes, it is worth it.