More money for schools does not mean better schools.

Essay by unc5583College, UndergraduateA+, April 2003

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"More money and more teachers are nothing more than self-serving strategies to enhance the wealth and power of the education establishment." This quote by Walter Williams, from his article, "More Money, Better Education?" is one that I couldn't agree with more. Williams article is very persuasive, as he uses effective data to prove his point. While in his article "New Schools Now," Jesse Jackson brings up legitimate counter arguments as to why improving our inner city schools is so important, but does not come across as very convincing. As a recent high school graduate, and a current college student, my opinion of the American education system is very strong. Simply giving more money to schools will not solve the America's educational tribulations; more blame must be put on the students and parents.

In his article Jessie Jackson tires to persuade the reader into thinking that more money will solve the educational crisis.

Jackson tires to win over his audience by using a outlandish statistic that shouldn't even apply to the topic. Jackson explains, "Chicago spends an average of $18,615 a year on each inmate, compared with an average of $6,941 on each public school student."(Jackson 188). How can these two differing numbers even be compared? An inmate receives housing, food, health care, and spends the whole year at the jail. I believe it is very fair to spend one third of that on a student, who does not need 3 meals a day, overnight housing, and health care. It is evident that Mr. Jackson has not properly examined the data. After reading Walter Williams' article, I was convinced that Jessie Jackson's beliefs are false. When the facts are examined, the numbers tell the whole story. New Jersey spends $10,900 per student, this makes them number one in expenditures per student...