All Children are Equal

On average, the United States spends 700+ Billion dollars a year on schools. Our federal government only spends 79 billion dollars, only about 8% of the total amount. Meanwhile, the United States spends by itself 700+ billion dollars a year on Military Funding. My proposal would increase education spending to 1.628 Trillion Dollars. This spending includes free lunches for all children, teachers' salaries with a median income of $75,000, funding for extracurricular activities, funding for needed books, equipment, and supplies, along with a $5,000 per year college fund per child starting kindergarten.

This funding would end the mandate for standardized testing that connects funding to schools and students.

Funding would be as follows:

• Facilities – Each school would receive seven dollars per square foot of space in schools for utilities, maintenance, and added funding for building or retrofitting new schools. The budget for this portion would be 150 billion dollars a year for all schools in the United States.
• Salary – The funding for schools to pay for their teachers and staff would be 350 billion dollars, allowing for a teacher's median salary to be 75 thousand per year, raising the bar from 59 thousand a year.
• Allocated funding per student for equipment, books, supplies, and other materials, including meals and field trips, would be 20 thousand per year. This funding would also fund each student's college fund at five thousand per year from kindergarten.
  • While five thousand a year starting at kindergarten will allow a child to receive 65 thousand by the time they graduate, there would be a prorated amount for each child already past kindergarten.

1. Standardized testing

• Standardized Testing will be removed from any bureau mandate that funding will be in whole or part based on a standardized test.
• Standardized tests may still be used to measure the intellectual understanding of students.
• Additional funding may be provided to schools based on test grades and must be administered equally to each school that meets or exceeds the standards put in place.
• The Department of Education must determine the amount per school based on meeting the standards and exceeding the criteria before administering the standardized tests.

1. Facilities

• Each school is required to receive a minimum of seven dollars per square foot for their facilities costs.
• The funding provided to each school for their facilities will be an additional amount to ensure they meet the seven dollars per square foot minimum of funding.
• States are to provide at a minimum of 60% of this funding.
• Funding at the end of the year unused is required to go into a fund for moving the school to a more environmentally friendly state, including recycling, composting, energy efficiency, and renewable energy integrations.

1. Salaries for Teachers and Staff

• Each school must pay its staff and teachers at least 10% more than the average cost of living in their area.
• States are responsible for 60% or more of each teacher's salary, and the rest of the funding will be provided by the federal government.
• Any teacher who purchases teaching supplies or material with their own money may submit a receipt for full reimbursement.

1. Child Funding

• Each child will be funded a minimum of 20 thousand dollars per year.
• 51% or more of the funding will be provided by the state, while the federal government will fund the remaining amount.
• Funds allocated to each child may not be used for the following
  1. Payroll
  2. Facilities
  3. Repairs
• Funding for children can be used for
  1. Books
  2. Computers
  3. Field Trips
  4. Equipment
  5. Supplies
  6. Meals
• Childs College Fund
  1. Each school must put into individual accounts five thousand dollars a year per child.
  2. Funds may not be used for any purpose other than higher education by any person, regardless of the reason.
  3. If a child transfers schools, the funds will be transferred with the student.

1. Additional

• The only schools allowed to receive this federal funding are those who are public schools.
  1. Charter and Private Schools are not allowed to receive funding from this program.
• States that cannot provide 60% or more of this funding may apply for additional funding.
  1. States applying must prove that they cannot provide 60% or more funding to their schools.
  2. The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate will reserve the right to call upon any state to testify in funding for public schools.