Sixty-seven percent of schools said they might reduce or cut athletics, AP courses and clubs.

“Some kids base their lives around school activities,” said Samantha. “It’s gonna be really hard for them because they use those to get into college and to put on resumes to get jobs.”

IMPACTING ACHIEVEMENT
According to “Shortchanging Students,” cutting extracurricular activities is especially worrisome because these activities are the only things that keep some students in school or doing well. Without these programs, more students may drop out or fail.

And that’s not all.

A reduction in school funding will also take a bigger hit on students who go to schools in districts with less money because they  get more state aid, says Korn.

State aid increases make it possible for schools to provide extra instruction or individual attention to students who are struggling.

Thirty-nine to forty-three percent of schools said they would have to cut back this extra help, as well as summer school.

Tarick Jackson, a freshman at State University of New York at Albany, wonders who students will be able to turn to.

“Teachers are supposed to guide our younger ones, to teach them, to help them grow into proper adults to take over society, and they’re cutting them, he says.

He also worries that budget cuts will affect younger students again when they get to college.

“Taking money away from us is not only taking away our education,” says Jackson. “It’s also taking away our future.”

Pages: 1 2