Elizabeth is a 5th grade teacher in Tucson who shared her thoughts on Governor Doug Ducey’s proposal to give funding bonuses to schools with high test scores. Elizabeth thinks “results-based” funding is simply a way to reward rich schools. She wants lawmakers to understand that her students—the ones from lower socioeconomic backgrounds—are not any less intelligent than the ones getting funding bonuses. But there are two major differences between these groups of kids. One, her students don’t have the background knowledge that other kids have had the opportunity to live and grow through. Second, a lot of her students are just getting through day-by-day and surviving. Elizabeth has learned a lot about how to deal with kids in trauma, and she feels strongly that these students should not be held accountable the same way as those that come from privileged backgrounds. Don’t penalize her students because they’re not lucky enough to have had the same opportunities as other students.
