For my capstone, I created Certification Projects, which are projects you complete in order to get certified on a given tool in the engineering shop. The four projects I made were: make a ring on the lathe, make dice on the mill, make a custom cut-out on the water jet, and make an LED light on the CNC Router. Each project is accompanied by a detailed set of instructions. Each project must also have a teacher or student mentor that can teach the project. After creating these projects and training individuals to teach them, I presented the projects to the sophomore, junior, and senior engineers. Each student picked the project they most wanted to do. For the next two months, all the CTE engineers met four times a week to work on their project. The Certification Projects will remain in the engineering curriculum for future years to come.

In “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey, a new patient named McMurphy strolls into a mental hospital and throws everything into chaos. The highly controlled hospital environment strains as McMurphy constantly challenges it, fighting the authority figures of the book and trying to convince the rest of the patients to join him. As the patients have started to question their role in this authoritarian environment, I’ve started to question my role with authority in my life. I’ve always been a very “easy” child. An obedient child, you could say. My mom jokes she used to tell me to take a nap and I’d say “okay, how long would you like for me to nap mother?”. I’ve always gotten good grades, I’ve never really acted out, and I didn’t have any major problems with authority. I’m very much like my dad in that way- I stay in my box because it’s comfortable and I know how to be “good” in that environment. When I disagree with an authority figure, I either resign myself to it or stew in silence. I’m kind of like the Acutes of this novel, where I can hide behind excuses the authority figures have given me or try to justify what they say. “‘I’m pretty used to seeing that six-o’clock news.” one Acute says, “And if switching times would really mess up the schedule as bad as Miss Ratchet says-” (104). The justification of authoritative rule stops any change from happening because you accept that rule. I don’t justify authority on such an extreme scale, but as I’ve gone through the novel I realize I do it more than I thought. I am more like the Acutes than I want to admit.

My brother is the complete opposite. He is always breaking the rules, trying to see how much he can get away with. He’s more of a “difficult” child, and my mom and him are always at odds, which is funny given how similar they are. He is definitely more of a McMurphy figure, which always annoyed me when we were younger- couldn’t he grow up, stop fighting all the time, stop taking all the attention in the household? It wasn’t until this year that I’ve really begun question my role as an “easy” child.

I went to dinner with my family a month ago, and my mom said to me and my brother- “You know, there’s things I would change about both of you.” I was curious- what would she change about this easy child I was? “You’re in the box too much,” she told me. “I wish you would break the rules a little more, I wish you would fight more for what you think is right, or challenge people instead of just accepting their rule.” I didn’t really know what to say to that. My brother of course got excited when he heard this, saying, “Oh yeah! I’ll break the rules” My mom laughed and said, “No you need to go back IN the box”.

I think about what she said to me a lot, and I’ve started to realize that maybe I do have a problem with authority. Not in the way that I always fight it, but in the way that I don’t. Too often I just go with the rules because those are the rules, and I trust authority figures just because they are authority figures. When I disagree with something, I like to avoid conflict, like the Acutes. My brother is always challenging those rules and authority figures, always fighting. For a while I saw that as bad, but now I’ve begun to admire him. At least he speaks up for what he thinks is right.

It’s strange that we are so opposite, that my family is split like this, but I think in many ways it makes us challenge each other. Having opposites in the household encourages us all to grow towards a more middle ground, helps us get away from our extremes and find both “easy” and “difficult” within us. This is similar to the ward environment of the novel, where none of the chaos would have occurred had it not been for McMurphy. The ward needed someone who goes up to people and challenges them to change. As the novel unfolds, even the Acutes have begun to fight, rallying behind McMurphy’s voice: “‘Yeah, yeah, is that what you mean?” Their challenge is starting small, simply speaking up, but they are gaining momentum. They are pulled out of their comfort zone, out of the boxes they all have been hiding in. Like the Acutes, I am trying to find my own challenging voice. I am starting small and slowly I am figuring it out. While I still haven’t exactly found my voice yet, I’m trying more and more, and am hopeful that one day I won’t need a voice to rally behind, one day I’ll be enough to step outside the box on my own.

This artwork depicts the party that occurs in Chapter 38 of The Handmaid’s Tale. When Offred and the Commander first walk into the party scene, Offred says, “At first glance there’s cheerfulness to this scene. It’s like a masquerade party; they are like oversized children, dressed up in togs they’ve rummaged from trunks.” (Atwood, 235). In contrast, the scene in the bathroom is more somber and business-like. “The women don’t smile. They return to their smoking as if it’s serious business.” (Atwood, 242). The artwork depicts the scene in the bathroom. This scene is more intriguing because people look more out of place without the backdrop of the rest of the party. They are left wearing costumes. Moiras outfit is the most shocking. “There’s a wad of cotton attached to the back, I can see it as she half turns; it looks like a sanitary pad that’s been popped like a piece of popcorn. I realize it’s supposed to be a tail. Attached to her head are two ears, of a rabbit or deer, it’s not easy to tell; one of the ears has lost its starch or wiring and is flopping halfway down. She has a black bowtie around her neck and is wearing black net stockings and black high heels.” (Atwood, 239). The artwork depicts these details. She is dressed in attire so different from anything she has ever worn. They are all wearing costumes, even the ones who have done this before. They are playing for their lives wearing the armor of bunny ears. In this artwork, all of the outfits are drawn in bright colors. The colors are quite shocking, especially the makeup. “All wear make-up, and I realize how unaccustomed I’ve become to seeing it, on women, because their eyes look too big to me, too dark and shimmering, their mouths too read, too wet, blood-dipped and glistening; or, on the other hand, too clown-ish.” (Atwood, 235) I tried to make all the colors bright, especially the makeup, to show the contrast of this scene. But, these are the only colors in this artwork. This shows the way that the people in power like the commanders are trying to dress up a bleak reality. They are playing pretend and living in a matrix of their own making. The illusion still fades however. The artwork portrays threads of clothing loose, stains on the clothes, and cracks to the mirrors to show the brokenness of this party. “A movie about the past is not the same as the past” (Atwood, 235). Everything is different now, but people are still busy playing pretend. They are still trying to make a black and white world colorful, when there is still no freedom and still nothing to celebrate. Throughout this, the handmaids and the women are always the pieces being played around, like actors in a play. The bathroom is the backstage, showing all the women waiting for their cue. The last thing of importance is this mirror, which is cracked and broken yet they are all drawn to it, fixing their makeup, checking their reflection. It is all they have left of themselves. Something still artificial, reflecting a reality of their own making.

On Page 104 of “The Handmaid’s Tale”, the narrator ponders where her former husband Luke is now. She describes what remains of him in her mind: “his hair, the bones, the plaid wool shirt, green and black, the leather belt, the work boots. I know exactly what he was wearing…though not his face, not so well. His face is beginning to fade, possibly because it wasn’t always the same: his face had different expressions, his clothes did not.” The inanimate objects are easier to remember for her, because they are simple, and they remain the same. It is harder to capture someone’s whole essence in memory, because they are always changing like we are, and the face starts to fade because we cannot decide on an expression to save.

I know this feeling firsthand, as I have had to say goodbye to many people in my life. I’ve moved a fair amount, living in 3 main houses and 4 main schools. The moves used to affect me more. I used to cry over my friends being gone. And then my friends started to change. Once I didn’t see them anymore, it became harder and harder to keep an updated version of their faces in my mind. Like the narrator, my friends’ faces began to fade, frozen in time.

What I remember very clearly are the things I have kept in my memory box. What remains is this: the bubbles in a small white container, leftover from “Paint The Town Red”, a choir assembly in Chicago. The tape dispenser covered in scraps of paper from a friendly feud that say “Reese was right, Guz was wrong” and “Gus was right, Reese was wrong”. I can still remember the bubbles floating in the sea of red uniforms. I can remember the blue water bottle I stole and covered in my little notes. Though not their faces, not so well. They seem to fade in my mind, becoming people from a different story, becoming distanced. All I have left are these objects, and my own feelings. As the people I share the memories with fade, the memories themselves feel less real.

It feels like I’m in a void with relics from a different life, which is very similar to the experience of the narrator of “The Handmaid’s Tale”. She actually is living a different life, removed from almost everything and everyone she once knew. And she doesn’t even have anything physical to hold on to. Her thoughts are all she has to keep her sane and I think that is why she clings to the details like the clothes as much as I cling to my memory box. She needs to ground her story in something, needs to cling to whatever there is left. She needs some kind of proof that what she had before was real.

As the narrator speculates what has happened to Luke, she keeps using the phrase “I believe”. (Pages 104-105). At the end of the chapter she talks about how she believes her husband is alive and will come for her. “It’s this message, which may never arrive, that keeps me alive”. In addition to the clothes she remembers and can hold on to, she has invented a hope. She has invented a message that she can picture, telling her that a savior is coming. The other beliefs she has, that Luke is dead or that he has been caught, are not as strong as the hope. Because it is the one thing that will prove Luke is real and that this nightmare will come to an end. In a world where the narrator is surrounded by an entirely new reality, she needs a hope that the old one will return. If she loses him, if she loses her last hope, she will have nothing to hold on to. By losing faith, by losing hope, she will lose herself. And there will be nothing left to keep her alive.

I did not feel this on the same level of course, but I did still feel it. I reached out to my friends more often than they did, and eventually I stopped getting responses. I stopped trying to reach out. I would wait, crying in my room, for someone to send a message. I’d go through my memory box, looking at old letters, inventing a new one in my mind. Moving on was the hardest part, accepting that some friends would go. The narrator hasn’t reached this stage yet. Because moving on is not an option she can accept yet. So she stays in limbo, going with the flow of her new life, waiting for a message to tell her what to do.

I think something that this whole topic illustrates is how much we rely on other people to define ourselves. We need human contact to survive- that is how we are wired. Without real connections to real people, we start to lose our sense of self and our sense of purpose. When we lose connections to people, we focus on the objects we associate with them because we need a connection. We need to hold on to something, in times of joy or struggle. Our past is something we carry with us, and if we leave it behind we are left wondering how we got here and where we should go now.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FuJPhSCRoWv2-DzZTnYng_Pzji7tE7AqRBfjRATOCdU/edit?usp=sharing

In my last post, “What Do We Owe To Education”, I researched some questions I had about education and funding in general, and learned a lot about the Federal Budget, funding gaps, and the affect the lack of funding had on schools.

Since then, I have focused on the issue of the lack of funding for schools. I did some more research based on this more focused view, using these sites:

Once I had finished my research, I decided to make a Public Service Announcement (PSA) with the information I had gathered. It was difficult to decide which information to use because I had to decide what was most important. That was why at the end of the PSA, I put a link to my bibliography so if someone was really interested, they could look more into it.

In order to get this PSA out to people, I decided to share it on social media and reach out to some members of staff who could help me. I reached out to Jeremy, who said that he would put my PSA into our advisory memo, and to Ms. Jonas, who said that I could present about my topic to my advisory. I thought this would be most effective because technology can really get around to many people. If things were back to normal, I probably would have adapted my PSA to be printed and placed around the school. Since so many people are online, I decided to make a more in depth PSA with all the information needed.

Below are some screenshots of putting my PSA in action:

Overall, I am not sure I was really making a change. A Public Service Announcement can help to get information out and make people aware of an issue, but I would really like to talk to more people to actually go from informing to making a change. If I did this project over again, I think I would interview more students, teachers, and staff about their experiences with the system and get more involved in my community. I became less interested in my topic as I continued, but was happy with the result. All that is left is to send the PSA to Jeremy for the advisory memo and present in my advisory on Monday. I think at the very least, I made a change in myself because I know a lot more about this topic and issue and can understand a little more of the education world as I go through it.

My favorite thing that I wrote was:

Because while there are people in power, there is also the power of the people, giving each and every one of us the opportunity to make a difference.

Education is the backbone of our society. Sometimes, it’s more of an invisible one. If you aren’t in school, it’s especially easy to brush the whole idea out of your way, because it no longer concerns you. Doesn’t it? Except education is the biggest tool we give to the next generation. What we teach, what we don’t teach, who we teach, who we don’t teach. How we teach the next generation to follow in our footsteps, or how we teach them to create their own path. As important as education is, there are still so many issues with it. Are teachers really being appreciated? Are students actually learning? Do they want to go to school? Why are we giving one set of opportunities to one group of kids, while another group’s opportunities are being taken away? Throughout my research, I wanted to learn about these questions and more, and see what I could do about it.

My mom has been a teacher for 20 years. Now she is getting her PHD in music education. I’ve seen her many schools, seen how she teaches, and even how she learns from her students. I’ve been to teacher strikes, seen the arts as more than an add on, and been there to watch from the other side. Something that struck me about all the schools I’d ever seen was funding. I remember going to a school when I was younger that had classes for engineering for toddlers. There were smart boards in every room, bathrooms on every floor and a clean feel to the entire school. Other schools I went to were great, but I remember things like having the only bathroom be in the basement, having 30 kids or more in classes while other schools only had 15. It was one of the first things that came to my mind about schools, and I was curious about the federal budget, so that’s where I started.

SOURCE 1:

The first source I looked at was called “Federal Spending: Where does the money go?”. This source goes in depth about the way federal spending is used in the United States. This article shares that federal spending is divided into three sections: Discretionary spending, Mandatory spending, and interest on debt. This article also goes into depth about the way federal spending was used in 2015. In that year, the budget was 3.8 trillion dollars, which was 21% of the US economy. The Discretionary spending made up 29.34% of the budget (1.11 trillion), the mandatory spending made up 64.63% (2.45 trillion), and interest on debt was 6.03% (229.15 billion). It gives pie charts as well that describe the way this money was used for each section.

The ‘National Priorities Project’, which is the site where the article is found, seems to be a well respected and trusted force. There isn’t a direct author of the article, but there is a team for the organization which includes Lindsey Koshgarian, Ashik Siddique, Lorah Steichen, and their consultant Jason Leveille. Their mission is to inspire “individuals and movements to take action so our federal resources prioritize peace, shared prosperity, and economic security for all”. The bias of this source would probably be to only show the flaws of the system. Some of the information is also a little outdated, from 2015. It is helpful in understanding the past, but in order to get the best possible information it must be corroborated with a more recent source.

{English 9} (www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/)

{You and the World} (www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/)

These pie charts are really attention-getting because they aren’t balanced. There are times when some things are prioritized over others, but it poses the questions: ‘who decides what is prioritized? And for what purpose? Is profit valued, or people?’. The discretionary chart is the most shocking, because the Military gets 53.71% allotted to it, whereas other categories like food and agriculture (1.18%), science (3.51%), housing and community (5.68%), and education (6.28%) get the far lower end of the deal. And why was the military given so much in the first place? The other chart is also imbalanced, but it seems more reasonable that ‘medicare and health’ and ‘social security, unemployment, and labor’ were given more money.

{You and the World} (www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/)

The specifics:

Science: 0.78%- 29.81 billion Energy and Environment: 1.17%-44.85 billion International Affairs: 1.31%-50.22 billion Housing and Community: 1.60%-61.48 billion Transportation: 2.22%-84.99 billion Education: 2.67%-102.26 billion Food and Agriculture: 3.54%-135.7 billion Veteran’s Benefits: 4.19%-160.63 billion Interest on Debt: 5.97%-229.15 billion Military: 15.88%-609.3 billion Medicare and Health: 27.42%-1.05 trillion Social Security, Unemployment, and labor: 33.26%-1.28 trillion

The final graph had the best representation of the federal budget as a whole. The website showed the different percentages and values for each slice of the pie, as seen above. Again, the military in the whole amount was surprising compared to all others that were scrunched up near the top. There was also a solid percentage for education, 2.67%, which would be corroborated to make sure the information was still accurate.

After looking at this source, I had a better understanding of the way the federal budget was divided. But I also wondered: “Is the federal budget the main source of funding for many of these programs? To what degree does the money given to each change the outcomes?”. I needed to not only corroborate my information, but I needed to see how it related to my issue of Education Funding.

SOURCE 2:

This site was an infographic. There is a series of graphs that show how the federal budget was used in 2019. It gave information on the revenues, where the money came from, and how the money was spent. Just like in source 2, the site described specifics in Mandatory, Discretionary, and Interest on Debt. It even provided additional information on deficits and surpluses, and each category of the federal budget provided more facts and graphs to hopefully display the information. This infographic came from the website “Congressional Budget Office”, which was a site founded in 1975. Each year, the economists and budget analysts produce dozens of reports stating objective, impartial analysis on the economy. It was important to keep an eye out for any biases, but the site was true to its word and provided only the facts. It seemed to be a reliable source.

{You and the World} (www.cbo.gov/publication/56324)

This showed very similar percentages to the year 2015. Since source 1 had been out of date, this source was very helpful in figuring out what was accurate and what was not. They were actually very similar, and there weren’t huge changes. Mandatory was still about 61% (2015 65%), Discretionary was 30% (2015 29%), Interest on Debt 9% (2015 6%). However, 2020 was also a huge year for the economy, with Covid 19 and lots of unemployment. It was much easier to understand the struggles of the past with this graph, but there was still more to understand. After learning the federal budget only accounted for about 8% of education, it was easy to wonder if this section of research was all that helpful. But things had changed a lot in 2020 and 2021, so it still felt like there was information missing.

{You and the World} (www.cbo.gov/publication/56324)

As for this graph, I wanted to compare it to the one found in source one:

2015:

Social security, Unemployment, and labor: 33.26%

Medicare & Health: 27.42%

Science: 0.78%-
Energy and Environment: 1.17% International Affairs: 1.31% Housing and Community: 1.60% Transportation: 2.22% Education: 2.67% Food and Agriculture: 3.54% Veteran’s Benefits: 4.19% ^^^^^^^17.48

Military: 15.88%

Interest on Debt: 5.97%

2019:

Social security: 23%

Medicare & Medicaid: 24%

Other & Nondefense: 30%

Defense: 15%

Net interest: 9%

As you can see above, the two years were actually very similar. Percentages were used to have a more equivalent comparison. Everything was close together, which was helpful to know because in a regular year, it seemed that this was what the percentages would be. The categories were a little hard, because they used some different sections throughout the sources. However, most of the gist was still there. This information was corroborated across sites and years, so it was pretty clear what a regular year would be like. However, Covid 19 had changed the economy, and it felt important to gather that information in the future.

This source helped me corroborate the information in source 1. I knew what I had was an accurate representation of a regular year in the United States. But I also realized that a regular year wasn’t the only thing I needed, because in order for my information to have an impact, it needed to relate to our situation now, in 2021. I also needed to be able to see how much the information I found impacted my issue in the first place. If the federal budget doesn’t have a huge impact on education funding, it would be more beneficial to focus my efforts elsewhere.

SOURCE 3:

This article, “Fixing Chronic Disinvestment in K-12 schools” by Lisette Partelow, explores the question and problem of Chronic Disinvestment in K-12 schools. They explore deep cuts in education, and how schools have responded to that. Specifically, the article talks a lot about the aftereffects of the 2008 Great Recession, where many states systematically disinvested in K-12 funding. They describe the effect that money, salaries, and lack of funding affects schools and describe ways to address and solve these problems. They came to the conclusion that “If education is truly to be an engine of opportunity and economic mobility, states and the federal government must invest far more in the communities that need resources most.”. This website, “Center for American Progress” has more than a hundred people working on it, all different types of researchers and positions. It is clearly a well established organization. It has a real author, a full bibliography at the bottom, and is very thorough. It is very likely a reliable source. The source’s bias would most likely be giving information that states their cause only. They are less likely to show things that contradict what they are saying, so it would be helpful to again corroborate other sources.

“On Average, 47 percent of K-12 education funding comes from state revenue, while local government provides 45 percent, and the federal government provides the remaining 8 percent.”

“In addition, the federal government can play a role in investing in teacher pay, first, by rejecting administration efforts to cut funding and, then, by expanding existing funding streams. It can also bring forward any of a number of proposals to improve teacher compensation that have recently been introduced in Congress.”

This bit of information was really helpful, because it helped clear up some questions that were brought to attention in source 2. The first quote specifically was able to show how much schools were really impacted by the federal budget, which was only 8%. This was able to put things into perspective, showing that state revenue and local government were far more influential.

But, like the second quote shows, the federal government can still play a substantial role. They do have the power to reject efforts while expanding others, and can create new proposals that can cause far more change. So, they are still an important factor for the success of school funding.

{You and the World} (www.cbo.gov/publication/56324)

This particular graph shows the progress from 2008 (The Great Recession) to 2015. But progress has been all over the place. While some states were able to make a comeback, many of them only caused a range of 0-10% increase. Even more of the states had from -1%—30% and greater. After 7 years, the majority of states have barely made a comeback and even decreased education funding for particular states. This graph clearly shows the problem the nation faces. Education is how the nation teaches students, how they empower students, how everyone learns. If education is not prioritized for students what kind of nation will the United States become? What nation will be lead as the next generation follows in the same path? It’s a very powerful image.

This source had a lot of helpful information and was able to put into perspective the effort that has been given to this problem in the past. I was also able to see that the federal budget only made up 8% of education budget, which led me to realize that the federal budget wasn’t even that influential in this issue. Of course, the federal budget still has an impact, especially with either speeding the process along or slowing it considerably. but it did make me rethink my topic.

SOURCE 4:

This article, ‘Special Report/ The Funding Gap’ by Amy M. Azzam, was about the funding gap in schools. They say that a big concern in schools is the achievement gap, but behind that is the concerning problem of the funding gap between high poverty and low poverty districts, and low minority and high minority districts. The article discusses a study that looked at annual financial data for the 2001-2002 school year. Then, they suggest courses of action and goals that need to be achieved in order to help solve the problem. This source is reliable because it’s data comes from U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of education, there is a reliable author who researches and writes articles for student education. The site is a little outdated, so the bias had to be kept in mind because not all the statistics would necessarily be the same.

“ The Education Trust recommends that states adopt the following proven policies to close the school funding gaps: Reduce reliance on local property taxes to fund education. Target extra funds to help low-income children. Fix funding gaps for individual schools within districts Improve state education funding in terms of increased spending on public education.

Closing the achievement gap starts with closing the funding gap. Only by providing the necessary resources can states help ensure quality education for all students”

This quote was very helpful, because it provided a clear statement for what needed to be done in order to help close the funding gap. It talks about starting small by fixing funding gaps within districts, and using money to the best ability. Instead of sharing the money evenly, share the money equitably. It addresses the issue that some kids need help financially before they can focus on their schoolwork, and to work to add more opportunities and increase spending over time. It’s not a quick process, it’s one that takes time and dedication. But it will pay off, because as the second to last sentence says “Closing the achievement gap starts with closing the funding gap.”. It’s like that saying, where you give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime. But it would also be super helpful to give a man a fishing rod, a tool to help them learn. That’s what the funding is for these students, because once they have tools to help them, they can focus on school for real and have many more opportunities to succeed. Maybe this isn’t the only way to help, as the last sentence suggests, but those resources may be the difference needed for many students who struggle in their families in high poverty districts. Once the funding levels out, it can surely only help the achievement gap shrink as well.

This source helped to give me an idea of what direction I could take this project in order to have the best impact.

SOURCE 5:

This article, “Impact of the President’s FY 2020 budget on K-12 Information” was about the president’s proposed plan for many cuts and eliminations that would impact the budget for education in 2020. It gave detail about which programs the plan would affect and why they mattered. This source was a little tricky to test reliability, because it was a PDF. It came from the organization “First step” and the only person I could find listed was the Assistant Director, Drew Aherne. It’s bias was also the fact that this entire article was a proposed plan, and didn’t show exactly what had happened. But it did show the kind of power the Government and President had, and what the impact could be.

“One major request that would have a negative impact on K-12 education is the elimination of 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which are a critical source of funding for many local afterschool programs and serve about 1.4 million students at over 9,500 locations. Another harmful request is eliminating the Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants program that provides grants to state and local education agencies to increase student achievement through teacher development and class-size reduction. These grants are important because teacher quality is one of the most significant factors in promoting student learning.”

Teacher quality is clearly an important factor in student learning. A lot of teachers would probably be way more enthusiastic if they had higher pay. But this also brings into question a lot of these actions. Education was already struggling, causing students to suffer and strikes to be held because teachers were fed up. Plus, now there is online school where students are losing motivation and struggling with mental health. Now more than ever schools need support and the government need to give back to the teachers that have been driving the whole process. There cannot be continual budget cuts and eliminations of programs that benefit so many schools. There was already so much cause to add more funding to schools, but now, in a crisis, a pandemic, these problems need to be addressed and solutions need to be found.

This helped to show the effect of the people in power on education.

Overall, I learned a lot, but I think I need to redirect myself and go into more detail about the questions I have asked throughout my research. There are many problems to address in order to create an impact and educate people on this issue. My research has been all over the place, but it has helped to narrow down where I should go and what I should do. I will continue to do research to answer the following questions:

-What can we as citizens do to help?

-How has 2020 impacted Education Funding?

-Where can I find information to prove the point that Education Funding is an issue we need to address?

I will work to create a more polished presentation of my work and find a way to spread my work even online.

SOURCE 1:

“Federal Spending: Where Does the Money Go.” National Priorities Project, www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/.

SOURCE 2:

“The Federal Budget in 2019: An Infographic.” Congressional Budget Office, 15 Apr. 2020, www.cbo.gov/publication/56324

SOURCE 3:

Lisette Partelow, Sarah Shapiro. “Fixing Chronic Disinvestment in K-12 Schools.” Center for American Progress, www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/09/20/457750/fixing-chronic-disinvestment-k-12-schools/.

SOURCE 4:

Lisette Partelow, Sarah Shapiro. “Fixing Chronic Disinvestment in K-12 Schools.” Center for American Progress, www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/09/20/457750/fixing-chronic-disinvestment-k-12-schools/.

SOURCE 5:

https://firstfocus.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FACT-SHEET-Presidents-FY20-Budget-K-12-Education.pdf

Annotated Bibliography:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZWkFMLwMXKT1AbQJb4_wUAiCaJGLSDAJl_0lFQxYDlg/edit?usp=sharing