The Faults In Public Schools

By: Ximena Mandujano

Small communities in the Salinas Valley struggle with the issue of overcrowding in their schools. Insufficient school space and the fast housing construction are not a fair ratio. In Soledad, where I am from, the struggle of finding space in your closest elementary school is difficult. We have five elementary schools, but all in different parts of town, with differing qualities of education and resources between the schools. The oldest elementary in town gets the shortest end of the stick; there are no renovations, things are always broken, classrooms are outdated, and there is a lack of school supplies. When I was a student there, most of the new technology was bought by teachers, not the district. Only in my later school years was when the latest technology was bought district-wide. It was a prevalent theme for teachers to purchase supplies throughout my educational journey, but new obstacles developed as the years went on.  

In high school, the limited space was a disadvantage; we did not have a proper library, having to use the public library as our school’s library. Science teachers have to hop around the school to be able to teach in a classroom. I remember our Math, Engineering, Science, and Achievement (MESA) teacher having to carry all the supplies from one end of the school to another.  The MESA class should have had its own classroom because of their projects and the materials they need. School materials were also minimal; and if we needed more, the teacher had to buy it. Losing material and projects was out of the question—if you did, that would set you back. I remember many of my teachers stating the importance of keeping track of our supplies during high school and the shared supplies because a majority of it was purchased out of pocket. And unfortunately, those teachers who chose to only use supplies given by the school were not engaging and significantly limiting the students' educational careers.

On top of that, students voiced their concerns about space and the quality of the curriculum. Most teachers moved fast through lessons, making it harder and harder to digest and understand, causing us to fall behind even more. Students wanted the high school and board to improve areas like math and science because they felt cheated out of a quality proper education. Overall, the quality of the teaching was decent, but coming into college, you can see the stark contrast between our educational levels and development. Here is where I could see the cracks in the education I received in my public schools.