Funding Forms the School

A. Form

One of the biggest differences between the two podcasts is that the Ira Glass podcast has much clearer sound than the home-made podcast. Glass’s show is so clear and well-edited that it almost seems like the interview is occurring in the exact moment and way that it is heard. The second podcast also has a more extensive use of background music and dramatic, thoughtful pauses. This allows the audience to immediately determine what are supposed to be the most important or moving parts of the story. Finally, Glass has a specific structure to his podcast (introduction, step-by-step story with interview, reflection, and connecting the story to the broader world). This makes the podcast easier to follow and allows it to wrap up clearly and succinctly.

B. Content

The primary reason for the differences Jada experienced is likely the amount of money allotted to education (per student) in the suburb, versus in the city. As Glass mentions, districts with higher property taxes (or more expensive homes) collect more money to be directed towards public education. Jada talks about her Copley-Fairlawn school as having more resources for students, such as a computer lab, a large library, and a greenhouse that was used for science classes. The gap in the amenities that different schools can offer is a large hurdle towards the goal of equal education in America. Since most schools are primarily funded by more local (not federal) money, each district has different allowances to work with. One reform possibility, at least on a state scale, would be to collect taxes intended for schools state-wide and then distribute them evenly across the state (by student population). This would ensure that poor inter-city schools would get the same number of dollars per student as the schools in rich suburbs. Though this is not a full solution to the differences found in education, it would likely help even the playing field in terms of the physical resources available to students, and the quality of their environment at school.