The
following appeared in a letter to the editor of Parson City's local newspaper.
"In our region of Trillura, the
majority of money spent on the schools that most students attend—the city-run
public schools—comes from taxes that each city government collects. The
region's cities differ, however, in the budgetary priority they give to public
education. For example, both as a proportion of its overall tax revenues and in
absolute terms, Parson City has recently spent almost twice as much per year as
Blue City has for its public schools—even though both cities have about the
same number of residents. Clearly, Parson City residents place a higher value
on providing a good education in public schools than Blue City residents
do."
Write a response in which you discuss
what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the
evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.
In the Trillura region, public schools
are funded in large part by city taxes. Each
city budgets differently on their schools.
For instance, Parson City spent more in terms of percent of its tax
revenue and in absolute terms than Blue City on public schools. Both cities have the same number of
residents.
Based on this information, it has been
argued that Parson City values public education more than Blue City. However, more data is needed before assessing
this conclusion. We need to know more
about the student population of PC and BC, more about the exchange of students
between cities, the kinds of schools offered in each city, and the overall tax
revenue of each city.
First, if Parson City has a greater
number of students attending their public schools than Blue City, then it would
be reasonable for Parson City to spend more on education than Blue City. In that case, the money spent per student may
be the same in both cities. This would
also be the case if the families of Blue City send more of their students to a
neighboring city. In either case, we
need to know more about the student population of Blue City and Parson City
before assessing the conclusion that Parson City values public education more
than Blue City.
Next, Blue City public schools may be
different in kind than Parson City public schools. For instance, in some cities across the
United States, public education is more focused on specific vocational
training. Since these public schools
have narrow curriculum, they require fewer teachers; and therefore, their
overall budgets in comparison to general education based public schools are
reduced. In the case that Parson City
public schools are different in kind than Blue City public schools, the
conclusion that Parson City values public education more than Blue City would
be rejected as unsound.
Lastly, Parson City may collect more
in overall tax revenue than Blue City. Suppose that Parson City has collected
ten dollars and Blue City has collected five dollars in tax revenue. Next, suppose that Parson City allocated 10%
of its tax revenue to public education, leaving it with nine dollars to spend
elsewhere. Lastly, assume that for the
entire Trillura region, the annual cost of sanitation is four dollars. In this case, if Blue City spent the same
proportion of their tax revenue on public education as Parson City, then they
would have nothing left to support other basic needs such as health care, and
infrastructure. Prior to assessing the
conclusion that Parson City values public education more than Blue City, we
need to know more about the tax revenue of each respective city.
Without the requested further
information concerning the student population of PC and BC, the exchange of
students between cities, the kinds of schools offered in each city, and the overall
tax revenue of each city, adjudication must be withheld concerning the
conclusion that Parson City values public education more than Blue City.
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