Dear Future President,

My name is Allie Lamb and I’m an 8th grader in Ohio. I’d like to address the poor education that we have in America. It really means a lot to me because the number one cause of poor education is poverty and that is something that I hate to see. It hurts my heart every time that I see someone on the street without a home or food for the day and it should affect you too. Many people say that the poor educations are the cause of the teachers or the school, but that is not always true. The government should put in more effort to help those in poverty, resulting in children receiving quality educations and even good-paying jobs in the future.

If you think about it, people who are poor and without a quality education will have a very difficult time finding a good paying job. Not being able to find a job when you’re already very poor means that you’re most likely going to stay that way for the rest of your life. A third of the students at local schools in America come from a low-income family. In 1965, us as a nation declared poverty unacceptable, and what are we doing now? What have we done since? In 2015 researchers found that 51 percent of our children live in poverty. Is that okay to you?

Many people believe that the cause of poor education is the teachers and the school itself. Rarely is that the case, and if it is, it’s because the school doesn’t have the right funding that allows for quality educations. Most public schools in America that have students from a wealthy district have some of the best test scores. That is because those schools have the correct funding. If we gave some of the schools in districts filled with poverty the proper funding, I guarantee that their test scores would increase greatly.

We should do more to help children get quality educations. We should provide schools with better funding. Such as funding special tutoring, health programs, and child care. We should also be sure that fairness is at the heart of any political discussion or debate over the topic. Another important thing is making sure that children in poverty have free or reduced-price lunches and are able to get the correct supplies that are integral for a good learning experience. There is a lot more things that we could be doing for children to get a quality education, and not just children in America.

It is up to you, Future President, to start making a change. Would you want to sit and watch people, children even, live their lives in poverty? Or would you rather have the satisfaction of knowing that you're changing and saving lives? If we don't start helping now, then we won't be as great of a nation as we once thought. Poverty does not disappear on its own, proving that we should be doing more to make it disappear in the future. Then those that are in need can have quality educations and, ultimately, better lives.

Sincerely,

Allie