New Science Budget

   I read an article posted on the TFA Facebook page that discussed Baltimore City's new science budget. The funding includes $1.74 billion dollars to bolster science curriculum and give teachers much needed science supplies. The article made me think about my own situation in a Baltimore City science classroom. On the one hand, I am very supportive of the City giving school money and materials. Clearly these supplies are needed, and Baltimore is vastly under funded. In my own class I have very little materials to perform labs. This means that generally I have to purchase the supplies on my own. However, at times I feel that Baltimore City pumps money into so many new initiatives, but never follows through on anything that it starts.
   For instance, my school initiated an online reading program at the beginning of the year. Just last week they followed up on it asking "How has this worked for everyone?" Not only did they take away our planning period to try and follow up it, but they never gave us any resources to actually implement the plan or any time to do it. While in theory I am sure this was a great plan, there is no accountability in the system. Thus, in the end it was just a waste of money that could have been allocated to a different program.
   This is a point of contention for me that I don't know how to solve. I really wish that the city was much more efficient at implementing programs so that they could be more effective at helping our students. I know that there are a lot of moving parts when implementing a program, but there must be a better way of using the money that gets put into city schools, or at least a way that gets better results.