One of the reasons this problem is so great is because there are so many people on the school payroll. "Most student enrollments have barely grown while payrolls [have] exploded. Only about half of school employees are actually teachers" (Fix the Educational Funding Problem Forever). Schools have hired so many more staff and faculty, but their student numbers haven't increased very much. With hiring more staff, schools have to pay more people, but also, with raising payrolls, schools are paying more than what they need to. "In Columbus a school district has 53,000 students and 8,000 full-time employees" ("Fix the Educational Funding Problem Forever"). That is seven students for every full-time employee. That is not including the volunteers and parents that help out. Schools have more staff than they need, and if given the opportunity, many of the staff would quit for an equal or greater paycheck. .
So how does Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) fix this problem? There are a few different ways to fix this problem. One is to offer two years of retirement credit to anyone who retires now. The school budgets will remain flat, and considering that many schools have attempted early-retirement programs in the past; the program should be gladly accepted (Fix the Educational Funding Problem Forever). Funding, however large the issue may be, is not the only reason music education is being cut from primary schools. Many people see music as a distraction and do not want their children taking music classes. Even though there are studies showing that music can be bad for a student in multiple ways. Christian parents don't want their children going into public school music programs because they are afraid that their children will learn bad habits from the content of the music and its not just Christian parents nowadays. With music escalating quickly in vulgar lyrics, schools take extra precaution in what music they pick before having their students learn it.
