California’s public schools released a report that shows an increase in stress levels even as they must reduce staff levels, Yahoo! News reports. The state’s university system, too, revealed that continued funding cuts are damaging the Golden State’s ability to provide an affordable higher education to its students.
What stresses does the public school system face? The Oakland Tribune [1] cited an increase of children living in poverty. Cases in point are children attending the Oakland school district. Between 2007 and 2010, the percentage of children living below the federal poverty level increased by 8 percent, reaching 33 percent. This figure points to stress factors the schools face when working with youngsters to succeed academically, which include the local unemployment rate and budget cuts due to the state’s deficit. “They try to teach an increasing number of children in poverty with fewer employees and a continual threat of cutbacks,” the report notes…