GMAT Essays (AWA)

"Some people argue that those who do not send their children from to public schools should not have to fund these schools through taxes, since neither parents nor children benefit from thier schools. They ignore the face that everyone benefits from the strong economy that a well educated populace generates. "

Which argument do you find more compelling, the case for forcing everyone to fund public schools or the opposing viewpoint? Explain your......

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Public schools should be funded by everyone regardless of whether their children attend those schools or not. These benefits are provided by the government for the overall improvement of the literacy of a nation's population. I stongly oppose the viewpoint that parents of children who do not benefit from these schools should not have to fund them.

Firstly, people do not always know whether thier children would attend a Public school or a Private school. Suppose the financial status of a 'well to do' family changes and the family suddenly decides that thier children would need to enroll in a Public school. In this case although shoudl these people be barred from sending thier childrent to a Public school? The fees in such schools are largely subsidized in order to help those who can not afford high quality education.

Secondly, although some people might not attend these schools they still might use the resources provided by Public schools. For example: Purdue University (a public school in the Mid-west) provides subsidized transportation for all West Lafayette residents regardless of whether the residents or the resident's children attend the university. There are many such university townships where the entire city benefits by resources provided by Public universities.


Thus, it is imperative that longterm perspectives are taking into consideration while considering whether to stop funding from a certain section of the population. These schools aldready suffer from insufficient funding. Public schools foster the overall development of a nation's economy. They generate more than five time as many graduates as private schools do.

Hi asamanta,

First of all, great job on picking a point of view and sticking with it! I particularly liked the example in your second body paragraph - a real-world, specific example (that is a proper noun, i.e, name, place, work of literature, etc.) is what you should try to come up with for every example.

I'd recommend trying to come up with one other example; this will lengthen your essay and provide more support for your point of view. Also, try to take the time to proofread your essay before you submit it, and try not to use the words "I," "me," "we," and etc.

I'd give this a 4. Hope this helps!

Public schools are funded by taxpayers money. Most of the public schools get huge governement
grants to run thier operations in addition to a nominal fees that they charge to the students.

Most governments around the world have a special tax to cover for the eduation needs of a country.
In India, for instance, a special tax called 'education cess' is levied on sale of goods and services.
India, a country with a population of 1.2 billion people cannot depend entirely on the private sector
to produce employable people for the country. Therefore, public schools and colleges are
required. A newspaper recently reported, that India is currently producing college graduates at a rate of 200,000 per year.
Private sector, in many cases, lack the funding to open so many schools and colleges.
Additionally, there are regions in the country which do not have adequate infrastructure facilities where private
schools would not open of schools. Opening schools in such areas will result in losses or minimal returns on
investments. Therefore, private schools do not invest in such areas. More schools and colleges result in better skilled labours.
Businessess, agriculture activities carried out by literate people will result in enhancing the productivity. The per capital incomes as well the
gross domestic product (GDP) of the country will increase.

There are many sections of the society who are poor and therefore, can afford the huge fees charged by private
schools. Obviously, government cannot control the private sector schools. But they certainly can influence
the fee structure and other activities at public school and colleges. The only way government can open schools
and provide subsidies is by implementing taxes on the society. It is ignorant of people to believe that parents who
do not send thier children public school are unfairly taxed for funding the operations of such schools. The entire
society benefits from the growth of the economy of any country.A concrete example, the premier management and technology institutes in India;
Indian Institute of Management and Indian Institute of Technology are public sector entities. They are producing high calibre people
who go on to run large multi-national corporations around the world benefiting the society as a whole.


Government uses taxes as a source of revenue. A part of this revenue is to fund/ open/ subsidize public schools.
Therefore, ensuring that its citizens are getting proper education through affordable institutions is
important. Educated people become engineers, doctors, scientists, attorneys and improve the quality of life
of the entire population of the country.