The Dark Reality Behind Abbott Elementary’s Comedy: America’s Chronic Underfunding of Public Education
Abbott Elementary (2021) shines a humorous yet honest light on the challenges facing America’s underfunded public schools. As a teacher at a Title 1 school myself, the show hits close to home, accurately depicting the lack of resources, crowded classrooms, and dedication required to educate students amid budget constraints. While the comedy makes these struggles palatable, it reveals an unfortunate truth — systemic funding disparities perpetuate vast inequities in our education system.
The show follows teachers at a chronically underfunded Philadelphia public school. Janine Teagues, the proganist and a bright-eyed second grade teacher, is determined to give her students the best education possible despite the school’s lack of resources. Her colleagues include seasoned kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard, eccentric history buff Jacob Hill, standoffish veteran Melissa Schemmenti, and seemingly tone-deaf principal Ava Coleman. Together, they do their best to serve their students with limited means.
While Abbott Elementary uses humor to shed light on the challenges facing underfunded public schools, the show reveals a darker truth — the systemic lack of resources plaguing America’s education system perpetuates vast inequities for disadvantaged students. While I love the show and the humor, I’d like to unpack two things in this article: How does the show represent these disparities? And how really bad is the resource allocation in America?
How Abbott Elementary Portrays Disparities
One of the show’s key subthemes is a lack of resources and disparities in school resources. Throughout seasons 1 and 2 of the show, this theme seems to be a constant despite the characters’ development and changes at Abbott. Most of the disparities represented in the show are manifested in the protagonist’s lack of materials to work with, the setting’s decaying condition, and some shade thrown at charter schools.
In S2’s “Development Day,” the episode highlights how underfunded schools often lack resources and face logistical challenges. For example, Barbara struggles to get an appropriate desk for a student in a wheelchair, getting the runaround from the district. Melissa, a teacher at Abbott, is also asked to combine grades due to staff shortages. These issues reflect the reality that underfunded schools frequently lack adequate supplies, face bureaucratic hurdles in accessing resources, and have high teacher turnover leading to larger class sizes.
In the show’s opening, teachers and staff are shown creatively fundraising and sacrificing to make up for the school’s lack of funding. This helps represent how teachers in underfunded schools often end up spending their own money on classroom materials and relying on parents or community donations to fill the school’s needs. It places an extra burden on teachers and the community.
The episode also emphasizes the difficulties teachers face trying to meet standards with unrealistic expectations. Gregory meticulously plans the year but soon realizes the challenges of accomplishing everything. Barbara tells him teaching is like “being asked to do the impossible.” This highlights the disconnect between expectations placed on many schools versus their realities. Teachers work hard but systemically struggle to meet standards without proper funding and support. Often bureaucrats and teachers don’t see eye to eye on what is feasible, and this episode helps highlight this through the teachers’ troubles.
In the S2 episode “Wishlist,” it highlights the lack of funding that many public schools face. As the episode opens, Janine is taking inventory of her classroom’s needs for “Wishlist Week,” when teachers ask the community for donated supplies since the city does not provide enough funds. This mirrors the real-world reliance on donations and teachers’ own money to provide basic supplies like paper and pencils in underfunded schools. Janine’s use of videos to plead for donations also reflects teachers creatively harnessing technology to crowdsource classrooms supplies.
The episode also shows the ramshackle condition of the school, another sign of insufficient funding. An old woman donates an ancient printer that doesn’t work, and the janitor Mr. Johnson is ready to throw it away, aware the school can’t use outdated technology. Barbara’s classroom has just one tissue left for cleaning, highlighting inadequate resources. Janine notes Barbara is wiping her floor with the single tissue, moved by the lack of proper cleaning supplies. This reflects how teachers in poorly funded schools often pay out of their own pockets for necessities like tissues.
Finally, the eager donations and influx of gifts after Janine and Ava’s wishlist videos underline the community’s willingness to help if they know of schools’ needs. Though Barbara is initially reluctant to ask for help, generous donations pour in after the viral video. This mirrors how parents and community members often try to fill funding gaps once aware. The episode humorously dramatizes real funding disparities and teachers’ creative efforts to overcome them.
Another great episode of the series that not only highlights inequities between schools, but throws some shade at charter schools, is “Wrong Delivery” from S2. The episode uses the dilapidated and underfunded Abbott Elementary school to criticize the lack of adequate funding for public schools. Details like the broken AC, outdated textbooks, and mice infestation show the poor conditions and lack of resources at Abbott. This is contrasted with the shiny new Addington Charter school that has modern technology, new books, and even gets rid of its mice humanely. The show criticizes how public schools like Abbott get left behind while charter schools receive more funding and resources.
The episode also satirizes the bureaucracy and red tape that prevents public schools like Abbott from using money effectively. When Janine wants to paint the walls and improve Abbott, she’s told classroom décor is set by the school district. The “Shark Tank” pitch process for the grant money is a farce, showing how funds get allocated based on silly presentations rather than real needs. The show suggests this bureaucracy prevents public schools from making meaningful upgrades.
Moreover, the show pokes fun at charter schools for pushing problems back onto public schools instead of solving them. When Addington gets rid of its mice, they just end up at Abbott. This symbolizes how charters take the best students and leave public schools to deal with more challenges. Melissa’s charter doppelganger also suggests charters just replicate public schools instead of innovating. The episode implies charters exacerbate inequities instead of improving education.
Education’s Resource Shortage Around the Country
This lack of resources, though comedically presented in Abbott Elementary, is much more than something to be taken lightly on TV.
Education in the United States is chronically underfunded, with an estimated $150 billion funding gap annually according to The Century Foundation. This underfunding disproportionately impacts schools serving predominantly low-income students and students of color. On average, school districts with the highest rates of poverty receive around 14% less in funding per student compared to more affluent districts. This gap stems largely from an over-reliance on local property tax revenues, which inevitably favor wealthier areas.
According to “Public education funding in the U.S. needs an overhaul” in 2017–2018, per-student revenue in high-poverty districts averaged $16,570, while in low-poverty districts it was $19,280 — a gap of $2,710 per student. High-poverty districts also spent $1,880 less per student than low-poverty districts. Local property taxes make up over a third of education funding nationally, creating inherent inequities.
Inadequate funding leads to tangible deficiencies that negatively impact students’ learning experiences and outcomes. Under-resourced schools often contend with large class sizes, crumbling facilities, outdated technology and textbooks, and difficulties attracting and retaining qualified teachers. Students in these schools have less access to critical services like counselors, nurses, libraries, and enrichment activities. The cumulative result is lower academic achievement, higher dropout rates, and diminished long-term prospects.
Research shows a clear correlation between increased school funding and improved student performance. When schools receive adequate funding, they can invest in smaller classes, higher teacher salaries, up-to-date resources, and support services. These inputs directly translate into better academic outcomes, higher graduation rates, and increased college attendance. Conversely, funding cuts lead to teacher layoffs, larger classes, and reduced learning opportunities.
Economic recessions exacerbate existing funding disparities between wealthy and poor school districts. Following the Great Recession, it took high-poverty districts several years longer than affluent districts to restore per-student funding to pre-recession levels. Sylvia Allegretto et.al. found that it took until 2016–2017 for high-poverty districts to rebound, whereas low-poverty districts recovered by 2013–2014.
These funding gaps cause long-term damage, as students who endure prolonged under-investment in their education during formative years struggle to catch up later. Research shows that increased school spending positively impacts educational attainment and wages over the long-term, especially for disadvantaged students.
In sum, chronic underfunding of public education, especially in high-poverty areas, severely hampers schools’ ability to fulfill their mission. Substantially increasing investments in under-resourced schools and students is critical to providing equal educational opportunities for all children.
This requires moving beyond an over-reliance on property taxes and establishing an equitable, stable public education funding system. Many experts in educational policy argue for reforms ensuring a larger federal role to provide robust, consistent funding nationwide and shield schools from funding volatility during economic downturns.
After COVID Relief Dries Up, So Will Schools
Unfortunately, education appears to have a bleak future and won’t get better anytime soon for many schools. Once federal COVID relief funds dry up in 2024, schools will likely revert to the pre-pandemic status quo, which experts agree inadequately funds high-poverty schools. According to Chalkbeat, their research estimated that it would cost $105 billion more per year to bring all schools up to average test score performance. Yet there is little political will to raise taxes or overhaul existing school funding formulas to address these inequities.
With child poverty rates already rising as pandemic aid expires, disadvantaged students stand to lose the most when schools can no longer afford smaller classes, counselors, extracurriculars, and other supports the temporary funding allowed. Schools in high-poverty areas will again struggle to attract and retain quality teachers. Students will likely see class sizes grow and enrichment programs reduced or eliminated. The lack of resources to address trauma and provide adequate mental health services will continue to put poor children at a disadvantage.
America seems set to return to an unequal system that continues to underserve its most vulnerable children. Despite widespread agreement among experts that more funding is needed for high-poverty schools, there is little momentum for policy changes at the state or federal level. Without substantial reforms, the country’s education system will go back to being deeply inequitable, limiting opportunities for disadvantaged students.
What Can We Do About the State of Education in America?
While we can sit back and enjoy shows like Abbott Elementary (I love the show and how it handles education and humor), it is important to keep in mind that this show represents broadly what’s going on in America right now. There are a few things that can be done locally and nationally to help schools.
- Petition state, local and federal governments for increased education funding and more equitable allocation of resources. Concerned citizens should regularly call and write their representatives to voice support for legislation that boosts funding for high-poverty school districts. Join or start grassroots organizations that lobby for education funding reform to amplify voices. Sustained civic pressure is key to making public education a higher budget priority for policymakers.
- Parents and community members should get more involved in supporting local schools by attending PTO and school board meetings, volunteering to tutor or assist in classrooms, chaperoning field trips, and donating supplies and resources where possible. Parent advocacy groups can lobby district administrators and school boards to address funding gaps and inequities affecting poor schools. Even small acts like donating basic supplies to classrooms in need make a tangible difference for students and teachers.
- Support ballot initiatives, legislation, and politicians that aim to increase funding for public education. Attending town halls and making voices heard keeps this issue top of mind for elected officials. Staying informed on local education issues by attending meetings and reading news empowers better advocacy for change. Writing letters explaining the importance of proper school funding and using social media to raise awareness are other impactful actions.
- Provide direct assistance by patronizing school fundraisers, donating to teacher projects, and giving directly to schools or foundations benefiting the district if possible. Any amount, no matter how small, contributes to filling the funding gap. With collective advocacy, volunteerism, and community support, we can push policymakers to implement education finance reforms. While Abbott Elementary entertains, it also enlightens. We should take its message to heart and take action to ensure all students, regardless of ZIP code, receive the education they deserve.
It will take a combination of these actions to address the serious systemic issues that plague our schools around the country. To learn more about how you can help schools, see the article 10 Simple Ways to Support Public Schools.
Allegretto, S., García, E., & Weiss, E. (2022, July 12). Public education funding in the U.S. needs an overhaul: How a larger federal role would boost equity and shield children from disinvestment during downturns. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/public-education-funding-in-the-us-needs-an-overhaul/
Einhorn, R., Halpern, J., Schumacker, P., & Brunson, Q. (Executive Producers). (2021). Abbott Elementary [TV series; ABC]. Delicious Non-Sequitur, Fifth Chance. (Original work published 2021)
Every Texas. (2017, October 5). The Consequences of Underfunding our Public Schools. Every Texan. Retrieved July 23, 2023, from https://everytexan.org/2017/10/05/the-consequences-of-underfunding-our-public-schools/
Parents for Public Schools, Inc. (n.d.). When Schools Are Underfunded, Children Suffer. Parents for Public Schools. Retrieved July 23, 2023, from https://parents4publicschools.org/when-schools-are-underfunded-children-suffer/
The Century Foundtation. (2020, July 22). TCF Study Finds U.S. Schools Underfunded by Nearly $150 Billion Annually. The Century Foundation. https://tcf.org/content/about-tcf/tcf-study-finds-u-s-schools-underfunded-nearly-150-billion-annually/
Petrin, K. (2022, August 25). America is set to return to a broken school funding system. Chalkbeat. https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/25/23318969/school-funding-inequality-child-poverty-covid-relief
