TOW #1 "Children deserve better"

The piece "Children deserve better" was an editorial from today's edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The author is unnamed but he or she writes on a very timely topic: the budget cuts to Philadelphia's public schools. The schools opened this month, despite the inadequate resources and insufficient numbers of faculty and staff. The education budget has been cut by $304 million dollars and as a result the schools are suffering. The article states of the conditions of the schools "It is not sufficient to close school libraries because there aren't enough library assistants, or to have 40 children in a classroom, or a single guidance counselor for hundreds of students spread across several schools." Fortunately, many people in the communities helped to open the schools including parents and volunteers. However the author of this piece points out that state legislators are not doing anything to help. This article builds its argument on both ethos and pathos. The idea that children are getting inadequate education is frustrating, saddening, and angering, especially when it seems that lawmakers are doing nothing. The author appeals to his or her readers shared values: the ideas that education is important and that all children deserve a good education. Towards the end of the article the author writes "If the Corbett administration and some legislators think Philadelphia schools have sufficient resources, they should ask themselves if they would send their own children to the city's schools." In this way the author directs her ethos and pathos at her double audience. First, indirectly addressing the Pennslyvania government, she reminds them that the children suffering these budget cuts deserve the same education they would have for their own children. This also appeals to the ethos and pathos of the author's prime audience, the readers of the Inquirer, as they also desire the support of their government for good quality education for their children. In this piece, the author calls on the state government to start making decisions that help the schoolchildren of Philadelphia. Though the editorial may or may not be seen by actual legislators (probably not) the author makes a solid, strong argument that the issue of budget cuts to education needs to be addressed.