By Leo Beaton, Scarlett Mora, Shanty Tejeda, Summer Gorin, Nathalie Medina, and IndyKids staff
The Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, is a free news and education network funded in part by the government—until now. PBS is under threat because it is getting defunded. Because of this, they are going to lose $500 million, or 21% of their overall funding. Taxpayers paid just $1.40 every year for PBS programming.
PBS Kids is being cut by 15%, which will take a toll on kids’ learning. PBS Kids is important because it is not only a reliable source of television for children without cable, but it is also educational. PBS also doesn’t have ads.
As Rachel Barr, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University, told Mother Jones, “What’s been found, again and again, is that access to educational content is more predictive for learning, for academic outcomes, and social outcomes. And again, the effects are strongest for families that don’t have access to other material resources.”
The consequences are “34 immediate layoffs” and “the closing of dozens of open positions,” according to The New York Times.
“These decisions, while difficult, position PBS to weather the current challenges facing public media,” Paula Kerger, the chief executive of PBS, told The New York Times.
Why is President Trump doing this? His political views are against those expressed in public media outlets like PBS. According to The New York Times, he has called PBS and NPR “radical left monsters.” He wants people to lose interest in NPR and PBS so they don’t hear different beliefs.
This topic is important for readers to know about, especially because PBS Kids plays a very big role for children with limited resources or who don’t attend pre-K or 3-K to get access to early childhood education.
