Question

support the school levy!
there is a proposed increase to the school levy on the ballot in next week’s election, and many of our citizens are complaining about it. nobody wants to pay higher taxes, but guess what? higher taxes are necessary. the costs of maintaining our schools increase every year due to inflation. school enrollment also increases as more students move into the district, and this growth in the student population requires more school funding. on top of that, money is needed to fund important programs like music and the arts, which are always in danger of being cut. if we don’t increase the school taxes, the children of this community are the losers. my wife is a teacher in the district, and she has told me some sad facts about our schools. for example, did you know that our school district has not been able to purchase any new library textbooks in the last ten years? nor have the schools been able to buy any new library books or any new equipment for science and technology labs during that time. the number of music and art classes has been cut over the past few years along with the number of languages that are taught. moreover, school district employees have not had an increase in wages for the last three years, and they have to pay more for their medical insurance. what does all this mean? this means that employees actually make less now than they did three years ago. as a result, we have lost several talented teachers to other school districts. all these changes are bad for our community. i urge you to support the proposed increase to the school levy in the upcoming election. even people who don’t have children should support the school levy. after all, high quality schools are very important to maintaining property values.
the writer criticizes cuts to ______.
options:

• foreign language programs
• medical insurance benefits
• school levies
• science and technology classes

Explanation:

The passage states "the number of languages and art classes has been cut... science and technology labs... not able to buy new library textbooks". Foreign language programs (part of languages classes) are among the cuts. Other options: medical insurance is about employee pay, school levies are what's being proposed to increase, science/tech classes are cut but the option is "science and technology classes" – but the text says "labs" and "textbooks" for library, while "languages... classes has been cut" matches foreign language programs.

Answer:

foreign language programs