Education in America is under attack. It is under attack by lies, half-truths, and misinformation by the hands of those who wish to dismantle the public education sector and keep education for the privileged few who can afford a private education. This attack is nothing less than class-warfare and the victims are not only our children, but the future of American society as we know it.
Before outlining my argument, there are a few "givens" that people must understand:
1. Education is run by people who have no experience in education (other than they may have attended school). This makes absolutely no sense. People who know nothing about psychology of learning, child/adolescent development, statistics in testing/IQ's, etc. are making all the decisions. Think of it this way. I have a bank account. Can I become the president of a bank based on that qualification alone?
2. Education is used as a tool by politicians of both sides of the aisle to advance their cause. Everyone is the "Education Candidate." But, as the saying goes, "the proof is in the pudding." Those who are elected most often immediately put education on the back burner and give little more than lip-service.
3. We have a disgusting disparity of the quality of education between our richer and poorer populations. This is not a simple matter of the rich being able to pay more in taxes as school money is often doled out by the State and Federal Governments. This disparity is not always in the quality of education provided, but in the support of that education. "Rich" areas have daycares where there is homework help, enrichment activities, and family support. "Poor" areas do not have these luxuries (Yes, there are exceptions, but as a general rule, this is how it is). In general terms, in "poor" areas, day cares are merely babysitting services, enrichment activities are minimal if they exist at all, and while families may support their children's education, they may not have the knowledge as to how to do that effectively based on past failures of the system. Most, of this disparity is racially based. Many people will say, "that's just the way it is," but the truth of the matter is that racial segregation is alive and well in America, especially in our urban areas.
4. Only through education can America compete in the global market. We need scientists, doctors, business managers, etc. BUT, we also need musicians, poets, writers, athletes and other culturally educated individuals to promote pride and unity to our nation. We cannot separate the so-called "utilitarian" subjects (Math/Science/Reading) from the "cultural" subjects (Music, Art, PE, Drama). Both go hand in hand to give a proper education to the total student.
With those understandings, we can look at the problems of the American educational system as it exists today. I will outline some of the arguments and propose solutions.
1. PROBLEM: Teachers are NOT the enemy. Teachers go out each day for the love of preparing the next generation for adult life. Yes, there are "bad" teachers. But, there are many more dedicated teachers who serve not only as teacher, but as pseudo-parent, counselor, mentor, and role model. These teachers more often than not spend hundreds of dollars (and in many cases thousands of dollars) of their own money to have basic educational supplies (pencils/paper/notebooks/educational materials/etc.) for their classroom. Do we expect doctors to purchase their own needles for their patients in the hospital? We would never think of such a thing. So, why is it acceptable and even expected for teachers to purchase their own materials.
SOLUTION: Teachers should have ready access to not only the basic materials of education but also to the materials which will make their teaching more effective, including teaching aides/manipulatives, technology, professional development, etc. People will argue that we simply don't have the money to pay for such things. I'm not an economist, and I'm not an expert on budgeting principles, but if we truly value our children and their future (and the future of our nation), we will reallocate spending to provide these needs. If we only spend money on educating our children, we will spend less on imprisoning them when they are adults who feel they have no option except to engage in lives of crime. Of course, this is not the only cause of crime, but it is a significant one. Why are we satisfied by paying close to (if not exceeding) $100 Thousand on a criminal per year, but we balk at paying $7,000 per student per year. With this reallocation of money, teachers deserve a livable wage. Teachers are professionals who learn the science of education. They then enter their practice and are paid wages that do not match a professional's salary. That is a crime in itself. As parents, we entrust our children to these professionals, these professionals spend the majority of a day with our children, and yet we don't pay them the salary they deserve.
2. PROBLEM: While teachers and schools should not be immune from accountability, as it stands right now, the No Child Left Behind Act and all of its ramifications through ranking schools through "standardized" testing, unfairly targets schools in low-income areas and is doing away with the arts as a core subject.
SOLUTION: Accountability is a good thing. Everyone needs to be held accountable. However, the system to hold teachers/schools accountable is severely flawed. In fact, "flawed" is not even word strong enough to describe the situation. The system for accountability is trash. First, we need to realize that all students do not learn at the same rate. The NCLB expects all students to perform at a certain level. This is not only unfair to low-income students who may not have access to learning-enrichment activities and experiences, but it is also unfair to students with learning disabilities as well as for gifted students. Learning disabled students are expected to perform at the same level as their non-disabled peers. There are some "loopholes" around this, but this is generally the case. No one would expect a person who suffered a leg amputation to run as fast as an Olympic sprinter; why would we expect a student with learning disabilities to perform at the same level as a non-disabled peer? What we SHOULD expect is growth appropriate to each student. Second, the testing system is flawed. If we are calling it "standardized," we need to make it standardized. A true standardized test will yield a "bell-curve" type result (Few ranked high, Few ranked low, and Many in the middle). To create such a test, it needs to be tweaked over years and years until it produces those results. It is impossible to create such a test in one year. Third, the arts, sports, etc. are not "fluff" classes that can just be eliminated. This is where our American culture is manifested. We are often fascinated with the culture of other nations, but we are killing our own culture. Very soon, if the status quo continues, we will be a nation that has the culture of failure and self-loathing. Third, the ranking of schools is not an accurate measurement of the learning taking place. If a school has a disproportionately high level of disabled students, they will be ranked lower than another school; even if those disabled students progressed further than the other school. "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP) is a misnomer. To reach AYP, a school must reach a certain level in all subgroups (subgroups are populations of students based on race, socio-economic class, gender, etc.). If one subgroup doesn't meet the standard, the school "fails." We need to focus on progression of learning in all areas rather than every student meeting the same goal.
3. PROBLEM: Schools are underfunded and cannot meet the basic educational needs of todays students.
SOLUTION: As I stated in Problem 1: We have the money. We can fund schools adequately if we really wanted. Some will make people think that taxes need to be raised to do so, but that simply is not the case. What needs to happen is a reallocation of funds. Yes, we are in tough economic times, and schools can't be immune, but they should not take the brunt. We have outdated weapons systems, "pork barrel" spending on wasteful "programs," 2 wars (at the time of this writing we are also militarily involved in Libya though the government claims we are not at war - that would bring the total to 3 wars) with no end in sight, not to mention the cost of rebuilding both Iraq and Afghanistan (and possibly Libya). We are still running the detention (and torture) center in Guantanamo despite promises to close it several years ago. We are bailing out private businesses in the name of "national economic security." If we can bail out private companies, we can fund public schools.
While there are MANY more issues that prove that there is a war on public education, those listed here may be the most obvious. As a nation, whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent, we need to put politics aside when it comes to Education. Children and Teens are the future of this nation. We can sing "God Bless America" all day long, but if we don't support the future of America, all singing is in vain...Oh, wait...singing is "fluff" and not necessary.................
No comments:
Post a Comment