The public education system in the United States is failing us. With a high school drop out rate of 8.1% and 14.2% of Americans unable to read this sentence, we cannot possibly believe that we are succeeding in educating the next generation. The reality in America today is that a college degree is necessary, and translates in to greater success and higher pay over a person's lifetime.
At Austin Community College, we have a front row seat to watch the failure of the education system in action. In grammar school, the education system did not prepare students to succeed in college, and now the result of that lack of preparedness is all around us. As I look around my French class that was full the first week of the semester, I see that less than half the chairs are occupied for the midterm. The other students were unable to keep up with the demanding course and have either withdrawn or will take the "F." This costs us as taxpayers, because not only are we paying a portion of their tuition at a public community college, but the likelihood of financial success without a degree is much lower. The harsh reality at ACC and other community colleges in Texas is that only 15% of the students in any of my classes will go on to graduate from a four year program and another 11% will receive an associates degree. With an average class size of 36 students, only nine students will fulfill their dream of completing their education with a minimum of a two year degree.
We as taxpayers, spend a lot of money covering up for our lack of spending on education. While not all of societies ills can be cured by having a more educated populous, a degree does open up opportunities that may otherwise not be available without one. We must begin to bring greater focus on how to better prepare the next generation for success. We must increase k-12 education spending and hold educators accountable for where their students should be. It is up to our generation to find ways to turn around the depressing scene that surrounds us and help our fellow students become college graduates.
As I read my colleagues most recent blog entries “The Crisis of Education in America” stood out as an interesting topic to me. Nothing grabs my attention more that true hard numbers and those were provided in this blog entry. Anyone can write conjecture on a topic but when backed up by numbers there is truth and fact. As I finish up my degree I am on the tail end of my educational journey but as a father of two children just starting school this is an extremely important topic to me.
ReplyDeleteAs pointed out in the blog, “a college degree is necessary, and translates into greater success and higher pay over a person’s lifetime.” Nothing could be truer in today’s world. Not only is it necessary but if you follow the trends of the business world it is going to be even more important for our children. For example, 20 years ago you would find far more individuals with high paying jobs that do not have a degree. Today those same individuals will now not even get the opportunity to get in the door for an interview. Without a degree they will have the door shut on them regardless of their expertise and experience.
Backing up just a bit before attempting to complete a college degree we start at Kindergarten and Elementary school. As mentioned in the blog, “We must begin to bring greater focus on how to better prepare the next generation for success. We must increase k-12 education spending and hold educators accountable for where their students should be.” This is also a great point because I truly believe that when your education starts with great teachers you develop better skills early on, are more educated early on, and therefore more apt to succeed and excel throughout the years in school and of course afterward. Also, notice the mention of holding educators accountable. As a nation, let’s invest in education, make sure we are employing good teachers and keep them educating America’s youth. Having employees that are unvalued or unqualified and possibly just moving children through the system is a terrible scenario.
The bigger picture aspect of this argument is the future of our children in America’s workplace. As I mentioned in one of my previous blog’s, “What is happening to our Middle Class?”, due to an exceptionally efficient global marketplace, people holding Middle Class jobs are already paying the price. Without a college degree you will be staring right at a Middle Class job. When our children are old enough for employment these jobs will be even sparser and low paying. What this tells me is that the value of a higher education continues to trend as even more important moving forward. Improving education is vital to the future of an individual but also will be vital to our society as a whole.
I couldn't agree more that our education system is in need of a huge makeover. In my classmates blog, "Crisis of Education in America", the stats listed are horrible. The drop out and illiteracy rate are way too high. I was unaware so many college students would fail to obtain a degree also. I think it is right to say that this is the fault of the public education system for not adequately preparing students for college. I can see the high amount of drops myself just by looking at the parking at the campus I take classes at. When the semester starts, I can barely find parking if I am too early or run late, but by the middle to end of the semester I can easily find parking at almost any time. I disagree, though, that educators should be held accountable for all of our education issues in public schooling. I understand that some are at fault, but there are other reasons our education system isn't doing well.
ReplyDeleteFor one, parents need to get more involved in their children's lives. Many problems can be resolved by the parents knowing what is going on at school and in their child's personal lives. If a child is falling behind, a little extra time working on those certain subjects at home can resolve the problem or a tutor can be hired if necessary. If the parent is involved, they can get problems taken care of right away instead of letting the child get farther and farther behind.
I think another big problem is also the fact that we have summer vacation. I know kids love it, but it is so detrimental to their education, which has a huge impact on the rest of their lives. Children in other countries, such as Japan, go to school all year round and the students are much more advanced than ours. Their school day is also much longer than our kids. If we put more time into our kids education future generations will really benefit, we could move back up in the ranks of education, and get more people getting a college degree!
I agree that we do need to put more money into public education. If we can get more kids educated now, it could costs less for us in the long run and also for future generations of taxpayers. The more educated and successful students become could possibly lead to less people needing government assistance considering the financial benefits that come from getting an education. This could cut a huge expense for the country since so many people participate in government assistance programs. Investing more time and money into educating our kids could do great things for our country's future!
My colleague’s March 26th post “Crisis of Education in America” calls for increased funding for K-12 education to address the nation’s dropout and literacy problems and also to better prepare students for college-level work. While I think that more funding for K-12 education can certainly be put to good use, I want to point out that K-12 education is primarily governed and financed at the state and local level. On a nationwide basis, only 9.5% of total K-12 revenue is from federal sources.
ReplyDeleteClearly the federal government has an established presence in education; however, I think that my colleague’s plea for additional dollars, presumably federal dollars, needs to be put in perspective of the current federal role in education, both in terms of policy/regulation and financial commitment. If Congress were to provide significantly more federal funding for K-12 education, those dollars would likely be accompanied by a significantly expanded federal policy-setting and regulatory role. States, particularly Texas, would probably take a dim view of additional federal education mandates. For example, when part of the federal economic recovery funding was set aside for competitive grants, known as Race to the Top, Texas was one of five states that refused to apply for funding because of the perception of federal invasion of the state’s role in education. In that case, preferential scoring was given to the applications of states that agreed to adopt federal curriculum standards for reading and math, remove caps on the number of charter schools, and so forth. Likewise the federal government has been steadily backing away from the politically unpopular accountability requirements under No Child Left Behind by offering waivers of the requirements, for which more than half of states applied. So, even at the current level of federal funding for K-12 education, there is overwhelming resistance toward federal policy-setting and regulatory roles.
And then we come to the level of financial commitment. Let’s assume that a level of funding at least equal to state and local government funding for K-12 education would guarantee something like an equal federal say in education policy-setting and regulation. Based on a report by the Census Bureau, in 2009, states contributed $276 billion to K-12 education, local governments $259 billion, and the federal government $56 billion. So, it would take at least an additional $204 billion annually for the federal government to get in the range of an equal financial commitment. Naturally there would also need to be consensus on just how to distribute so much additional funding and requirements for the state and local governments to maintain their current levels of funding. Given Congress’ recent track record on passing a budget, there would seem to be nearly insurmountable odds against a coalescence of the political will necessary to pass an increase in excess of 350% of current federal K-12 education spending.
To be succinct, an increase in “spending” on K-12 education means the federal government has to pump money into it via its only revenue source:, what Justice Stephen Beyer called “the life blood of the government:” taxes. And, as I mentioned above, an incredible amount of taxes would have to be generated. (ask yourselves; who are, or will be soon, taxpayers, would you be willing to increase your taxes to meet this extraordinary sum?)
Let me reiterate that I, too, find the statistics presented by my colleague troubling. However, given both the historically limited role of the federal government and the current resistance both to any expansion of the federal education-related footprint and to a lack of consensus on spending in general, I think that citizens would be better advised to be active in pursuing accountability for results and enhanced levels of funding at the state and local level.
I think we can all agree that education is one of our top priority as a nation. It is something that is continually addressed from president to president. As I read my fellow classmates blog Crisis of Education in America I wounder if they have really considered all the key factors that educating our youth entails? Education starts at home! A lot of our kids in public schools today do not have the chance to get off on the right foot by starting to learn before they start school. A lot of parents leave it up to our teachers to supply ALL their child's education. For our teachers there ability to teach ends the minute those kids walk out the door to go home and that’s when it need to become a parents job. I am a parent, I have three children. For everyone of my kiddo's I started teaching them early. My oldest could read when she started kindergarten, there are very few that can. There is only so much that our education system can do. Have you ever heard the saying it takes a village to raise a child? I think that is a very accurate portrayal of what it takes to educate our kids to the fullest. To increase our public school budget would be amazing but it wont solve the problem of undereducated youth. To do that we need parents who want to be involved in there child's education and are prepared to step up and take a proactive roll in it instead of being a spectator on the sidelines!
ReplyDeleteCarrie Burkett wrote an article concerning the education issues in America. I agree with her that many of the teenagers are not fully prepared for the level of dedication needed to receive a college education. I also agree with Carrie in that our government does not put enough money into the K-12 education. Having said that, I feel other reasons teens have problems in college is their obsession with technology and the lack of interest given by the parents during their K-12 years of school.
ReplyDeleteIf you walk into a store or restaurant, you will most likely see a number of children and young adults with their heads down. They are not down due to lack of confidence but because they are completely consumed with the piece of technology they hold in their hands. I would say around sixty-five percent of the children I met in the last ten years did not lift their eyes from their phones to say hello when we were being introduced. My nieces, currently in high school, stay up late hours playing and chatting on Facebook, and they are extremely tired the next day for school. According to ABC News, "A growing body of research suggests that more and more young people are becoming sleep-deprived because they can't put down their high-tech toys." Students must be taught by parents and educators how to control their time with these toys.
Also, I believe parents have a great responsibility to express the importance of education to their children. For example, my parents told me they never liked school, and as long as I passed they would be happy. Obviously, this did not motivate me to strive for good grades. I just did what I needed to do to pass, just like I was told. Now thirty years old and a mother of two amazing kids, I know my parents made a grave mistake with their approach on education. Catherine Wehlburg Hickman said, "The authors of the Coleman Report indicated that about one-half to two-thirds of the variance in students' achievement could be accounted for by home variables rather than school variables." It is up to our parents to show and teach their children how important education is for their future. If they do, the young adults in college will be better prepared for the responsibility and motivation needed to get to class.