Americ Land Of The Free And Home

     If I had to recommend an essay for teachers to teach this would be first on my list. This essay was so well written that it actually interested me, even though I have only read 5 books in my life. Reading is not my favorite thing to do but if this essay was a book I would read it. I was so intrigued by the reality of it and the way that he made those “teachers” look so stupid and how he made the administrators realize how evil we humans can be.

In chapter one, Joel Spring covers the topics of the history and political goals of public school. From the beginning of the public school education system politics seemed to have a hand inside public schools. Joel Spring mentions about the controversial goals of education. The main topic for this chapter seems to point towards the political approach to the goals of education. Now not all goals are bad but they do have an underlining that can spark a debate whether it is between the parents, students, teachers, or politicians. Goals such as subject matter, patriotism, should public schools override the objections of the parents over subject matter. A good quote from the book “American Education” is “Education goals are a product of what people believe schooling should do for the good of society.” With such a simple definition of what educational goals are ends up being much scrutinized. Everyone has an opinion sometimes they turn out to be great ideas and other times not.

The reading I chose to critically analyze was written by Diane Ravitch and is named, “Essentials of a Good Education.” In the article, education activist Diane Ravitch, expresses her opinion about how the public education and schools in the United States are failing society. She indicates that schools are wasting their money and time on preparing students to pass state test instead of teaching them valuable life skills needed to succeed. She provides interesting support for this argument and explains why schools need to stop teaching the importance of test scores and focus on a full liberal arts curriculum, where students have a better chance to obtain an education they can take into the real world. Ms. Ravitch’s argument that the

This demonstrates that if Sam’s school had got more funding then Sam may have received a proper education, and would have learned the intellectual skills that could help him to obtain a high paying job. Unlike many other people in richer parts of America who are able to achieve a lot in life due to their education, Sam’s lack of wealth ruins his future. Another example is one that hits closer to home- in terms of educational funding, the Illinois system is corrupt, and one of the districts that suffers most is that of Chicago Public Schools. In an interview with Ryan Young from CNN and an anonymous Chicago Public School teacher over the recent strike over budget cuts and the overall lack in school funding, the teacher states, “We care about the students. We want funding for our schools so our children can have supplies… gym, art, and PE., just like the kids in the suburbs do.” This is a direct representation of what is occurring in the Chicago Public School system today as a consequence of budget cuts and unequal funding. In general, the lack of school funding gives poorer children disadvantages when it comes to supplies that can help them to thrive. Also, budget cuts weaken the capacity of schools’ to develop the intelligence and creativity of the next generation of workers. In fact,, funding cuts lessen the ability of the schools to help prepare children better for their future, such as improving teacher

In “Idiot Nation”, Michel Moore presents a very strong argument about this nation, America. Moore states that American is dealing with a world of idiots. He gives important points of what America has come down to and explains his frustration with the American education system and also political system. Moore discusses undeniable facts about why education in America is failing which also include elected political leaders. In this essay, the author is not only pointing out what is wrong with the nation, but he is also trying to motivate the reader to do something about it to change this nation better.

America is known to all around the world as the “Land of the Free” but, why is America called the “Land of the Free” or the “Land of Opportunity” when most people that have lived or are currently living in America have to fight every day for equality especially if it pertains to race or sexuality? The late poet Langston Hughes, one of many that contributed to the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, lived in an era where equality was sought but never obtained.During the time that Hughes was writing this particular poem, many events took place that contributed to his pieces such as Jim Crow Laws, The Great Depression, and the climax of the Ku Klux Klan. During that time, Hughes took the opportunity to write about how America can never be America

Alison Kong EN 102 The education system in America is broken according to “Lives on the Boundary” by Mike Rose. In this excerpt Mike Rose gives the audience a greater understanding about the decline of the education system. Rose gives examples of how and why education should be equal for everyone. Also, that the importance of great books and a proper curriculum is very significant to our education system. Rose further explains to his audience that these “Great Books” don’t contain real experiences that students could eventually come across during their time at school.

While Moore makes a good case for essential requirements he contradicts himself when he admits he was a college dropout. This does little to persuade the reader to agree with his perceptions of what should be taught in schools. His points again, may fall on deaf ears because when he mentions top universities and refers to the enrolled as “ignorant students” it can make people turn into a defensive mode and do little to support his opinions.

The efforts people contribute to enhancing academic excellence today are what make education possible. American people have shown a lack of interest when it comes to education and utilizing their ability to learn. Bringing his attention to this in his essay “Idiot Nation,” Michael Moore states that “[American’s] goes out of their

Throughout Kozol’s piece, he makes the reader think about the situation America’s school system is in through his claims, style and supporting evidence.

The audience understands that these astonishing facts reveal that, at this rate, the average American child is destined for poverty and will attain no successful future. This allows the audience to “take it all in” and get a true understanding of the education system. Barber goes on to suggest that the government regulates its spending barely keeping education in mind. He states “...their government spending up to $35,000 a year to keep a young black behind bars but a fraction of that to keep him in school, they will write off school” (Barber 461). This captivates the audience because they determine that the government that is supposedly ran by the people, is doing everything but help its people. This particular portion helps appeal considerably to the liberal readers because of their strong attitudes on more government spending for public works, such as schools. It may also intrigue those who are strongly patriotic. This may elude them to blame themselves for allowing the government to regulate spending in this way when we, the people, should be deciding as a country; what is important to spend government funding on. They may argue that the only reason that there are so many criminals in the first place is because of dropouts and lowlifes who lacked an education. This would lead the activists to band together in order to demand the government to attack the problem at its source and raise educational funding.

Education in America is not as valued nationally as the current culture wants the societies of the world to think. There are occupations that are valued above educators, but our civilization wants to imply that our educational system is well advanced and tries to emphasize that we are a country of well-educated people. Unlike in Leonid Fridman’s “America Needs Its Nerds,” and Benjamin R. Barber’s “America Skips School”. Everywhere in this country we hear the government say how our schools are the future of this country, but if we listen carefully we will hear little in our civilization over education financially and how poverty mixes in with this issue.

There are many school that may not fit the criteria in what Moore is describing. For instance, when Moore describes the libraries in schools he is accurate because many schools including my old school had books from long time ago that have not been updated for years. I would agree with Moore’s assessment of the typical class room and the quality of the average school library because from my own experience from my past schools I had bad experiences in my high school library. There was not enough up to date books, and they did not carry the books I needed for my classes. However, the statement that Moore makes about school staff and teachers I do not completely agree with because there are several teachers out there who do sincerely care for their students, but there are also teachers who are just in teaching for the money.

In “Idiot Nation,” Michael Moore discourses on the collapse of American education system and the three main reasons behind it: politicians’ ignorance, shortage of teachers, and the rise of Corporate America. Moore first points out how ignorant the President and politicians are by stating that the President cannot simply identify whether Africa is a nation or a continent. Next, Moore attributes the lack of funding in education to the fact that politicians prefer to build bomber than to improve our education system; this leads to shortage of resources, overpopulated classrooms, and decrease of books available for students. He then notes that the low salaries of teachers, which are caused by the insufficient funding of education, result in

One of the biggest overlying pieces of this article, is the narrative brought into view within the first few sentences- American Exceptionalism. People everywhere, disregarding their views on the problems in the school system, agree that America is the best in everything else, therefore our schools should be top-of-the-line and produce high achieving scholars that can compete with anyone from around the world. It doesn’t matter that there are students coming from all different types of backgrounds- we need to be on top. Putting the idea of this narrative in the beginning of the article, the author sets up the option for the reader to try to see why reformers are set on fixing the “issue” in our system. We want to be the best. Have pride in our