Devos Memo Analysis

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was first implemented in 2010, nine years after I graduated from high school. Although I wasn’t personally affected by the new academic standards, it has a direct impact on the current and future generation of leaders, innovators, and world changers including my future children. The initial purpose of the Common Core Standards is to set high-quality learning goals designed to prepare students to be college and career ready. Given the current controversies surrounding CCSS, studies have shown that although the intent was to benefit students in the long-run it may actually be hindering their mathematical and reading skills. To further explore the arguments behind the Common Core initiative, I will

Since last spring, Philadelphia school district leaders have been sounding the alarm about this year’s fiscal budget. Even after months of discussions and headlines, schools have opened with fewer resources than last year. On March 28th the School Reform Commission approved a lump sum budget which showed a need for an additional $220 million in revenue in order to provide schools with same resources as the “wholly insufficient” 2013-14 school year (McCorry). There will be many inadequate funding impacts on the quality of the education. Classroom resources would be stripped to untenable levels. The district would reduce as much as $2.2 million funding to the districts’ multiple pathways to graduation program which affects estimated 300 students. Another $1.5 million could be reduced from the elimination of preparation and professional development time for teachers at the district’s high needs promise academies. The district’s building maintenance budget could have reduction in amount of $9.6 million. Schools will be cleaned less frequently as a result. Building maintenance will also be curtailed as a result. District’s school police budget could also have reduction in amount of $2.4 million. School police officer vacancies will be unfilled, leaving an additional 27 elementary schools to share an officer.

Knowing the history of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is essential in order to define what these educational parameters represent in society today. In 2006, Arizona governor Janet Napolitano was elected to the chair of the National Governors Association. Napolitano’s work focused on

For over thirteen years, I have witnessed an enormous amount of change in education. When I started teaching in New York City back in 2003, I remember being told, “whatever you do, don’t wind up of the cover of New York Post”. The room erupted in laughter and my stomach erupted in panic. Shortly after that announcement our principal handed out an enormous book of our district policies. -As I flipped through book of policies and regulations I thought to myself how could there possibly be this many rules about teaching.

Many public schools are based on a “one size fits all” system designed to educate the masses and does not work for the majority of the population. Devos is working to combat this problem by making it easier for parents to choose to send their children to private or charter schools as well as promoting school choice within districts. This will increase the amount of well-educated students within our society instead of mindless, unchallenged clones that can be produced within a “one size fits all” education system. Devos also understands that some families do not have the option to send their children to their school of choice due to financial reasons. To prevent this, Devos is working on a vulture system that would take the money allotted to a public school per student and allow that money to follow a student to their school of choice. The money provided by the vulture could either be used to help pay for tuition or be gifted straight to the school. This will help provide a better education and learning for all students, even those who choose a non-traditional school. Some do worry that this will start to privatize public schools because they will have to search for additional supporters to receive the same amount of funding, but, instead, this could help public schools focus more on their student's personalized education. All in all, Devos’s advocating for school choice can increase the amount of well challenged and

One part of her being unqualified for the position includes her vast inexperience. This causes people to question her authority as Secretary of Education. The DeVos’ have only attended private schools for their education. By only attending private schools, she does not understand the struggles

I am directly responsible for the terrible state of the current election, and I apologize. It's my fault because I allowed my ambition, at times blind ambition, to influence my decisions. I am sorry about the emails, and I'm truly sorry that my action or inaction contributed in any way to the loss of life in Benghazi. My poor decision to speak behind closed doors to Wall Street bankers left many of you suspicious of my motives - rightly so. It's something I regret. Allowing the Clinton Foundation to accept donations form foreign entities looking for access to our government was wrong. I am sorry for every time I allowed political calculation to color my decisions.

Educational Systems Need Change In the anthology Identity a Reader for Writers by John Scenters- Zapico, Cathy Davidson, in her writing “Project Classroom Makeover”, discusses how the educational system needs a big upgrade. She also talks about how so many people in today’s society seem so disinterested in school. Davidson uses rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos to get her message across to the intended audience of teachers, that the way schools are teaching needs to change.

The office itself had never been quite so buzzing with nervous energy. The change had been mooted in the months leading up to the most recent round of elections, and finally it had become an inevitability as things had finally fallen in favor of the EFP at the polls... then finally in the courts. But the change itself was a complete unknown. Everyone knew that the new man in the White House - Jon Crimp - finally had the power to put his own men into the various offices of government, including the Office of Education and Employment. But few knew what it was going to bring. Sure, some of the emails had clarified a few "changes" - the new dictat on shoes for examples - but these had almost all been shallow and cosmetic. There had been only

Oklahoma as of today is ranked 49th nationally in per-pupil expenditures and ranked 48th in teacher pay (Klein 2). Putting Oklahoma as one of the worst states to be educated in the United States. “Oklahoma is consistently ranked near the bottom for education funding and teacher pay” (“Investing In Education Is Key For Growth And Job Creation” 3). When there are state cuts that need to be made, the departments of education are one of the first that usually tend to suffer. Since the 2008 economic crisis, Oklahoma has continued to cut the budget for education; even though the economy has since then gotten better (Perry). Budget cuts in education affect all parts of the education process for the students. “Some school districts have ordered teacher layoffs and shorter sessions” (“Oklahoma Makes the Poor Poorer” par 4).Schools are now struggling to keep their heads above water. Each year from the budget cutting, schools have had to lay off teachers, cut entire programs, and have limited resources used to educate the students. Even the teachers’ retirement system is suffering, being one of the top poorly funded pension programs nationally (Ash par 3). Seeing as that the schools have to cut down classes and programs, administration has had no other choice than to increase class size, overwhelming teachers tremendously. “Oklahoma has 1,500 fewer classroom teachers and 40,000 more students since 2008-2009” (“Investing In Education Is Key For Growth

Changes in education are not only happening locally, but also nationally. American education is awaiting new legislation and requirements made by the new United States secretary of education, Betsy DeVoss.

In today’s economic environment even the wealthiest states and districts are having to cut funding for education, while districts which were already teetering on the edge are now in an even worse position. In some schools children have to face not having enough books, paper for copies, severe overcrowding,

A Year in the Life of an Elementary School: One School's Experiences in Meeting New Mathematics Standards

In addition, insufficient funding of schools along with quality teachers that are retiring are some of the problems we encounter in the education system. In some parts of the United States, there is a lack of adequate access to materials for reading and writing due to budget constraints. In Allen D. Kanner’s article, “Today’s Class Brought to You By…” he mentioned that with the baby boomers retiring, and a high turnover among new teachers, who are asked to teach subjects they are not properly trained for, are causing difficult classroom situations (280). Similarly, Governor Jerry Brown’s statement last January 11 pointed out that K-12 education has ‘borne the brunt’ of the state’s budget cuts with more than $18 billion in cuts over the last three years. This resulted in larger class sizes, programs are cut, and over 30,000 educators laid off. These teachers are very valuable in our society because they provide our youth with the knowledge and social experiences that they will use to better their future and the future of the entire world. As a student, I have suffered the consequences of triple digit fee increases and the lack of available classes offered. The high cost of education has put the burden not only on the students, and many of their parents, but educators, as

Systemic change is a recurrent process in which the influence of change on all parts and their relationships to one another are taken into contemplation. Systematic change allows for change on the policy, technology, education, and information levels, it goes beyond thinking about individuals and single problems. Change is an important part of progress and systematic change is a huge undertaking for a school, even any business. People are resistant to change, they like being comfortable, but sometimes being comfortable is not being effective. This week while discussing change, an article stood out; the author wrote “…comprehensive school reform will succeed only if it’s predicated on a sustained, cooperative, and trusting relationship among parents, school and district staff, and the school board governing the system” (Usdan, 2010, pp.9). In many ways this is true, systematic change is such a large amount of change, people that are not supportive of the change can ultimately cause it to fail. In some cases, one person’s lack of interest in the change can cause a successful school to