Failing Education The function of the education system is to improve students education and prepare them for the real world. Students within that system should receive an “A” when they have mastered the information they are being taught. However, grades no longer accurately reflect how much students have learned. Since 1998 teachers have handed out more A-grades while the average SAT scores have actually fallen. In fact, as Greg Toppo states, an author for USA Today, the amount of A’s handed out actually went up close to ten percent (4). Students can manipulate their courses so that they can get good grades without actually learning much of anything. With grades not accurately representing what students have learned and charter schools failing to solve problehms, teachers need to change how they structure their class or grade assignments.
Supporters of getting a college degree often point to the statistics that college graduates earn more than their high school educated peers over a lifetime. Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau reports that since 1977, “Adults with bachelor's degrees in the late 1970s earned 55 percent more than adults who had not advanced beyond high school. That gap grew to 75 percent by 1990 -- and is now at 85 percent.” A gap of an 85% pay difference is a huge figure and a clear reason why college is a great option for some people. But there are problems with that figure because when the number of college graduates who are either unemployed or underemployed is taken into account it changes the value of the statistic. In an article by Businessweek’s Richard Vedder we get statistics to counter that argument. He tells of how the number of new college graduates far exceeds job growth in technical, managerial, and professional jobs where graduates traditionally have searched for employment. As a consequence, we have underemployed college graduates doing jobs historically performed by those with just a highschool education. He says we have “more than 100,000 janitors with
In society today, a college education is often seen as a “the next step” in a young adult’s life. Whether they actually know what they would like to earn a degree in, they feel the need to continue their education as almost everyone around them is pursuing post-secondary education
Recent high school students are debating whether to or not attend college, should consider the benefits of attaining a college degree. For many low or middle income students, this a route to gain opportunities to improve their economic circumstances. An article, “Pathways to Prosperity,” states in 2008, workers with bachelor's degree make about 65 percent higher than high school graduates and workers with associate's degree make about 73 percent more than high school dropouts.. This is evidence obtaining a college degree can be an opportunity to have earnings higher and significantly increase one's income.
Even with the fact stated earlier that about how many college graduates work in fields that don’t require a degree, more and more jobs are requiring a college degree even to the associates degree level. Though they can argue how the number of jobs requiring a college degree fell by 1.75 million, the number of jobs that require a high school diploma fell 5.56 million. Thus proving that having a college degree could provide more job security compared to their counterparts who don’t. Along with that is how many
College graduates tend to make more money than high school graduates. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “College graduates, on average, earned 56% more than high school grads in 2015” (Pay Gap Between…). Although, this stat might not be for everyone it is for the majority of people. Jobs tend to pay higher if the person has a college degree than if one did not. To be successful people might have to spend money to make money. If someone spends thousands for college for 4 plus years, but in return they are making 56% more money than a high school graduate in the long run it will be worth it. They will have a lot of debt and student loans to pay, but once they pay it off they will start catching up to high school graduate in profit quickly. Many jobs would rather have someone with a college degree than one with just a high school diploma. The stats prove that people tend to make more later on than someone who goes straight into the workforce.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is projected to be highest for those without a diploma or GED. However, those that have a master’s degree will have the lowest unemployment rates. Also, the 2018 estimated median weekly income for people with a diploma or college degrees are as followed: less than a high school diploma, $471; high school diploma, $652; some college but no degree, $727; associate degree, $785; bachelor’s degree, $1,066; master’s degree, $1,300; doctoral degree, $1,624; and professional degree, $1,735. There is a big difference between those without a diploma and those who have earned a bachelor’s degree is very noticeable. For someone to graduate high school and earn a degree in a career that one enjoys can almost immediately change their lifestyle and enjoyment of life. I, myself would enjoy my job more if I made a weekly income of $785, I do not want to work 40+ hours and barely get by. Many youthful people already know what they would enjoy being and by going to college not only will they have a job promised because of the degree in hand but they income will remind them of all of their hard-work. There are a few jobs that require higher education that does not pay as much as it should, but the one that come to mind first are teachers. Four years should earn someone an income of $50,000+ and yet after all of the hard work put into their career, the under-pay, and appreciation they still put their heart into their classes. A positive attitude about one’s job will create a much better work place and one worth being part
High schools need to begin providing access to the array of different things there are out there besides college. Welders go to trade schools and most make more than $50,000 a year (Author). Linda says that her hair colorist makes $300,000 a year without a degree (Lee 1). That is equivalent to what many doctor’s make! Many people can even become nurses or EMTs without a degree. They just go to other kinds of training. Bill Gates is a famous billionaire and he dropped out of Harvard (Lee 1). College is not the only way to get a good job. If someone finds the right job, they can advance until they are a manager or
Earning a diploma, a degree or even a trade can significantly affect one's future financial status. An education-or lack thereof- can mean the difference between being poverty stricken or financially stable. College graduates earn an average of 66 percent more than non graduates and often enjoy additional benefits, including greater job opportunities and promotions.(Source: study.org) However, according to spotlightonpoverty.org, 69 percent of students graduate from college on time, yet many graduate without the skills needed for college or work. Without an education chances of obtaining a decent paying job is slim, which can result in a life of impoverishment. "Policymakers and education leaders must implement strategies to reduce the high school dropout rate and adequately prepare high school students for college, while providing low income students with the support they need to attain a degree or credential."
There are the students who decide not to go to college and start a career instead. They enter true adult life right out of high school. Life for those students is not getting any better. From 1987 to 2007, average lifetime income for a high school graduate dropped by 20 percent while the average lifetime income for college graduates has raised by one percent (Davies). The value of a high school diploma is dropping. The knowledge gained in high school is not enough for a good paying job. For those looking to go on to a higher education are also unprepared. They are paying large amounts of money for college to learn what they should already know. This problem with young adults can be traced back to school before high school.
As the evidence substantiates, college is worth the time and money. In this situation, worth means of high value. College has been proven to yield people a better financial future. In this time period, where jobs are hard to acquire, attempting to obtain a quality, well-paying job is nearly impossible. As displayed by the Hill, the average high school graduates salary is $35,615 per year. Meanwhile, the average college graduates yearly income is $65,482; this evidence was taken from a US Congress census; again from the The Hill. This exhibits the fact that college graduates, on average, make 48% more than high school graduates. Having a little advantage in pay is beneficiary in this time period. By going to college people are not only thinking about themselves, but for the better of their family. In the case of someone coming from a menial background, going to college can change their monetary needs. In the same way, only 260,000 people with college diplomas are working in minimum wage jobs. Around 72,000,000 or 33% of the adults in America have gone to college, proven by another US Congress Census. That means that 1 in every 277 people who attend college have a job paying minimum wage. Furthermore, a Georgetown University study has shown that 99% of the post 2008 recession jobs, have gone to college graduates. After reviewing this piece of evidence, going to college is a major bonus in the job market. A college degree of any sort can help in most leagues of study. Many employers noticed the college degree, and almost immediately hire that person. According to evidence number 15, the unemployment rate for someone who went to college is 3.8%. On the contrary, the unemployment rate for someone who only attended high school is 12.2%.
In the past, many people believed that a high school diploma was good enough to get a good job with which support a family, but now 76% of college professors and 63% of employers believe that high school diploma is no indication that a student has learned the basics for any job.1 Test scores and studies have shown that America's education system is lagging behind many other industrialized countries due to poor implementation of new curriculum that doesn't help kids prepare for the all important standardized testing. These tests make or break a student's year in terms of meeting the goals set for them at the beginning year. If the American education system is solely test focused and doesn't teach practical skills to kids, then we are going
A four-year degree costs students “more than $19,000” (Stieger), and in this day and age it is nearly impossible to survive with only a high school education; being well qualified for a specific career position is very important to employers. George Leef, author of “Why on Earth Do We Have a ‘Student Loan Crisis’?,” says it best when he states that “college graduates are somewhat more reliable and easily trained than people with only high school diplomas … if there is a large enough number of [people] with college degrees, employers don’t have to bother with people who don’t have them” (Leef 29). That being said, I wonder how young people are expected to obtain some sort of degree, when higher education is nearly impossible for some families to afford. Although very significant changes have been made by our government offering improved financial aid to current and future students, more can still be done. Our politicians could increase the Pell Grant maximum to coincide with rising tuition costs, increase taxes on irrelevant goods and services to provide students with more direct funding, set up a “reward system” that would place more responsibility on the students (rather than themselves), and most importantly, our two main parties in office need to agree on specific changes.
A study in October 2015 showed that about 69.2% of all students after high school go on to attending a college after graduation. Statistics show that college graduates are more likely to get hired versus those adults that don’t have a college degree. Depending on the profession chosen, most students
As I sat there and thought to myself what did everyone thing of me after hearing what I have done. “Taylor Bloom responsible for the deaths of 53 high school students. My head started to wander back to my high school days. In my sophomore year, I was bullied nearly every sing day by the stupid jocks. I started to hate myself so I decided to change my look. The next day I straightened my hair, put a black skirt on, and a white button up shirt with some heels, I left a few of the buttons on my shirt unbuttoned. I was making my way up to the school, I saw all eyes on me even the jocks could not take their eyes off of me. WAS I BECOMING POPULAR? Two weeks later I was the most popular girl in South Lake High. I had a tall, handsome boyfriend and my two new best friends Karli and Rebecca. Everyone wanted to be like me, everyone loved me or as I should say “worshipped me”. Until one night at a party I got super intoxicated and ended up doing things I probably shouldn’t have. That next day everyone was talking about it and all eyes were on me not that I am complaining, but it was not a good look they were giving me… they all knew what I had done that previous night. I did not show up for school the rest of the semester in fear I would lose my reputation so I started getting homeschooled.