President Obama 's Semblance Of Education Reform Essay

The twentieth century only saw an increase in the industrialization and urbanization that began in the nineteenth century. The new social, political and economic problems that began to emerge due to all of the changes developing in America during these times led to a need for reform. Reform was needed throughout society whether it was in regards to immigrants, civil rights, regulating trusts, or woman’s rights to name a few. These problems extended equally into the problems that educational progressives sought out to reform. John Dewey is commonly used as the embodiment of progressive era reformation ideas but there were others as well, such as Grace C. Strachan, George Counts, and Booker T. Washington.

Even though the Declaration of Independence does not mention education, our founding fathers did value education. Illustrated by the ordinances they passed “in 1785 and 1787 that granted federal lands to states to create and support public school- an institution that the nation’s founders viewed as essential to democracy and national unification.” (Jennings, p3) In 1959, the admission of Alaska and Hawaii into the Union reconfirmed the Federal government’s support of education. Three distinct elements that impact education are; laws that have been passed, the removal of the church from public schools, and the role of federal government that has evolved and changed over the years. These three factors have transformed education over the

The year is 2012. In the movie Back to the Future II, two years from now, in 2016, Marty McFly travels from the past to save his family’s future. The future is almost upon us, and yet it would seem that our education system has changed little since Back to the Future hit theaters in 1985. “We still have same teachers, in the same parts, in the same schools, with the same level of knowledge, with the same equipment’s, and much the same standard of parental support” (David). Ironically, we have been steadily implementing policy after policy, increasing standards and accountability, promoting oversight and rule… the list goes on, and yet our progress seems minimal, our educators complain of underfunded classrooms, and our legislators complain of underperforming schools. The question of “how to improve our education system” is not getting satisfactorily answered because our system is not broken, merely underdeveloped. The truth is that America has made paces in improving its education technique or system; the problem that remains is for us to entrust our educators with the greater pliability and autonomy that they need to excel.

During his presidential campaign, President Obama critiqued the accountability system based on testing which created hope about the possibility to modify the NCLB legislation (Ovando & Combs, 2012). Conversely, President Obama reinforced NCLB by making teacher qualifications more rigorous and promoting the adoption of national academic standards (Dillon, 2009). In order to help the country to overcome the economic crisis, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (Baker, 2011; Ovando & Combs, 2012). President Obama’s idea was that by improving education the American economy could be rebuilt (Baker, 2011). Obama’s administration also instituted, as

Their eyes met from across the room, and any student paying close enough attention could see the loathing in the teacher’s eyes as the principal walks into the room for the bi-semester teacher evaluation. In the blink of an eye the teacher returns her focus back on the students, but the obvious exchange between the two individuals makes those of us in the classroom that understand the source of the icy gaze extremely uncomfortable. My teacher hates the principal with a passion. Ever since the principal assumed control of the school three years prior to this particular evaluation, she terrorized my band director. Through micromanaging, criticizing relentlessly, organizing meetings incessantly, and sabotaging schedules, my principal fostered a hate from not only my band director, but also from the majority of teachers in my high school. The attitude and leadership techniques utilized by my former principal directly contradicts current theories of the scholarly community on how to effectively lead a school.

The most interesting parts of Obama’s speech, to me, were the clarifications on his educational policies. His plans for higher education, such as halting student loan payments after 20 years or 10 years for public servants, seemed pretty cool to me. I’m not sure if taking government money to be used for student loans and giving it to parents while simultaneously stopping loan payments after 20 years is such a good idea. Pissing off the entire banking system might not be such a good idea in the long run. Grunts will be fired before CEOs cut their own bonuses, and I really don’t feel like that is particularly conducive to a good financial system.

Today, education enables us to enlarge our knowledge and open doors for opportunities to the path of having a good future. In the five readings, each written by a different author, there was a lesson learned and something to take away from each one. Reading through the passages by Mann, Moore, Malcolm X, Gatto, Rose, and Anyon, each author contributed his or her point of view on general public education. This topic can be very argumentative depending on the quality of education people receive. Education today is the single most important mean for individuals to achieve their personal goals in the workforce.

In my diagnostic essay I wrote about the issues towards education and education reforms. I strongly believe that there needs to be a change in the educational system because it is corrupt. The fact that people are required to pay thousands of dollars or take out loans that put them in debt for years is absurd. Many students are forced to take out loans that put them in debt for years. It also concerns me that low income youths do not have that much of an option, and cannot afford an education. Online, I found an article on Republicanviews.org stating democratic and republican views on education and education reforms. The information in this article states the problems that I ponder the next president and Congress should focus on. This includes reforming financial aid programs for college tuition, creating more teaching jobs and expanding education options for low-income youth. This is one of the biggest challenges that the United States are facing today.

Since the 2008 economic recession, public schools have experienced drastic cuts to funding, Paw Paw High School included. With my high school being forced to make curriculum adjustments in order to accommodate its depleted budget, I suffered great shortfalls. Due to the elimination of teachers, I had increased class sizes and no longer received the one-on-one attention in the classroom. Also, the electives that I had looked so forward to taking in middle school were no longer provided once I made it to high school. I am grateful, however that unlike other schools, Paw Paw has not had to implement a four-day school week as a means to stretch budgets as far as possible. I have read that rising costs, depleted emergency federal aid, and

It is ambiguous as to how President Barrack Obama shapes our politics in terms of our political regime, but it can be determined through the present outcomes of his leadership today. In The Politics Presidents Make, by Stephen Skowronek, describes that there is a life-cycle of inaugurated presidents through the history of the United States. A political regime is defined as a full cycle of presidents that induce change in our politics until it is repeated again. Through this, it is possible to determine where President Obama would stand in our political time. Skowronek also mentions four leadership categories in which past presidents are placed in: politics of reconstruction, politics of disjunction, politics of

The American public educational system is filled with an assortment of problems. Most students are graduating with less knowledge and capability than similar students in other industrialized countries. Classroom disruptions are surprisingly common, and in some classrooms, nearly continuous. The public education system is having difficulty adjusting to the no child left behind act. The No Child Left Behind(NCLB) is a landmark in education reform designed to improve student achievement and change the culture of American’s schools.

Since 1983 public education has been an issue in America. The system has been constantly changing every year with reforms. This constant change has been driven by the American people’s perception that education has declined and something should be done about it. First there was an increased emphasis on basic skills, making school years longer and more graduation requirements. Second, many began focusing on increasing teachers professionalism. Third, they began restructuring many things such as how the schools were organized and how the school day was structured etc. Now today the most of the American people believe that not enough money is given to public schooling. They associate academic improvement with the money the school is funded.

Education in the United States is a very crucial part of a person’s life. Going to school opens doors and facilitates the pathway for future individual achievement and economic success. Formal education is a conscious effort by human society to convey the skills and modes of thought considered essential for social functioning.

The quality of education given in today's schools has declined since the idea of schools began. Currently students are graduating without being able to read or write. The blame lies on the teachers, government and every American citizen for not speaking up to bring change sooner. Only in the most recent years has there been any will to change the system.(Sharma)

Educational policies are the rules, guidelines and or boundaries that have shaped my career as student, a teacher and most recently as an educational administrator. Throughout my career I have not questioned always questioned the reasons for the development of these policies. From the readings in this course, I have begun to examine the how and why of policy development and beginning to understand role the policy analysis has in the evaluation of educational policies over time. The role of the state, the role of the individual within the state, changes to political ideologies and the development of globalization have all directly impacted policy development and the directions that education has taken over the last century.