The Issue Of America 's Public Schooling

In the 1997 article, “Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle over Educational Goals” by David Labaree, Labaree describes three goals that have been at the core of educational conflicts over the years. The first goal mentioned is democratic equality, which is meant to create good citizens and enable educational access to all. The second goal is social efficiency, which creates workers and is viewed by taxpayers and employers as a goal to prepare students for market roles. Lastly is the third goal of social mobility, where individual success for attractive market roles is the main purpose. This primary goal of education has been ever fluctuating. The argument of this essay is that social mobility has now triumphed over democratic equality and social efficiency as the primary goal of education due to parents. This view of social mobility by parents is negative to due its numerous consequences, significantly the growing disparity between the wealthy and the underprivileged, and additionally, the health of children, their behavior, and the degree to which they learn educational material are all affected.

There are numerous issues that plague the public education system. Several of the concerning challenges that it faces today are: The lack of familial support or guidance some students receive, the increase in the population of individuals that seem to undervalue the benefit of an education, and the test-centered curriculum structure that is applied in a majority of schools, within the system. There desperately needs to be an engagement of ideas to mend the problems that the education system faces. Not only would it allow students a better chance at exercising their full potential, but society as a whole, will reap the benefits of a well-rounded education for all.

One area of technological advancement I have a personal interest in is the global opportunity to improve the availability of a quality education. Education is changing at all levels due to advances in technology. In my opinion, the changes cannot be fast enough. The Huffington Post reports, “According to a study conducted in late April by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, 32 million adults in the U.S. can 't read. That is 14 percent of the population. 21 percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th grade level, and 19 percent of high school graduates can 't read.” Crum (2013)

Public education is a good that is privileged to everyone in the United States. While education may seem extensive and unnecessary, especially to youth, achieving an education has benefitted people through the history of the U.S., which in turn benefits the U.S.’s welfare. When Thomas Jefferson advocated the opening of public schools in the early 1800s, his plan was only half fulfilled; only wealthy communities could afford public schools (Watson 2). This remained true until the early to mid 1900s, where schooling became accessible for all, regardless of skill level or income. Since the mid 1950s, the U.S. has made tremendous leaps in not only technology, but also in the stabilization of the government and economy; these successes can be attributed to education. If that privilege to learning was no longer given, the U.S.’s development would be lost.

The population of the United States was raising due to immigration. The country was divide into many denominations, and was generally Protestant. More immigrants were coming all over Europe and by 1910, 13.5 million immigrants were coming to America. There had to be changes in the society, economy, politics, and for the public schools.

Our founders recognized that public schools are a vital institution of American democracy. But education, they also knew, involved more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Education in a democratic society requires developing citizens who can adapt to changing times, make decisions about social issues, and effectively judge the performance of public officials. In fulfilling their responsibilities, public schools must not only provide knowledge of many subject areas and essential skills, but must also educate students on core American values such as fairness, equality, justice, respect for others, and the right to dissent. Rapid social, political, and technological changes have escalated controversy over what and how schools should teach.

I think that public education in the United States should always offer a broad range of curriculum. This curriculum should not just be based on getting a job after high school. All students should be offered the chance to learn a variety of subjects. It is discrimination to “track” students and predict their future.

Public school has its flaws, but it has it’s substances as well. I remember when I was a freshman, my favorite Language 101 teacher, Ms. Harold would say, “ Tall people are meant to be leaders and should obtain a speaker's voice to lead someday.” I usually would develop a grimace because I could never see me becoming a leader.

There have been many parts in this course that has been very relevant in my life. However, the one thing that I have related to the most to is education. One major problem is the public education system. Education does vary depending on where you are located, but I saw firsthand how bad the public education system can be. I am not saying that the teachers are bad by any means, however, there are many problems within the education system. First the school systems are so focused on tests and how to pass tests, that students are not actually focusing on learning the martial that is being presented. There are problems of basic literacy in within the public education system, and according to the text over 30 million adults that live in the United

Although it may appear that the American education system is a smooth, well-functioning machine that is preparing the minds of tomorrow with the tools they need to go out and succeed, it may actually be doing more harm than good. There are many problems that need to be addressed. The most crucial are that many schools are actually killing creativity, overworking and stressing out the students with no benefit, and a lack of funding to schools in poorer areas are leaving those students at a disadvantage. With today’s generation as well as future generations having to deal with these problems if things don’t change, how does that look for the countries future as a whole?

When public schools were recognizably considered the largest user of property taxes in most states across the country, legislatures began to analyze the dependence of public schools on property taxes. In many states, the logical response was to shift funding dependence from local property taxes to state taxes such as income tax and sales tax. That has been done in many different ways and in different states. Still today, the dependence on local property taxes to fund public schools varies widely across the country. States in the Northeast typically continue to depend heavily on local property taxes for public schools. When traveling to the south and west, the funding mix shifts more heavily to state taxes and less on property taxes. Consequently,

As a result of the latest rating of failing public schools in education, United States schools are rated around twenty-ninth in the world. What is a failing school? Researchers may never agree on a single definition of failing schools (Connelly, 1999). OFSTED says that “A failing school is one in which learners make very little progress in relation to their prior attainment; consequently, the value-added analyses of the school’s test scores are very low when compared with similar schools. This definition may be extended to include some process indicators. There is no doubt that the three most consistent factors found in weak schools are the underachievement of learners, unsatisfactory or poor teaching and ineffective leadership (OFSTED, 1997, p. 4).

Education is a valid way to gauge how successful a country is. Every year thousands of children attend public schools in the US. These children are the hoe for this country’s future; their generation and the generations after will be the drivers for technological and economic success in the US. However, the education system is severely underfunded. A large percentage of these children attend schools that don’t have the necessary materials to learn. They attend classes taught by underqualified teachers getting paid very little. Not only that, I believe that funding schools based on test scores is a method that is severely flawed. Funding schools in this way creates a loop, where

Millions of children are enrolled into American public schools every year and rely on it to direct them down the right path. These schools are dire to the survival of America and its infrastructure. However instead of valuing its importance, the governments on state and federal levels are cutting their funding, up to 1.5 million dollars in Tulsa county (Willert), leaving the schools to scavenge for every drop of money and help they can get. This is causing severe damage to the education that children enrolled into public schools are entitled to. Instead of a quality learning facility with plenty of educators, teachers and the schools do not have enough money or space and have turned into glorified daycares. Only a low percentage of Americans can afford the high price of private schools which leaves the rest of the population to public school. If there is not a change in the funding of public schools, the majority of Americans will be left without a basic education which would be disastrous to the American society. The financial cutbacks public schools are receiving is causing problems in quality of students’ educations and Americans need to do something.

The Public Education System As we know that the examination system has come to be the main theme