The Need for Education in Order to be Successful in the American Society

There was a time when America’s education system was top-notch according to the culture and society. With time, a myriad of things has changed, but unfortunately what has not evolved is the American education system. The country is still following a system which was not designed for the current global economic climate. Equality, as positive as it sounds is not as sufficient when it comes to education. The system treats students equally yet expect a similar culmination and outcome. Every child has his individuality and distinct abilities; one cannot judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. Conversely, a few of the prominent reasons why the education system is failing are overcrowded schools, the rise of technology, and following the same old school hours.

America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s

Our system of education is still based of a lot of colonial New England’s system of education. The first public schools of the new world began in New England with the passing of what is referred to as the Olde Deluder Satan Act which “specified that schools be started and publicly supported when town populations were large enough.” So basically they would build a school if the population of a particular are became large enough and the demand from the local citizenship was high enough. Whereas those in the Virginia area’s of the new world were either home schooled (often poorly) or immediately

With the many diverse characteristics of the Unites States, perhaps the most troubling is the rising gap in the distribution of wealth. As the wealth gap in the United States rises exponentially, the gap in the quality of public schooling rises with it. For a country that prides itself in prestigious outlets of education, the system of public schooling seems to be miserably failing. Public education, a system that some fight to destroy while others fight to preserve, is perhaps the only source of academic opportunity for many individuals living in this country. The fact that someone can live in a certain area and receive a higher quality of public education than someone else living in a different area in the same country—even in the same state—is a problem that should not trouble a ‘progressive’ democratic society. Unfortunately, areas of lower socioeconomic status receive much less funding than areas of higher socioeconomic status, where property taxes account for 45% of funding in public school districts. Naturally, the impoverished residents of poor neighborhoods pay a harsh price in this situation, sending their children to an underfunded school with little to no resources, where sometimes teachers must supply the classroom from their own pocket. As Rogerson and Fernandez note, “a system that allows the accidents of geography and birth to determine the quality of education received by an individual is inimical to the idea of equal opportunity in the marketplace”

Today’s education system has its problems, one of the problems being equal education to everyone. This is a problem that can be seen in the more poverty areas in the United States. Most schools in poverty areas have older materials to work with, teachers who are less passionate about their jobs, are not being taught the humanities, and many of the schools are shutting down from poor conditions and low attendance.

Fifty years after the declaration of war on poverty, an increasing number of children still grow up in poverty in this country. Poverty is now more determinative than race as a predictor of student educational success (Reardon, 2013). The achievement gap between the poor and the more economically advantaged child has actually widened over the last three decades (Reardon, 2013). If we are to provide all children with equal and excellent educational opportunities, it is imperative that we utilize the most effective strategies and enhancements to overcome the educational disadvantages that poor children experience.

Education is essential to attain social mobility, however students face difficult obstacles. Even though we have laws like No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), however many students that come from low social class families do not have equal opportunities as students that come from higher income households. NCLB is encouraging on its face, but it does not address the unequal distribution of funds for districts. NCLB set standards in which students must achieve scores on standardized test rather than having access to equal opportunities, in

The idea that American schools are failing is not a new one, but it is an idea that is extremely widespread. There are constant news reports claiming that our schools are worse than ever and Congress has passed extensive legislation such as No Child Left behind in an attempt to fix the American educational system. Some people believe that American schools are not completely failing, but only failing for minority students. Reforms like mandatory busing, vouchers, charter schools, accountability, and high-stakes testing have been proposed to address these social inequalities. Despite the intentions of these policies, they have not always helped close the social inequality gap.

George Eastman once said, “The progress of the world depends almost entirely upon education.” By its public school system, the United States of America exemplifies this. Federally denied to none and paid by all, United States citizens have the opportunity to attend public school, should they choose. Over the past fifty years, America’s education system has undergone multiple changes. It began with President Lyndon B. Johnson signing into action the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) as an extension of his “War on Poverty” plan. ESEA funded primary and secondary education, encouraged equal access to schooling, established lofty standards and accountability - all done with the intention of closing the achievement gap

In today’s day and age most people expect the educational system to be equal among all students; people expect these students to grow up and get a good job with the education they have been taught throughout the years. But how can this be achieved when the system is not even close to being equal or fair? In this world, there are schools in poverty and then there are more privileged schools. At the higher class schools, the students are given an amazing education with more supplies and funding, whereas at the schools in poverty it is the complete opposite. In Kandice Sumners TedTalk (2016), How America's public schools keep kids in poverty, she rants about this exact topic. She has seen both worlds of the school controversy. She’s been to a high-class school and learned so much from them as a student, but now she teaches at a school in poverty and only wishes that she could have the same exact supplies and funding for her students. There is obviously a

After reading the first portion of three inspiring books, Finnish Lessons 2.0, 50 Myths and Lies That Threaten American Schools and Jules on Schools, I noticed a common theme. I noticed that each book emphasizes the importance of providing equal academic opportunities for every student no matter their background. The first book 50 Myths and Lies That Threaten American Schools written by Berliner and Glass, explains the disconnect of educational opportunities for all students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in the United States. Our society has been more concerned with bettering themselves instead of funding public education. Schools are becoming segregated, children of wealth are separated into private or charter schools and children living in poverty or children with special needs separated into public schools, “This continuing trend does little to improve educational opportunities for the middle and low-income students ‘left behind’ in public schools.

“The school districts with the highest minority enrollments receive an average of $877 less per student than school districts with the lowest number of minorities enrolled.” In turn, these children are able to go further with more resources readily available to them. However, children in less affluent school districts face serious educational shortcomings due to little investment in the beggared communities surrounding the school. It is more accurate to say that America has two systems of public education. The first system, based principally, but not entirely in the suburbs of America and in wealthier urban districts, is in many respects mediocre, specifically in comparison to international peers in advanced industrial nations. However, the second system, based principally in poorer urban and rural areas, is an absolute failure; in which an exceeding number of students dropout well before high school graduation. An astounding number of students receive high school diplomas that do not certify academic confidence in basic subjects. An outstanding number of students are unprepared for the world of employment. An incredible number of students are unprepared to matriculate to institutions of higher education or advanced training.

Another reality that Diane Ravitch sheds light on is the misconstrued theories about the achievement gap. Reformers often say that African American and Hispanic students have not made progress for decades (Ravitch, p.55). However, after looking at the data from NAEP, it is evident that this assertion by the reformers just simply is not true. Rather, these students have shown dramatic increases in math. Many do not recognize this though because white achievement has also improved which keeps the gap at large. (Ravitch, p.56) Throughout different grades, African Americans and Hispanics have shown remarkable progress in mathematics. There has been improvement in reading as well, just not as dramatic as the progress shown in math. Ravitch states, “Today’s reformers often imply that schools alone can close the achievement gaps among different groups. The like to point to exemplary charter schools with high test scores to prove their point” (Ravitch, p.59). While the belief that a charter school could bridge the achievement gap and overcome the disadvantages of poverty, it simply is not a realistically feasible concept. Thomas B. Timar of the University of California states, “Yet the gap is the symptom of larger social, economic and political problems that go far beyond the reach of the school… While schools are part of the solution, they alone cannot solve the problem of educational disparities” (Ravitch, p.60). Timar calls society to take action by

People living in areas that do not offer a quality public education suffer, as their chances at achieving the American dream are diminished. Many American inner city and rural schools do not have funding to properly educate its student, which results in high dropout and failure rates. The stigma that surrounds dropouts affects society’s perception of a person, and therefore their ability to rise in social classes. In recent years, the people and politicians have called for change, however, there has been little done to improve these situations. In today’s day in age, many jobs require a high school or college degree. If these children are dropping out, failing, or not continuing to higher education, it is hard for them to find a job that pays more than minimum wage. One cannot reach the American Dream and change their status in society on a minimum wage job, as they will not have the money that allows them to rise from a lower class

As Nelson Mandela said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” and this should be our guiding principle when instituting reform in our country. The United States has the worst economic inequality in the developed world. The wealthy are making more money than ever and the amount of people living in poverty are growing at an alarming rate. As a whole, the impoverished are struggling to provide for their basic needs. A major factor in this inequality is the gap in education. Inner city public schools are not effective at teaching children the necessary skills to succeed in college, if they do not drop out of school altogether. Clearly, traditional welfare programs are not effectively ending the poverty cycle, so, new targeted programs must be put in place to help normalize this inequality. The most effective reform would be to increase educational opportunities for children inhabiting the inner city. Improvements to the public school system are constantly being proposed, but, virtually, nothing improves in their infrastructure regardless of how much money is invested. It is more than just increasing funding, the environment in these inner city schools must be more advantageous for learning. Changing the overall culture is more difficult than just improving facilities and hiring better teachers. School vouchers are effective by granting qualified students a voucher that allows them to attend a private school that meets certain criteria set