Education

I would like you to take a minute and imagine what your life would be like, had you never been inducted into the gifted and talented program. Would you be the same person you are today? Would that even be possible? There are so many differences between our classes and those of, say, a general student, that nothing could be the same for us. Imagine if those general classes weren’t even general classes. What if they were worse? Would you try to get out of those classes as quickly as possible? That’s the situation in many areas all over the U.S. Some schools all over the United States aren’t teaching up to the general standards, and this needs to be changed. We need to form our schools in a way that all students have opportunities to succeed, no matter which school they go to.

Education in the United States has seen a curve of sorts since the beginning of public education. When it started, it rose drastically, but in recent years, it has been decreasing as a whole, with the U.S. only ranking in the 20s for education in developed countries. What is the reason for this? Michelle Rhee, who was chosen as the Washington, D.C. chancellor in 2007, blamed the problems in the school systems on tenure and the principals in their school system. She firmly believed that she had to go extreme measures to save the education system. She fired most of the principals of the schools in her school system and 200 teachers as well. This was all to benefit the students. This, her remarkable effort, was meant to serve as a model for the improvement of all school systems across the United States. Although this is not the only reason why our students are suffering, it should be changed in some way so that our teachers continue teaching students.

One other problem that our school systems have is more obvious to students than administrators. Students feel a lack of a connection with their schools. They feel that, if they aren’t thrilled by everyday classes, lectures, and everything else that goes on, they should drop out. Many teens are dropping out for all of the wrong reasons, not that there really is a right one. There are schools all across the U.S. that are basically pushing students to drop out. One certain school in the Northeastern United States is starting with 800 students set to graduate in just a few years, and ending with only around 400 students 4 years later. How is this possible? They are being set up for failure. It is in part due to their location, but also due to the problems within the schools. Therefore, there needs to be a plan started to keep students interested in school in all areas.

Charter schools are also difficult to work with. In New York, this is a huge problem. Students, unable to get into a better school, are set on a path of declining education. Have you ever seen a family watch before their own eyes, their son or daughter, as they hear the news that they can’t go to the only school in their area that has a high success rate? I don’t think any of us have. In Lexington, we are fortunate enough to have decent schools and many opportunities to participate in different programs to enhance our education, but in other regions, they aren’t nearly as lucky. Gifted and talented programs are nonexistent, and extracurricular activities- where are they? Students feel like they aren’t challenged enough, or there isn’t anything that quite “fits” their personality, so they create distractions, which inevitably hurts the entire class. The neighborhood schools aren’t up to par and some charter schools aren’t either, which is mostly seen around California. So, even if a student gets into a charter school to avoid a neighborhood school, there is a possibility that their ability to be educated will be hindered by the school itself.

In some cases, there are some obvious things that need to be done. Increase the number of teachers, change the set-up of the school systems, and keep students interested in schools. One might think that there is nothing that we can do to improve our schools, but they are completely wrong. If we change even minor details, there is a potential that we can improve the lives of other students throughout the country. If no one attempts to change these problems, although these are definitely not all of them, we can improve our ratings and become the country that we were meant to become even since the start of our nation. If we start here, we can improve the lives of every generation that will come after us. “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Bibliography:

Glickman, Carl. Letters to the next president: what we can do about the real crisis in

public education. New York: Teachers College Pr, 2004. Print.

Comer, James. Leave No Child Behind. 2004. Print.

Hochschild, Jennifer, and Nathan Scrovronick. The American Dream and the Public

Schools. New York: Oxford, 2003. Print.

Guggenheim, Davis, Dir. Waiting for “Superman”. Paramount: 2010. Film.

Rhee, Michelle. Interview. 05 Jul 2009. Web. 6 Aug 2011.

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