Avah Sherman
Professor Highfill
ENGL 1304
1 May 2017
The declining value of education in America
Since the end of the Cold War, there have been a number of changes that have occurred globally. The mobile communication and internet technology has exposed this world to the new avenues of possibilities. With the advent of globalization, a borderless world has started to emerge, and the significance and demand of the education in this new world education has grown even more. The United States and the entire Western region has been witnessing n erosion of advantages in technological, economic, and defense arenas. This is because the country is lagging the other countries of the world with respect to education. In the present times, the
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(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). The scarcity of the American STEM workers leaves the organization with only two options. They are either compelled to import into the country, expensive foreign labor force, or end up moving their operating facilities to the other countries. A great amount of money is constantly being spent by the United States for the school goers than it is done by any other country around the world. According to estimates, it costs around $11,800 per child in comparison to the $4,000-$5,000 in the others countries under comparison (Hood, n.d.). This excludes the huge amount of money which is spent only on the 10 percent children who opt to afford private school education, America spends approximately $8,000 in the form of public money on every child every year. Still, the country is ranked 27th position on the global ranking list of the educational achievement of school, and this position is below Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico. Most social critics blast the public schools in America regularly calling them the factories that are mind-deadening and developed and designed to propel the white students belonging to the working class join the brain-dead jobs. On the other hand, the schools are known to be excoriated like the retirement parks that have been designed for the unionized and lazy teachers who would like to involve in into the activities of
Public education in America began in the early to mid-19th century with the simple goal of “uniting the American population by instilling common moral and political values” (Spring, 2012, p. 5). Our country was founded by men who designed the constitution so that it could be amended to accommodate changing political and social climates. They believed in the ideology of the American dream which “holds out a vision of both individual success and the collective good of all” (Hochschild & Scovronick, 2004, p. 1). It is with this same ideology that our public schools were
John Taylor Gatto, former New York City Teacher of the Year and author of “Against School: How public education cripples our kids, and why,” believes that forced schooling essentially molds young minds into society’s servants. Gatto begins his argument by drawing on his own experience as a teacher and the history of schooling. He then demonstrates how schools turn children into consumers. Despite the fact that he believes that public education cripples young minds, he concludes by offering a solution. Although Gatto argues his point well by bringing in personal experience, background history, and effects, he generalizes many points, lowering his credibility.
Although the United States has been regarded as having dominant world power amongst other nations, the truth lies far from its holdings. During the George W. Bush administration (2001-09), the United States went through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, declared war on Afghanistan and Iraq causing poor standing with other nations, and was left with a $1.2 trillion-dollar deficit. With the election of a new President, President Obama, came new opportunities. During his campaign, President Obama focused on the needs of the American people rather than the needs of those of special interest. The former State Senator, Barack Obama, and Vice
The school years are the grounding years of one's learning. Schools have a major role in transforming children to become reliable citizens and contributing members of society. Education paves the way for someone to have a great career. Education builds character and gives someone the skills to succeed in life. The national average of the yearly per-student spending in Public K-12 Schools is about $12,000. Students who attend schools in states with higher per pupil spending outperform students in states with a low per-pupil spending. The students score higher on the National Assessment of Academic Progress (NAEP) tests. They are also better prepared for college and are able to handle the transition to the college workload.
Martin Luther once said, “When schools flourish, all flourishes.” Schools are the institutions where students’ foundations for lifelong success are built. One would think, or at least hope, that sixty years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, all schools in America would be flourishing or near flourishing. How wonderful would it be, if politicians and other people in power realized how true Martin Luther’s words were. Unfortunately, this is not the case. As Jonathan Kozol explicitly depicts in his 1991 novel, Savage Inequalities, inequality in American public schools still exists despite segregation being outlawed. Even though this book was written twenty-five years ago, it still applies to this day. There are many schools in America that are still segregated, and the complete opposite of flourishing. This is due to one main reason: inadequate funding. There is a tremendous amount of inequality in funding between the poor, city schools, and the affluent, suburban schools. Kozol explores these various schools in his novel, and demonstrates how by underfunding schools that are in dire need of funds, we are essentially setting up our future generations for failure. We are inhibiting them from reaching their potentials and showcasing their talents. We ourselves are ripping their chances of a bright future out of their hands. We are allowing our society to believe segregation in schools is ok.
There have been steps to fix this clear inequality of education in the United States, such as the institution of affirmative action. Unfortunately, this has not been enough because, though it gives minority students to gain acceptance, it does not make up the fact that they learned in an under-resourced environment and may lack the appropriate knowledge and skills to be successful in a university setting. It would take $100-200 billion to fix the public school system, yet we see that these funds are often used for other things, such as the building of a new stadium in Cleveland (“Children in America’s Schools”). It has not been a priority for many politicians, as we have seen in Chicago. There has been many closures of schools
It is interesting how the United States is seen as one of the world’s strongest economies while their school systems are so inefficient. The United States spends such a small amount of time improving and updating their education system which molds the minds of their future generations. American education is falling behind because the Nation refuses to make changes on helping schools get up-to-date while the rest of the Nation is evolving and changing. However, an educated America would help achieve two types of goals which are short term and long term. Short term benefits include shortening the
With many in government and communities believing that education is the key to create a strong and independent country, public schools were formed in the early years of the United States to provide a basic education for citizens. Over the years it has been reformed to fill the needs of a growing nation. However, we are now facing a need to not only satisfy the needs of a national economy, but a world economy. Unable to fill positions that demand a high education, many American industries have to branch out to other countries in search for employees. Unless America is able to raise the education
In the United States, education funding is exceptionally unbalanced. Currently within the United States, primary and secondary schooling is funded predominantly by local property and personal tax. While the majority of citizens believe that education funding needs to be reformed, some individuals believe that public schools are funded fairly based on property and personal tax, that education should be based on the status and personal tax that a person and community pays. Every year, approximately 1.15 trillion dollars was used for kindergarten through college education funding within the United States. The Federal Government provides on average 10.8 percent of the 1.15 trillion dollars spent on education
The outlook of the United States’ future is in jeopardy. The reality is that the United States is falling behind the world and will continue do so due to its education system. The standards of U.S. education have stagnated while globally, the competition has become fiercer and more bent upon producing the best students. The U.S. government pays for $10,995 for a student. South Korea spends $6,723 and consistently gets higher scores than the U.S in math, reading and science. These are unacceptable results. In business, one should try to maximize profits while minimizing costs. The U.S. education system not
The U.S. spends more on education than most countries in the world, but are polarized with an educational system where high-end schools attract students worldwide and public schools without sufficient care for the poor and recent migrants. The education expert Jonathan Kozol states that the U.S. education system is full of savage inequalities. In other words, it only matters how much is spent,
In a book by Samuel Blumenfeld and Alex Newman, Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children, Blumenthal points to “growing levels of illiteracy, plunging international rankings, the decline of critical-thinking skills, mushrooming decadence, mass shootings, and companies that can’t find the skilled workers they need—these have become some of the atrocious hallmarks of U.S. public schools.”
If money were the solution, the problem would already be solved. Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools in the United States in 2013-14 amounted to $634 billion, or $12,509 per public school student enrolled (NCES, 2017); however, according to the Nation’s Report Card, there isn't a link between spending and student achievement.
We have grown up in a culture that has told us that America is number one - that we are the best, the sole superpower, the leader who must take charge. However, America still lags behind in education, a crucial element of a successful nation. How can America lead the world when our youth are taught poorly? This problem is amplified in lower income areas and states where education standards are lackluster. Whether because of lack of interest caused by conformity, feeling of entrapment on the students’ parts or the government’s poor school management, the education system needs improvement.
Over the next decade, the dramatic shift in technology and the global marketplace will have deep impacts on the labour market. Innovative technological changes are not so much replacing workers entirely as displacing them, driving the emergence of a global mid-to-high skills shortage and a surplus of low skilled workers.