Public school system in crisis, how do we fix it?
It is widely known that the American Public School system has many problems that affect the quality of education resulting in low outcomes of our students ranking at the bottom of the list academically when compared to students in other industrialized countries. As a parent, I have a measured confidence in our public school system and frequently feel that there is no attainable solution to correct it. If you are low to middle income, you may not be able to afford a private school education or be available to educate your children at home. It does not hurt to bolster whatever work they are doing school with extra study assignments.
President Barack Obama’s mother woke him up at 4:30 a.m. to study before she went to workbecause that is the level of education she wanted for him, we have no excuse for not studying with our children so they get the most out the education that is available to them. Our children will model the behavior we demonstrate about education, if we do not value it, they will not see the importance of it either.
The alternatives to public school education are home-schooling or a private school. If you are feeling stifled with dissatisfaction about the conditions in your public schools funded by the taxes you pay, you must do take a stand. The anxiety that borders on helplessness can empower you to create a new interests in the education of your entire family, including yourself. Most working families are hard pressed to spend time at their local school beyond Parent/Teacher conferences and seasonal programs or sports events.
Less than two years ago as reported by John Stossel of 2020, a Gallup Poll survey indicated that 76 percent of Americans were completely or somewhat satisfied with their kids’ public school. The percentages for the current academic year could be significantly lower based on reaction to Charter Schools, standardized tests, violence, a lack of parental involvement. We have witnessed inadequate management of the school environment by the administration or local governing body. Reform of the licensing and certification requirements and increased salaries for teachers is long overdue. The cost of education per student is under funded at urban schools comparied to suburban schools due to thier socioeconomic status which deprives minority students of the opportunity for a solid education.
The NCLB (No Child Left Behind) program was designed as mandates set up to require schools and teachers to achieve acceptable passing scores on Nationalized academic tests. Schools are considered failing if they do not meet the goal of testing 95% of each nationality, and after three years of failure, the federal government withdraws its contribution for the education of poor children. To get this money back, the school must turn over large amounts of its budget to private companies.
Our schools are supposed to be a safe place for teaching and learning, free of crime and violence but students are often so out of control with no respect for teachers as authority figures. Teachers often are not connected to the students because they come from neighborhoods outside of the urban school they teach in where their students live. The expectations are somewhat unrealistic due a lack of understanding about African American or Hispanic family values and practices. Teachers are ready to teach and do their very best but cannot do what they are paid to do. Hispanic students were more likely than
White students to report being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property.
Parental involvement is essential and is a combination of commitment and active participation on the part of the parent to the school and to the student. Parental involvement is non existent, at least for the students that need it the most. Parents feel unwelcome in their schools, and inadequate in their own educational achievements, others feel that education is not important. There are parents who are actively involved and informed about the everyday activities of their schools and students. Family participation should be mandatory and recognized as a key in successfully educating children. In inner-city communities, parental involvement is a challenge because of the negative experience so many parents have had in school.
Government mandates force teachers to plan scripted reading programs as part of the curriculum. These programs fail to meet federal testing standards and make it difficult to verify how effective they are. Benchmarks designed by the textbook companies are imposed on the whole school district and pacing guides determine how much time a teacher has to cover each topic in the textbook. This is followed with the test to measure outcomes. If a teacher focuses on a “teachable moment” like a historic presidential election of the first President of African American descent, they are seen as not being on the
script and the students fail the benchmarks set.
Is there a link between spending and student achievement funding due to socioeconomic status for minority students? Over 100,000 is spent over the 12 year career of a student from Kindergarten to 12th grade. John Stossl of 2020 revealed that Ben Chavis is a former public school principal who now runs an alternative charter school in Oakland, Calif., that spends thousands of dollars less per student than the surrounding public schools. He laughs at the public schools’ complaints about money. His school also thrives because the principal gets involved. Chavis shows up at every classroom and uses gimmicks like small cash payments to reward students for perfect attendance. He is a visable presence in his school not sitting in a chair behind a desk and the students know him.
The modern American educational system is filled with so many problems that students are not learning much as they should be and graduating with less knowledge or skills than students in other industrialized countries. School officials do not know how to deal with the nontraditional family because of constraints in the areas of concern and the solutions that they are permitted to use to improve parental involvement.
But there are inner city models of success, like the School Development Plan, created by James P. Comer, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. The Comer Plan for inner-city elementary schools focuses on social service recipients with dependent. Working mainly with a three part structure consisting of a management team, led by a principal and includes teachers, parents, counselors and other school staff members. The team has the power to set overall policy for the school. Secondly, parent involvement is increased due to the focused efforts of the team to recruit parents for organizing school events and serve as classroom assistants. Thirdly, intervention is provided for children who have emotional, behavioral or academic problems and identified early.
Are our children prepared for the intellectual demands of modern society? According to report card evaluation done by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “despite decades of reform efforts and many trillions of dollars in public investment, U.S. schools are not equipping our children with the skills and knowledge they-and the nation-so badly need.
Check out your school report card at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for your state.
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