America's Failing Educational System

America's Failing Educational System

Education is essential for the advancement of our nation as well as our children. Learning gives children the ability to succeed physically, intellectually, and emotionally. Education opens the door to opportunity for the future. If an individual receives an education, he/she is more likely to be offered better employment. Opinions often differ in regards to our educational system, but I am deeply concerned with the inconsistency of educational standards. Parent involvement is an enormous contributing factor to our failing educational system. Parents need to instill in their children just how detrimental a lack of education is to their future. Teachers are there to teach, not parent. There should be a consistent support system at home for children. Although in many families both parents work, it is a parent's responsibility to make time for their children. Teachers need the help from the parents to be certain that the children retain the information they learned in school. Education begins at home. One of the biggest problems with our educational system is government funding; funding that actually comes from the government not the homeowners. Homeowners should not pay the price for education, through taxes on their homes. Some homeowners do not have children and are paying in taxes what a homeowner with three children pays. There should be a fair tax system, not gouging the homeowners. Funding is for the most part distributed to the various schools by state and local governments. There should be equal funding for each school. Children should not suffer because of their economic background or location, unlike those children from wealthy economic backgrounds. Public education should have no distinction between rich and poor, or black and white. Every child going to a public school should be granted an equal education. Equal funding would grant teachers the proper resources to better educate our children. Teachers and administrators are also a vital part of our failing educational system. Having qualified administrators who know and enforce standards and guidelines is important. What are the qualifications for an administrator? Are there required qualifications? These are questions that need answers. Just because someone has obtained a degree doesn't make them the best person for the job, nor does it make the person with more experience more qualified over a person who just graduated. We need to look at quality not quantity. As for teachers, we should make sure that the best teachers are chosen for the positions, not friends and family. Evaluations should be given more frequently. This would give us the opportunity to find out where it is that we need to improve the educational system, to better educate our young people. Public education needs teachers that actually care about the children and their education, not just wanting to be a teacher for the summers and holidays off. American children are suffering due to the inadequacies of the persons involved with the educational system. The governments "No Child Left Behind" legislation is a start to improving America's educational system. However, we must do more to ensure that the teachers and administrators have training and continued training needed to provide this much needed education and make sure that the curriculum is taught throughout the year and not one month before the state test. We can not expect our children to cram and cram, for none of the information will be retained, and test scores will be inaccurate. Solutions to improve the American educational system require a great deal of work and determination from parent, teachers, administrators, students, and counselors. Teachers alone can not resolve all of the problems our country faces regarding the educational system. It is imperative that all parties work together to do all necessary things to ensure our young people are getting a quality education. The future of our country depends on the education our children receive.