Budget cuts can be scary. Scariest perhaps to public education. Always at the front of the cuts and constantly under scrutiny education has perhaps the largest undertaking with arguably the least respect. Nearly 90% of American children attend public school. Not only do nearly all children go to public school, but all children are accepted in public schools, meaning everyone is welcome regardless of their cognitive ability, race, socioeconomic status, or religious beliefs. Talk about a big job! Name another service that directly impacts a greater amount of the United States population? I can’t think of one. Not only do public schools educate 90% of the nation’s children, but they’ve been doing it since 1646 when the Massachusetts General Court passed legislation that required every town have and operate a grammar school. Parents were required to send their children to school or face fines. In 1852 the first education law was established in the American colonies.
Who’s Who?
Throughout history public schools have educated many famous Americans. Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Laura Bush, Steve Jobs, Hillary Clinton, and Colin Powell just to name a few. Include in that the “millions of citizens that helped build the greatest industrialized nation in the world.” Tax payers invested in all of these people when they were young. They were provided with adequate services, class sizes that promoted their best learning, teachers who were qualified, and facilities that were sufficient and safe. Above all, public schools were provided to all of these people. Public schools that were provided by the American tax payers. Are the same services being provided to the children today?
I am a Pro-Education Candidate!
Recently, and actually yearly when budget talks roll around everyone jumps on the “education costs too much money” bandwagon. This is frustrating because biyearly around election time every politician in the land is toting a pro-education agenda while promising big funds to schools and enhancing teacher salaries. Even Barack Obama made big education promises that have yet to be delivered upon. In addition to improving education politicians also promise “education reform.” Unfortunately they do very little reform or funding. Currently we are in the “education costs too much money” mindset of the year. Politicians are frustrated because of the amount of money invested in education and the lack of competitiveness nationwide. However, what they fail to recognize is that cutting funds is not going to raise test scores. Rather, education as part of the bigger picture needs to be scrutinized. “The United States ranks 37th in the world in education spending as a percentage of the gross domestic product.“ We are already underfunding education. Does education have problems? Absolutely. Do we need to slash budgets to improve them? Not hardly.
Who’s to Blame?
Concurrently what is happening is a “dog pile” of sorts onto teachers, parents, students, and everyone involved in education claiming that they are not doing enough. The media loves to either vilify bad teachers or mourn with fired teachers, but what needs to happen is a concrete conversation about teacher evaluations WITH unions and teachers, not penalizing salary and benefit cuts. Parents are often chastised for not doing enough to be involved with their child’s education, but who is out there teaching parents how to be involved in their child’s education appropriately and in the most helpful manner? Students are criticized for lacking drive and motivation. However, when all they hear about is the negative results of their efforts, how are the expected to respond. It is not to suggest that these parties are not all guilty in some part to the decline in American public education. However, it is important to think about how to best address this issue. Is the best way to address these problems to slash budgets, eliminate programs, and penalize low performing schools?
Come Together
Democrats, Republicans, Tea Party, and Independents all need to make education their issue. Pro-education should NEVER have been solely a Democrat issue, and cutting education NEVER should have been labeled a Republican agenda. Both parties should support education because it is how we build and create a stronger nation. All Americans should support public schools because it is the foundation of our future.
What needs to happen is a national dialogue about public schools. What do you find to be the most critical reform needed in education or education funding? This is a current discussion that is happening at http://thevotereffect.com. Education is going to be an issue as long as it is provided with public funding. Give your opinion on it now at http://thevotereffect.com.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_public_education_become_mandatory_in_the_US#ixzz1GLEvgPRf
www.Centerforpubliceduction.org
Go to Washington every, single, day. Join http://thevotereffect.com today!
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