The politicians running for president have not said much about their educational programs which will be of vital importance in the coming decades. There needs to be more of a focus on this issue including the funding that will be allotted and how it will be obtained. America’s economy and competitiveness depends on education and poor white men along with minorities are being left behind.
The goal of education in democratic states should be to teach children to think for themselves, how to study and learn, and hopefully to attain a love for acquiring knowledge. However, during their time in school, it is important that children become proficient in reading, writing, computers skills, and mathematics, gain basic knowledge in various fields including biological and physical sciences, and a second language, learn the nation’s history and a general outline of world history, be familiar with the nation’s political system and the workings of government, and be capable of participating in the political system upon graduation from high school. These objectives require the recruitment of intelligent teachers and their being properly trained to be able to play the important roles of teaching and inspiring students.
The educational system in Finland is considered one of the best in the world, with students excelling on international tests. Teachers are selected from the top 10 percent of college graduates and obtain a master’s degree in education. They are treated as professionals and receive high salaries, attracting top college students to these jobs. The schools are generally small and the teachers familiar with every pupil in their classes. Consultations with colleagues are arranged if students have continued problems learning. About 30 percent of pupils receive some sort of special instruction during their first nine years of schooling. Though the student body is far from homogeneous with immigrants making up more than half the number, the expected quandaries with different cultures and languages have been managed. There are no rankings or competitions among the students with 93 percent graduating from academic or vocational schools and 66 percent continuing on with higher education.
There is a body of knowledge that every pupil in a nation’s schools should be required to learn, perhaps what can be called a core curriculum or common core standard. This knowledge should be compiled by a nation’s central government using experts in the appropriate fields and should be uniform throughout the country. The need for all citizens to have familiarity with certain information is self-explanatory. However, this does not necessarily mean it has to be taught the same way, and states and local districts together with the involved teachers can decide on the best method to encourage student learning. Of course, national testing should be performed periodically to be certain that the necessary information is being absorbed and retained by the students. Though testing is required to measure progress, it must not dominate teaching, nor tests be given too frequently. If students are not learning adequately, the teaching methods must be changed by the local instructors and state and municipal administrators in conjunction with central government experts. On tests of OECD nations, American students generally fare poorly in math, science, and reading, showing that our educational systems are not performing.
In the United States, one of the problems with education is that school expenditures are usually determined by property taxes in the local school districts plus supplemental funding from the state and federal governments. This means that spending on education in the wealthy school districts can far exceed that in the poorer districts. More money allows the wealthier districts to attract the best teachers, pay them more, have more teaching assistants for one to one instruction, have better physical plants, have more and better computers for the students, have various instructional aides to help students learn, have pre-kindergarten classes to start learning early, have more and better extra-curricular activities, have special classes or schools for the gifted children, have special classes and instruction for children who are learning disabled, have better psychological evaluation for children with learning problems and the ability to provide proper placement and treatment if necessary.
Overall, the quality of the school district and the money it spends on education plays a major role in the development and success of the pupils. In fiscal year 2013, spending on education in different states varied from $6700 in Idaho to almost $20,000 in New York. Spending by school districts from state to state and within the states also varied greatly. Unfortunately, spending by many states on K-12 education fell drastically after the recession of 2008, indicating a disregard for child development and learning, and for the future of the states’ economy. Apparently, legislators did not perceive education as a long-term investment for their states. Federal aid for the schools also dropped and teacher salaries were cut in a number of states, making recruitment and retaining top teachers more difficult. In 6 of the 14 states with the largest cuts in education spending, students performed worse on standardized tests in math and reading. 11 of the states also had lower educational attainment rates than the rest of the nation. Interestingly, all of these states were from the South and the West.
The way money is allotted and spent on education in the U.S. is not fair and puts students from poor families who live in poor school districts at a tremendous disadvantage in terms of education. Children from one-parent and poor families tend to have less interaction and reading to them by their parents at early ages and enter school already behind in linguistic, reading and math skills. Many are also socially backward and some have behavioral problems. These children need more money spent on them to help them accommodate and learn, and it should be started with schooling at an earlier age.
On the other hand, it is vitally important that gifted pupils in every school system be identified at an early age and given proper training. When they are older, the gifted will achieve academically, and be responsible for economic growth, political leadership and social advancement. Funding for gifted programs should be increased wherever possible so that gifted children can flourish. Unfortunately, there is no national policy on gifted education, though the need for special programs has been acknowledged in federal legislation.
If America is to prosper in the 21st century, education must be a priority at all levels and for all children. Citizens must push elected officials to provide adequate resources for all educational systems to help all children maximize their potential.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
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Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020