This article discusses the topic of whether or not our
school system in the United States is actually in “crisis.” The questions are
aimed at professionals in the government, directors of universities,
professors, and those involved at a high level in the education system. It is
clear that they acknowledge the K-12 school system is extremely flawed, but the
majority seem to lack any enthusiasm about changing it or improving it any time
soon. They identify issues and problems and lack of funding for inner city
schools as well as contentment within suburban schools but seem to accept this
as just an unfortunate reality and not as an issue that needs to be addressed.
Some discuss an equal system as the goal, but from the majority of these
interviews, the consensus seems to be that equitable education is alright in
the meantime. For example, one interviewee stated,
“School
spending has been equalized between rich and poor districts within a state to a
great extent over the last 30 years. It is not perfectly equally, by any means,
but average school spending has risen, as I said earlier, by about 85% in the
United States, on average. And, the poorer districts have had their spending
rise faster than that and the richer districts have had their spending rise
more slowly than that. So they have drawn together, gradually, over time.”
I think it is important to remember here that with
inflation and the cost of materials increasing, more spending doesn’t
necessarily mean better school outcomes. The fact that this individual compares
poor and rich school district spending then concludes that they are equal
really evoked a reaction from me. It is outrageous to think that people think
like this but then go on to admit disproportionate levels of education quality.
Beyond spending money on schools, there needs to be safety and discipline, high
teacher quality, community and parent support. We need to face the reality that
there are resource gaps that haven’t been touched since the 1970s because people
have accepted these disparities as “normal” and that is not acceptable.
“The
enemy in my mind isn't this "crisis." It's this tremendous variation.
You need to look at what decreases the variation, when you really look at what
would allow for all kids to move to the level of performance where many of our
children already are. I think that's actually a more honest statement about it.
We have lots of kids that are doing extraordinarily well. We've got some kids
in the middle, and then you've got an enormous number of kids on the bottom end…”
If we recognize this, why aren’t we doing more about
it?
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