Public School Challenges

http://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/10-major-challenges-facing-public-schools

     This is a great article because it focuses on the many challenges that public schools face today. Typically, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of public school challenges is poverty and how the school does not have enough money to get proper and up to date materials for their students. Yes, this is an important issue but rarely do you hear about the students how are in poverty and attend that same impoverished school. This article points out the top ten challenges that public schools face. Some of those challenges are classroom size which is an important issue because if there are too many students in one class with one teacher; those who need the extra help and attention are more than likely falling behind due to the amount of students there are in the classroom and the teacher not being able to attend to everyone. Classroom size can contribute to many other problems but the article also brings attention to poverty, family factors, technology, and more.

How Bad Are The Public Schools?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/vouchers/howbad/crisis.html

 

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?

 

"High School Training Ground"

In this 3 minute TED Talk, Malcolm London performs a poem he wrote about being in high school called "High School Training Ground."  He discusses the culture of school and the disconnect between what is learned in schools and what is needed outside the school walls.  He reminds us that "bubbling in a scantron doesn't stop bullets from bursting."  He also states, "I hear education systems are failing.  But I believe they are succeeding at what they were built to do: to train you, to keep you on track, to track down an American Dream that has failed so many of us all."

Malcolm London boldly reminds us that our education system attempts to teach students about academics, but often leaves out many of the practical and necessary skills needed to survive in the world today and that the "American Dream" isn't the reality anymore.  Do you think there is truth that can be found in Malcolm London's statements?  Is the education system pointing people toward an "American Dream" they will likely be unable to attain?  And if so, how do we rethink the education system so that we are preparing our young people differently?

New Child Support Program

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2015/05/27/columbus-ohio-franklin-county-courts-using-innovative-child-support-program.html

I accidentally wrote about schools last time, so here is my story about child welfare.

In Franklin Co. there is a push toward working with parents who owe child support to allow the parents to be more supported, rather than being thrown in jail for their non-payment. This program that was implemented last year is designed to help the parents take a more proactive approach toward caring for their children financially, rather than simply throwing them in jail. The program targets workforce education, GED completion and even AOD treatment so that parents can get back on their feet and be in a position better suited to help their children.

I think this is a great program because it helps not only the parent, but also the child, the parent with custody, and society as a whole. The parent receives the help they need, the child and custodial parent are receiving the financial support that they need to help the child grow up, and society does not have the burden of paying for parents to be in jail due to not paying the needed dues that are mandated by the courts or to pay for workers to constantly chase down the parents who are not paying their dues.

Having been a child of this system, I have first hand seen the stress and tension that the old way of managing child support can bring. With constant phone calls, letters, and putting the child in an awkward position, it causes unneeded stress for the whole family. I believe that attempting to treat the parents who owe child support is something that would truly be beneficial for everyone involved. It may cost more upfront, but for the long term I believe that it will help families and society as a whole. Of course, this will not fix every family situation and there may still need to be jail time for some family members or at least use this as leverage to bring payments forward, but giving parents a second chance is something that could solve more problems than it brings.

America's High School Graduates Look Like Other Countries' High School Dropouts

America is said to be one of the greatest countries in the world, but in many aspects especially in education, we're falling behind many if not all other industrialized countries. The jist of this article is that in literacy, math, and technology skills America is looking quite bleak as compared to many other countries in terms of simple, basic, functions for every day life or skills that are necessary to be successful human beings. The caveat is for those individuals who attend higher education. However, the bigger question is, how is this happening? Why is our education system failing our youth? I'm not saying that students have to come out of high school knowing as much as someone who has gotten their masters or a PhD, but they should have basic literacy, math, and technology skills in order to function in today's world and be successful. I would say that this is because of the difference in standards between each state and the overall standard in which we are holding our students as compared to other countries. This article provides further explanation and more details about the differences between the states and their standards.

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

The Untold Stories of Black Girls

After seeing the viral video of the resource officer flipping the student out of her desk, Monique Morris, (scholar, author and activist) was concerned about what else happened… when the cameras weren’t rolling. The article points to recent research that black girls are punished at school at rates that are even more disproportionate than those experienced by black boys. For example, they are suspended 6 times more often than white girls. Morris calls this "a story untold," and she sets out to tell it in her new book, Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.

Morris states, "Most teachers do engage in their work with love. [But] we're all impacted by implicit biases. ... If we're not actively monitoring and holding ourselves and institutions accountable, we're missing the mark completely and leaving girls much more vulnerable." I totally agree with her. I feel as social workers we must be aware of personal bias and also the systemic bias within the institutions in which we work. Not only must we have awareness, but we must hold others accountable and advocate for the students who are being treated unfairly. 

Physical Activity Education's Contributions to Public Health

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2016.1142182

Physical activity educators have to continually justify their existence. Physical education runs the risk of being deemed “nice, but not necessary” within a formal curriculum. Physical education programs and courses are put on the defensive in order to avoid reductions in size and scope, if not complete elimination. One area that has seen progress is the association of cognitive benefits to physical activity participation. Physical activity is good for the brain and enhances learning, and it might amplify learning in other subjects such as mathematics and reading.  some have suggested that “a public image makeover may…be in order” with a greater emphasis placed on how physical activity education contributes to public health. Swimming as One Example of How Skill Acquisition Contributes to Public Health More than 3,500 people die annually in the United States from unintentional Drowning. If more people were taught basic water-safety skills and how to swim, at least some of these accidental deaths or near-deaths and the associated human suffering and financial costs could be prevented. What do you think?