Sunday, March 28, 2010

public eduation

Public education is one of those ideas that many people will unfairly criticize for being unfair and incompetent, but in the end no one really cares enough to change anything about it. Personally, the American public education system seems pretty fair. I do believe that each state or county should decide a school’s systems details, because if the US government regulated a countrywide curriculum, then many problems would arise: disagreement over what should be taught, and how to deal with the varying degrees of knowledge that each area posses. To clarify, Fulton County probably has more knowledgeable and hard working kids than the average American student where as a certain ghetto area would have less hard working students. Therefore, there becomes an issue as to what to do with the individuals who show greater potential versus those who posses less potential. For example, not all high schools offer first year calculus let alone second year calculus. This is because some areas have more kids that are qualified and willing to take more advanced courses versus areas that have kids that are less qualified and falling behind.
However, I do believe that the US government is fair in regulating some aspects of the public school system: evolution, nationwide performance tests, fundamental required subjects, and the length of a school day. Personally, it seems reasonable for school days to be about seven hours and for there to be two days of no school every week. Unlike other countries overseas where children must attend school six out of seven days a week and extensively study after school, children should be allowed to enjoy their youth. Fundamental subjects that are required, certain levels of math, reading, writing, are also a necessity in public education. The only issue I have with some of these required material is too easy. For example, the Georgia Graduation Test was just a joke. Not only was the test itself really effortless, the percent required to pass is only forty percent. Honestly, there almost seems no difference between the GHST and the CRCTs that were required in elementary school. If anything, we should expect a little more out of the American youth.
The poor don’t have it, the rich want more of it, and it’s one of the biggest issues in public education: money. Obviously as a resident of Johns Creek, I am going to be in favor schools being funded by county as opposed to schools being funded federally. Before you call me selfish and unfair, just think about what would happen if schools were equally funded. That is correct: people will still complain and our problems will linger. To clarify, imagine that Johns Creek High School traded its students for students attending a ghetto high school. Most likely, the ghetto students will not take advantage of their resources. In addition, underprivileged teenagers tend to vandalize and not put too much emphasis on school, and not to mention that the JCHS students will not benefit from this scenario. Perhaps, I am being unfair in assuming this, but a change in scenery and resources most likely will not change much, because I believe what really drives a student to become studious is the expectations of their parents and peers.

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