Education is a priority for the country of the United States as a whole, ever since attending school became a legal requirement for children in the nineteenth century. The value and importance of education for young people is one of the few things that all Americans can agree upon- which won’t happen often. While we can assume that most Americans agree that all children deserve and should receive an education, many different aspects of the education system are topics of dissent among those same Americans.
The diversity in schools, quality of inner city schools, role of public education, sports on college campuses have all been topics for debate. Government intervention to improve the overall quality of education in the country has sometimes further deepened the divide between those for and against whatever aspect in which the intervention occurred. The point is, that everyone has an opinion and everyone’s opinion is valid and should be respected. Most everyone is coming from a place of true care and concern for students across the country, and future leaders and citizens of the United States.
Throughout this blog, I will focus more on higher education, of colleges and universities, with one or two posts dealing with primary or secondary education. The influence of education is so massive and widespread, that questions should be asked of its role, its values, and its functions other than providing knowledge to its students. School is much more than a place to test memorization skills. “The Objective of Education is Learning, Not Teaching,” speaks to the role of schools in teaching students more than math equations and scientific formulas. Those things are important of course, but a school can do much more. The last paragraph of the article is particularly insightful.
As an introductory post, I would like to outline some basic purposes of schools in today’s society. These are points cited by not any one person, but those that people may agree with all or some.
Some arguments for a more far-reaching education system are that for many children, school is their only place of safety and supportive environment for growth. It seems only fair that schools, especially primary and middle schools, should embrace this role and further their reach into the overall growth and development of their students, not just their educational growth. One major initiative that works to engage in this purpose is the National School Lunch Program. This program
In 2012, 59% of students grades kindergarten-12th received free school lunches; Source: EdSource, 2013
makes it possible for school children to receive a lunch at school everyday, free of charge. Approximately 95% of all schools in the country participate in this program, and more than 30 million children benefit from this program every day.
An important piece to this program, in my opinion, is that any school (public or private) can utilize this program for their students, and receive federal funds as a result. I feel that this is one of the most inclusive practices of the federal government in terms of education. As a Catholic school-goer for twelve years, I know that a vast majority of Catholic school students do not fit the stereotype of an heir to a family fortune. For most families, they give up things like big houses, family vacations, new clothes, and other luxuries so that their money can go towards a private education for their children. And vice versa; many families who send their children to public school are extremely well-off in terms of finances. School choice is not something that always correlates with salary, and therefore including private school students in this initiative is wise. The program has expanded since its inception, and now works to not only provide students with lunch, but to provide them with a healthy lunch. More information on that can be read about here.
School health services have also expanded to delve into the personal and home lives of students who may need intervention. Teachers and other school faculty are obligated to be attentive to their students, and be observant of signs of abuse or other issues in a child’s life away from school. They are also obligated to report any abuse they learn of or suspect. While some feel that teachers and schools should effectively “mind their own business,” this role of teachers to be advocates for their students does protect those who would have been protected by no one.
Schools also seem to be more dedicated than ever before to the education and equality of students from all races and cultural backgrounds. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama in 2015 to replace the No Child Left Behind Act which was made into law in 2002. Under this act, schools are required to submit accountability reports for approval by their state’s Department of Education. The purpose of these reports is to outline how the school is planning to ensure that all their students are receiving a fair and well rounded educational experience. Reports will cite student proficiency on state tests, English-language competency, graduation rates, student engagement, etc. Based on these reports, states must intervene in schools whose graduation rates are below 67% and in schools whose subgroups of students are struggling to perform as well as other groups. This article by Alyson Klein outlines the terms of the law. While this is a relatively new program, it is growing and will hopefully enact the changes that will make the education system in the United States something that everyone can succeed in, while still being challenged.
ESSA was signed into law on December 10, 2013; Source: Education Week, 2016
Schools are not just a place to learn history and math. School is the place where kids learn to have social interactions, where they learn to solve conflict, where they learn to grow up. The dissent often stems from whether or not the government should intervene to establish a school’s presence outside of the actual school, or let it occur naturally without deliberate measures.
Like You mentioned in this post, education is such a vital component in a child’s life, and not just because of the academics. School teaches children how to be good citizens and participate in social interactions. I don’t think anyone would disagree that education is so important for children, however what education actually means to people varies nationwide. For example, in certain parts of the country, people would argue that evolution should not be taught in schools, however others disagree. So who decides what is “right” and what is “wrong” to teach in school? And how do they decide? It seems as though we can all agree on the importance of education but only when it is carried out the way we want it be. This is why the topic of education was such a good one for this blog. There is so much to be discussed about it and a lot of issues that people disagree on. Another example besides evolution is Common Core. Nationally, teachers and schools are arguing against it, however others say that it is the only way to ensure that everyone is being taught proper information. All in all, I don’t see the debate over what education entails ending anytime soon, but that just means it will be a great topic to research and write about!
As someone who also chose to discuss the debates present in the education system, I think your analysis of educational efforts and programs was a particularly good introductory post. I like that you tackled not just the discrimination in education, but included problems that we often do not think about when we hear problems with education. With your inclusion of the National School Lunch Program and explanation of the expansion in school health services, I think you provided good context to not only the problems that exist today, but also to the issues that have already been addressed. However, it would have been interesting to see maybe some of the debates that existed within the enactments of these programs. For example, with the Every Student Succeeds Act, I am sure there were some people during the time, whether in the government or part of the under-performing schools, that was opposed to the creation of ESSA. Also, i think it would be interesting to compare some of the programs that we have in the united states to countries that have nothing of the kind. you could consider, in a later post, giving a broad scope of education internationally. The links that you incorporated, I thought, were very appropriate and you set them up well instead of just dropping them in. I am interested to see the controversial topic of education that you choose to explore next week!