Amidst the war and issues overseas that have most of the country’s attention, it seems that certain problems back home have been forgotten, and must be dealt with. An important one is the state of our nation’s schools.
In the United States, the average child scores far lower on standardized testing and is in school a shorter amount of time than many industrialized nations like Japan and Germany. I currently work at a suburban high school in Massachusetts, and the school is appalling. The textbooks are all at least a decade old, the desks have been there since the 1950s, the foundation is cracking and falling apart, and there are many safety hazards that plague the school. Many high schools are like this, and not just in Massachusetts. How can a student enjoy going to school or be proud of the school when it looks like an abandoned warehouse?
The quality of teaching is suspect as well. Many students (from three different school districts I’ve worked for) have said that many teachers let the students play on the computers all day, let them roam around the hallways without anyone stopping them, don’t give out home-work, or have a set standard for grading. Many say that the teachers prepare them to pass the MCAS tests or to graduate high school and nothing more.
Students seem to have no respect for authority, and many could care less about getting a solid education. If there is no desire to learn, then nothing constructive can be accomplished. Parents and teachers need to do a better job in instilling a love of learning, or an interest in certain subject matters if our children are going to be productive as they mature into adulthood.
Private and religious oriented schools are not immune to the problem. Though private school students historically perform better on tests, they have some of the same issues that plague the American public schools. Materials are outdated, the buildings are old and dangerous, and the quality of teaching is not always as it should be.
Along with parents playing a more significant role in the child’s education, governments need to make education a more important priority than it is now. Money is being cut from state education budgets left and right, and that will only hurt the students. Towns and states need to consider the consequences of poor school funding, and try to come up with a budget that will help improve the state of our schools and not hurt any other areas of interest. Since last year, an unbelievable amount of funding has been axed nationally and locally. Firing teachers, raising education costs, and putting less back into the school systems is a formula for disaster.
Not every school has these problems.
