The Education System and its many problems

Lizette Escatel-Sanchez

English 1A

Spring 2019

The Education System and its Many Problems

“Education is a social institution through which society’s children are taught basic academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms.”  (Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed)  But many major problems stand within that social institution, problems that threaten to harm our current education system in the United States. The education system has its many pros and cons. The social environment of one might say education undermines some of the most important decisions of one’s life long journey. Education is something that we have been taught throughout our lives, and it is to be important and something no one can ever take away from you, but in the same way what does it mean to have an education under your belt.

Growing up in a low-income neighborhood in Redwood City, Ca., in which most of our parents were poorly educated, and some barely even finished middle school, major problems within my own public school district were not noticeable to me or my classmates at the time. Throughout elementary school, I remember being aware that we had to be extra careful with school items (computers being one of those). Many times we did not have enough paper, writing utensils and other basic necessities, but we did not see this as being a problem, this was normal to us. It was not until high school that I personally realized some of the major problems that our public education system faced, but how could we fix those problems? ‘What exactly were the problems, whose fault was it, how long have such problems been around, and what are some things that us as a community can do to help?’  were just some of the questions that started to linger in my mind. 

One major disadvantage and problem that some of us faced, was the lack of education that our parents had, as well as the language barrier. I remember my parents not being able to help with certain school projects and homework, due to the fact that they had no knowledge about it and/or did not understand. A recent study showed that ”Children who are raised speaking English as a second language often face additional academic challenges at American public schools. Only 64.1% of California students have parents who are fluent English speakers, the smallest share of any state in the country.” Stebbins, Samuel, and Thomas C. Frohlich. 12 Feb. 2018.) For many, parent/guardian involvement was very limited and this starts to not only be a personal problem, but also a major problem that our education system faces. Parent involvement in their child(ren)’s education is one of the most important components to success. Not having involved parents can be detrimental, students will lack support, ambition, and will tend to not take their education as seriously as someone who has involved parents. Having involved parents/guardians leads to our students obtaining better grades, good attendance record, high scores on standardized tests, more goals for themselves and their future, and less likely to drop out of school. Having someone  there to oversee the students work and make sure they show up to school on time and meets his/her school requirements makes a huge difference, they will feel cared for and will want to do well. Without proper parent involvement, many students can find it easy to not be as involved in school themselves, therefore cutting classes or showing up late. Poor attendance records also means less money to our public schools. 

With poor attendance records comes another issue within the education system, funding. Funding for public schools in the United States varies from state to state. California, for instance, and the way they handle their school funding is very flawed compared to other states in our country. Currently, California schools receive money based on the number of students enrolled and the students' attendance. The drop of enrolled students in public schools means more funding cuts from the state. Our funding money comes from state and local taxes, which make up about 80% of school funding. Here is a quick breakdown- 58% State, 22% local property taxes, 10% other local taxes, 9% federal, 1% state lottery. Two major propositions in California have made a difference in the amount of money that our schools receive. Prop 13 puts a limit on the increase of property taxes, that limit has been highly criticized due to the fact that now there is a decline in the funding for our public schools. On the other hand, California schools do get a guaranteed minimum amount of money thanks to Prop 98, “ In 1988, voters approved Proposition 98, which requires the state to dedicate a minimum of roughly 40% of its General Fund to K–14 education each year.” (Murphy, Patrick, and Jennifer Paluch. "Financing California’s Public Schools." 2018.) But even with guaranteed minimum, our schools fall short compared to the amount that other states spend on school funding. As of now, California receives approximately $10, 786 per pupil, which ranks 8th lowest in the country. With less funding also come less staff and bigger class sizes, fewer after school programs, and less money to upkeep the school grounds.

As if the troubles with funding and how much of it goes into our public schools was not enough, Charter schools are now also draining funds from public education. Charter schools operate independently and are usually established by community leaders, parents, and teachers, but they still receive federal funding, as well as donations and grants. Every time a student chooses  to leave a public school and enroll into a Charter, public schools lose money, and therefore have to cut programs (such as music and arts), cut staff (such as custodians, nurses or librarians), and other support. Recent studies showed that Charter schools take an average of $1,000 a year per student, which start to add up to millions of dollars per school year. It was reported that Charter schools cost the Oakland Unified District a whopping $65.9 Million in the 2016-2017 school year. Money that could have instead gone to public schools for better programs,more resources, or pay increase for our teachers. Teachers are so underpaid, that some have been forced to find a second job in order to make ends meet, especially in the bay area.

Another major problem we are dealing with as a society, and also affecting our education system- poverty. We know that poor attendance hurts our education system when it comes to receiving its funding, but do we ever stop and think why some of these children have such poor attendance records? Often, their poor attendance has something more to it than just not wanting to actually go to school. Children living in poverty have higher number of absences. Sadly, instead of attending school, some of those students affected by poverty have to either be cared for by family (or friend) and even work to help their family pay bills. 21% (roughly 15 million) of children in the United States are currently living well below the federal poverty threshold. Living in a household with one single parent, and/or living in poverty has been associated with bad educational outcomes. Poverty hurts our students chances at success due to a number of different reasons. Some of those being- poor health due to bad nutrition, which leads to brain development and cognitive issues, and also the instability factor which affects our students emotionally and academically “In addition to the physical and cognitive consequences of poverty, students often lose motivation and hope for a better future. Without the support, opportunity, and encouragement to dream of something different, students don’t know how to work toward something different.” "The Cycle of Educational Failure and Poverty."  (Stand Together Foundation. 24 Jan. 2017.) With the amount of low-income students increasing, our public schools are having a difficult time meeting their needs, needs including many basic school resources, bigger class sizes/therefore lacking closer attention from teachers, and care. 

With poverty affecting millions of our students, many of them do not know where their next meal will come from, and some do not have access to healthy food. With poor nutrition comes health issues. If our students are living in hunger (or eating unhealthy food), they are not able to function properly. Hunger affects their ability to concentrate, and they are likely to suffer from “hunger headaches” (which come from skipping meals and/or water) . Luckily, most children living in food insecure households qualify for reduced lunch or free meal federal programs (though not all schools participate in the National School Lunch Program). On the other hand, the meals students receive at school have been highly criticized for being unhealthy. These meals are rich in sodium, and often processed.  With healthier meal options, our students would have less health problems, such as obesity (which currently affects 13.7 million children and adolescents). 

The No Child Left Behind Act was a law signed by the then president, George W. Bush on January 8, 2002 which was criticized almost from the beginning due to its many flaws. “NCLB was the product of a collaboration between civil rights and business groups, as well as both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill and the Bush administration, which sought to advance American competitiveness and close the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their more advantaged peers.” Klein, Alyson. "No Child Left Behind Overview: Definitions, Requirements, Criticisms, and More." Education Week. 25 Oct. 2018. 24 June 2019) NCLB required for teachers to be highly qualified in order to teach curriculum and prepare students to take standardised testing. Students grades 3-12 are required to take tests which then gives a grade and shows where they stand in reading and math. Once testing is over, states receive a “report card” which shows whether proficiency level was met. If proficiency is not met after testing, schools can suffer the consequences which include less federal funding for public education. Some other consequences if students did not meet proficiency level- 2 consecutive years of not meeting levels, student given the option to transfer to a better public school (including Charters if any availability), 3 years of not meeting levels, free tutoring is mandated, and at 4 years of not meeting proficiency level, the state can take over the school, shut it down or decide to make it into a Charter. NCLB was a big investment with very little results and more negatives than positives. Teachers were put under extreme pressure to make sure all students met the proficiency level of reading and math. Many teachers argued that ironically enough, the No Child Left Behind Act was leaving children behind by caring more about their test numbers, than what the students are actually learning. With Barack Obama taking over office after Bush, came many changes, one of them being the replacement of NCLB. On December 10, 2015 Barack signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (which replaced NCLB). Some modifications were made into place with the ESSA, but the standardized testing was kept and under law all students from grades 3-8 have to test annually. ESSA also lets the states have more control about the goals they have for their students, and the way they go about meeting such. 

With so many obstacles in the way of us getting a good education in the United States, being able to graduate high school and go off to college is always a major accomplishment when so many things are against us. We face language barriers, poverty, not enough funding, not enough parental involvement, and so many other things. I personally believe that education is the key to success, we need to want it, we need to find a way to break through all of these obstacles, and that starts with being educated. The more educated we are, the more comprehension we will have, and the more we will be able to help our younger generation because the more knowledge we have, the better decisions we will make (like voting on propositions which will affect our school funding, or who we vote into office). I am optimistic, and hope for a better world for our youth, a world in which education is free, and a world where we support each other and celebrate our successes. 

Works Cited-

Bogenschinder, Karen, and Carol Johnson. "Family Involvement in Education." 2004.

"Introduction to education." Https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@13.1:RDzWs2S8@9/Introduction-to-Education.

Klein, Alyson. "No Child Left Behind Overview: Definitions, Requirements, Criticisms, and More." Education Week. 25 Oct. 2018. 24 June 2019 <https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/no-child-left-behind-overview-definition-summary.html>.

Murphy, Patrick, and Jennifer Paluch. "Financing California’s Public Schools." 2018.

"The Cycle of Educational Failure and Poverty." Stand Together Foundation. 15 May 2019. 24 Jan. 2017 <https://www.stand-together.org/cycle-educational-failure/>.

Stebbins, Samuel, and Thomas C. Frohlich. "Geographic disparity: States with the best (and worst) schools." USA Today. 12 Feb. 2018. Gannett Satellite Information Network. 25 June 2019 <https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2018/02/08/geographic-disparity-states-best-and-worst-schools/1079181001/>.