Reforming Public Education Visual Outline

Reforming Public Education in America
Education in America
1. The world around American schoolchildren is changing, but the public school system is failing to keep up with all the changes. Many programs that are in place were great 50+ years ago but now true reform is needed.

A. The United States used to have the highest standards in the world for education.
B. With so many budget cuts, the education of American children is suffering. There is little money for updated textbooks, new technology, and even updated buildings. Many teachers reach into their own pockets to supply their classrooms even with the basics of paper and pencils.
C. Taxes should be paying for world-class education in America, but the government is not using those dollars wisely. School district boards are in complete charge of how the money is distributed to each school. Not all schools will receive the same amount, some will get more and some will get less.

2. The public education system needs change. Children are getting further and further behind in math and science when compared to other countries. The No Child Left Behind law has some good goals but those goals are hard to achieve because the standards are set too high. It’s hard to judge what the standards are because each state has its own test for student achievement.

A. Very little money for schools means no new textbooks or technology available to students. Cutbacks also mean no counselors or school nurses on campus. Additionally, school buildings do not get much-needed repairs.
B. Student/teacher ratios are too high. Teachers cannot give individual attention to students, and students struggle with keeping up with the curriculum. Poor performing teachers make the same amount of money as a good teacher. Tenure and the teacher’s union protect all teachers from any form of discipline.
C. U. S. schools have failed to keep up with other countries in education. The common factor with all of the countries that have students achieving their standards is all students use the same curriculum and there is a No Child Left Behind Law. The United States has the shortest school year and the fewest amount of hours children spend in the classroom.

3. Research suggests that the U. S. education system could benefit from reform because there is very little money for schools; there are over-crowded classrooms with tenured teachers who are protected by the unions and other countries are surpassing America’s once-great education system by leaps and bounds.
References

Athavale, G. (2009, October 29).
U.S. education falling behind those of other countries. http://www.saratogafalcon.org/content/us-education-falling-behind-those-other-countries Behrent, M. (2009, Summer).
Reclaiming our freedom to teach: Education Reform in the Obama era. [Part of the special issue, Education and the Obama presidency].
Harvard Educational Review 79 (2), p. 240-6. Retrieved from http://wguproxy.egloballibrary.com/login? user=true&url=http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e84eb37b49561a968d1ff2c9fe8790d78c3c4d7ec0aaa2d1d11262f4eeb607acd&fmt=C Howell, W.; West, M.; Peterson, P. (2011 Fall).
The public weighs in on school reform Retrieved from Education Next, 11(4), and 10-22 A Failing Grade For Public School Funding (2010, June 01).
[Editorial] Los Angeles Times Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/01/opinion/la-ed-funding-20100601/2 Leana, C. 2011, Fall).
The missing link in school reform p. 30-35 Retrieved from http://go. aft. org/social National Commission on Excellence in Education (1903, April 26).
A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Retrieved from http://www2. ed. gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html Resnick, L.; Nolan, K. (1995 March).
Where in the world are world-class standards? Educational Leadership, Vol. 52, p. 6-10, 5p Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/mar95/vol52/num06/Where_in_the_World_Are_World-Class_Standards?.aspx Schools and Testing: Left