March 5, 2009
Letter to President Obama
From: Ed Davis
Regarding: Public School Improvements
Public school in the United States is for all children. It is the law to educate everyone up to 16 years of age. American schools vary greatly in the quality of education that they provide. They also differ from other countries. “American schools always come up short when compared to other countries yet we spend more money on schools than any other nation (Berliner).” Why is this happening?
During my early high school years, my teachers did not care about what I did in class. There was a time in 9th grade when we were having a test review for my biology class and I asked my teacher if I could go to the gym to get some shots up for basketball. She let me do it and did not care that we had a test the next day. I have had teachers that lost homework and could not find a grade. Some of my teachers seemed like they did not want to be there many days. It was as if they had things that were just more important on their mind. They would let their personal problems affect the way they treated us in class. Another problem is that some teachers and schools are so bad that your parents have to move you to a different school or school system. For example, the school I was districted to be in was not good so I transferred to another school, which was not any, better so then I transferred to a private school. Lucky for me since I was good at basketball I was able to transfer to a private school.
During your Presidential campaign, you promised to enhance education in the United States. Both parties even agreed that hiring better teachers for public schools is an important part in the education process. One of your proposals is to create scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate education in exchange for teaching at least four years in a high needed field or location. You also want to expand mentoring programs for new teachers. Increasing teacher pay “with new and innovative ways” (Obama’s website).
Money and specifically our current economic situation brought emotion into this past presidential election. Is sending more kids to college helping kids learn? On the other hand, should we be spending that money in the elementary levels, on basic math and reading skills? These are some of the questions currently being asked in order to assess what might help students succeed. These assessments are good in order to make the education policy better.
Maybe the reason why my teachers were so stressed out when they came to work was their pay - the average teacher makes about $45,771(salary survey report). If our government wants to hire better teachers then they need to raise all teachers’ salaries to a living wage – after all you get what you pay for. However, this is going to cost a lot.
The educational problem is something that needs to be fixed in the United States, we need better teachers. Maybe there needs to be a more standardized curriculum in the United States. Everyone needs to be on the same page and on the same pace. We need the United States to make a new method for teaching and learning and it has to be uniform. We need to start over from scratch. Children are the future of the country and we need to educate them to be able to fix the problems that are so obvious. Mr. Obama, you need to make education a priority. We need to lead the world in education during this next decade.
Works Cited
Berliner,David and Biddle, Bruce. The Manufactured Crisis, Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America’s Public School’s. Cambridge, MA 1995.
Salary Survey Report for all K-12 Teachers. http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary.
BarakObama.com
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I agreee with the arguments that you made in your open letter. It made the letter more persuasive when you talked about an actual personal experience that you had in high school when you where supposed to be studying for a test. This will probable convince him even more because some people don't think thing that situations like that happen in our school system. Even though your main point was education you brought up many problems that needed to be fixed which was good as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree that teacher apathy is probably the main issue contributing to an ineffective school system. It does not matter how much money is spent on the school system, if the teachers are apathetic then the results will reflect this. The poor schools will eventually lead to America being less competitive in the international market as poorly educated citizens will produce subpar goods unworthy of foreign investment. I also agree with your claims that money on education is being spent in the wrong places, such as elementary instead of high schools, and that teachers are being underpaid. Like you said “you get what you pay for.” Unfortunately, the current economic situation will not allow for us to increase the salaries of teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe points you made in your open letter were very interesting. I agree with your arguments too, and your personal stories made them more convincing. So far it does not seem like the president has done anything to correct or improve our education system. There are many aspects of this system that needs some adjustments. Some of the solutions you brought up in the letter could actually work but it would definitely require money, and being that our economy is damaged that would be pretty hard to accomplish. I think the quote “you get what you pay for” is suits how teachers probably perceive their job.
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