Isn't it amazing that there never seems to be a funding crisis when it comes expanding America's political agendas through war or a shortage when it comes to the hundreds of millions of dollars that presidential campaign's cost, yet when it comes to educational resources for our children, finding the funds to provide them with the basic necessities proves to be difficult. To put things in perspective, according to the Washington Post's 2012 Presidential Campaign Finance Explorer, President Obama and his allies have raised $775 million dollars and already spent $606 million. Mitt Romney and his allies have raised $784 million and sepnt $534 million. Much of this money goes toward advertising on the TV and radio and that advertising usually consists of attacking the other candidate or feeding the public with promises that the candidates will most likely not deliver upon.
Throughout these campaings the candidates never fail to talk about the critical issues facing the nation including the state of the economy, unemployment, national defense and education. President Obama himself has preached the importance of education reform yet according to the projected Federal Budget spend, only 4% will be spend on education as opposed to 24% on defense. The projected budgeted spend for welfare is 12%, 3 times that of education, does anyone else see the irony of this? Because many of these people don't have the education or resources to obtain jobs they have no other choice but to depend on the government for assistance. This government assistance is simply a band aid to stop the bleeding instead of attempting to fix the the issues that lead to the need for financial assistance.
Kumashiro brings forth a very compelling and accurate argument around the fact that those elites framing today's educational reforms have very little knowledge of what the issues really are and how they should be fixed. As he mentions in his book both President Obama and Mayor Emmanuel are telling us what changes need to be made in struggling public schools, all while their children attend schools with the best resources, facilities, and teachers. And since these schools with the best teachers obtain high scores, then it's very easy for these elites to simply point the fingers at teachers rather then themselves, who actually have the power and influence to make the changes. In my opinion, the elites don't necessarily address these issues with as much urgency as they should because they don't directly impact their children.
I agree with Kumashiro's belief that all schools are in need of improvement and the reforms that should lead to those improvements should not be framed or influenced by those who don't have children's best interests' in mind (the elities, teacher unions, etc.). The fact of the matter is that the current structure of the education system is failing when it comes to preparing children for their future and the proposed reforms are only going to contribute to that failure. Those elite schools may not be failing when it comes to test scores and education but the fact that these students are surrounded by others just like them who don't know what it means to struggle or face adversity, doesn't prepare them for life after school. The workforce these children will soon be entering is an extremely diverse place in which these people of all races and cultures will interact with one another, and dealing with these new cultures for the first time could prove to be challenging. Growing up I was blessed to attend some very good schools that continue to be succussful today. These schools were made up with kids that looked just like me and came from very similar backgrounds, so that was the only world I know. When I started my career, the diversity within the corporate environment was very intimidating and definitely took a while for me to get used to. So although my the schools I attended were considered great when it comes to providing education, they failed when it came to giving me the tools to succeed after shool.
Unfortunately I can't provide the answers as to how to fix the education crisis today, but I definitley think they need to get a more diverse group of individuals involved in the framing of the reforms. The entire educational system could use improvement, and instead of having the decisions made by the elites and politicians who have their best interests in mind, they need to include those directly impacted like the teachers and parents of these children in struggling schools. Of course these improvements will cost money, but if Education was truly a top priority for those with power, finding the money wouldn't be an issue. Perhaps instead of candidates spending hundreds of millions of dollars advertising and pursuading people to vote for them, perhaps they can invest that money into improving our nation and let their actions earn votes instead of their words.
My response to the blog prompt was really quite similar to yours. I think that is obvious that reform and change does need to happen but as what exactly that "fix" will be it is hard to say because it is such a complex issue.
ReplyDeleteI also touched on the presidential candidates and appreciated the actual statistics that you provided when referring to this. Really great post!
CJ-- A very nice, well argued post. I especially liked your point about the irony that education represents only 4% of the federal budget, but welfare of all kinds represents 12%. Presumably, if we sunk a bit more money into education -- and perhaps counted attending school as "work" for the purposes of satisfying the work requirements built into Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)-- more people could move off the welfare rolls. Of course, the problem would be to decide how best to spend those new education funds. As both you and Nicole point out, there is no consensus on exactly how to "fix" what is broken in our current system. Personally, I think we actually need to fix the poverty that holds back so many kids FIRST. Usually, kids educational achievement rises with family income, employment status, etc.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post. Given statistics about campaign expenditures and the failure of the coverage of important issues truly draws a well-argumented point. This relates to the article that I have mentioned in my post about those important issues, like housing and education, that were barely mentioned during the debates. Even though each of the candidates emphasized the issues of economy and job creation, (so they would comply with what audience wants to hear) they still failed to provide answers and definitely failed to cover those topics, including education, which seem to matter to majority of voters. In fact, as that article points out, it is interesting to note the media's role during the campaign and debates. If those issues are important to majority of people, how come there were no questions asked about them from any of the journalists? I think your post brings an accurate conclusion, that it is about time actual actions were implemented instead of vague words. It would be even more possible if those certain media outlets wouldn't take part of those campaign dollars and focused on the actual issues instead.
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