What’s the Issue with American Schools?
By: Ryan Santana and Benjamin Virkus.
It comes as no surprise that American educational institutions are ranked poorly amongst the American public. Education reforms from the past decade have all fallen short of their goals: Quality schools are still not accessible and affordable, and America is still falling behind in the education department. There have been attempts made by the Obama administration, such as Race to the Top, to help the faltering states and schools; There have been promises made by Mitt Romney, such as slashing the federal education budget and using a voucher system, to help states and schools. Although it is unclear whether or not any policy has the ability to turn around American schools, what is clear is that America needs to revamp its educational system, and fast.
Obama’s Race to the Top has made education a competition. While the intentions of the policy are good, the results are far from that. Poor schools and states made up of largely poor school districts have found it hard to compete for the extra federal funding. Teachers have found an increased incentive to falsify test scores, and essentially cheat for their students. Another supposed remedy for education is charter schools. Charters schools are good in theory, but they fail to serve the larger needs of the community. Students who attend charter schools only perform marginally, if at all, better than their public school counterparts. Federal intervention and funding seems to be key to providing students from all walks of life equal educational opportunities.
What about Romney’s proposed plan? Romney would like to cut federal intervention to schools and provide vouchers to parents. A couple of states already have voucher programs and those states do not outperform or provide an above average education. Vouchers would only cover a fraction of what needs to be done. But why should the Government not be involved in education? Without Government intervention, schools might still be segregated. Government funding, while good natured, might not be the best option. Still, the extra funding might be able to keep impoverished school districts at the same level as their better-funded counterparts. Cutting the education budget and funneling funds elsewhere is definitely not the answer.
American schools are falling behind their international counterparts. America used to be home to some of the world’s most progressive institutions of learning, but now school is either too expensive or offers subpar education. Education is in need of massive reform and policy makers have yet to find a solution. No matter which side wins this election, Obama or Romney need to put pressure on states and schools to start providing for their citizens. America can lead again, we just need a push in the right direction.
Discussion (1) | October 28th, 2012 Categories: Growth, Institutions
America’s Changing Labor Force and Manufacturing
By: Kyle Peabody and Alyssa Dizoglio.
Edited by: Luke Martin and Fiona Maguire.
America’s labor force is changing - the “baby boomers” are retiring in masses and the next generation filling their positions have been raised in a world radically different than that of their parents.
Today’s youth are attending college at a much higher rate than generations past. The public perception has become such that many believe they must attend college post high school in order to procure a career. A college education is undoubtedly valuable, but there is currently a shortage of approximately 80,000-100,000 “highly skilled” workers in America today, according to the Boston Consulting Group. In addition, the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association estimate that 10 million new “skilled workers” will be needed by 2020.
Despite the shortage in skilled workers, pressure is still on today’s youth to attend colleges and universities. Students will frequently incurring large amounts of debt financing college, rather than pursuing trade and skilled positions. Many youths opt to pursue fields such as arts, humanities, and law, which have unemployment rates of 11%, 9%, and 8%. Meanwhile, fields such as plumbing, construction management, and HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning) are expected to have over 15% in job growth by 2018.
Jacey Wilkins of the Manufacturing Institute, found that few high school graduates seek these manual or industrial positions, and those who do lack even the most basic math skills. Due to the recession forcing many companies to cut training and human resources budgets, businesses cannot afford to hire these workers who have no skills and are in need of training. This is potentially troublesome for U.S. manufacturing because companies are looking to regain production from China and to compete with the high costs of labor and energy in Western Europe and Japan.
In order to remedy the current lack of skilled industrial workers in the U.S., high schools should offer more programs for students to begin trade and technical training through programs such as BOCES and the Industry Works Council. The US needs to emphasize the benefits of students attending trade schools and community college programs, including the fact that they are one-tenth of the cost of private universities, in order to encourage students to pursue these fields.
According to a study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, just one in three parents would encourage their child to work in a trade. Also, among 18-24 year olds, 52% have little or no interest in a manufacturing career, and 61% prefer to enter a “professional” career. To initiate a revival of U.S. manufacturing, it is necessary to educate the American youth about the value of skilled-workers in the economy.
Discussion (4) | October 21st, 2012 Categories: Growth
On Education
By: Luc Shay and Fiona Maguire.
Edited by: Michael Kopelman.
A recent article in The Economist, “How Will the Candidates Tackle Schools and Colleges?” ties back to our studies on education. Until the 1970’s, the United States was a world leader in education, but has since fallen. Government policy, societal changes, and the way we value education has evolved. These changes have warped the system we have today.
The US began by building an educational system focusing on children. In the mid-1800s, the Common School movement emphasized the basics of education and led way in the early 1900’s for the focus of education to move from common schools to high schools. This is where students poured in seeking skills that would benefit them in their jobs. During this movement, the US surpassed Europe in education by allowing their system to be open for all. After World War II, higher education expanded to include college as soldiers returning home competed for skilled jobs. College became popular as people realized better education equaled an increase in yearly income at a skilled job.
Sixty years later, students still attend college with the goal of getting educated to obtain a higher paying job. However, in education today, not only are the students more competitive, but so are the schools. Now, schools are focusing more their reputation rather than educating their students.
With the expansion of the system, the government should have the power to redirect schools to focus on their students’ education. However, due to the government size and amount of money it deals with, they are unable to focus on specific issues like education. In the article, both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney discuss their views on how education should be reformed. Even though they stress the importance of education It is likely that the government will not address this issue. This is because of more demanding issues, leaving education an unresolved problem.
Government involvement has the potential to improve the quality of education in America, but has in the past created problems in the system. The government’s role in education has changed drastically over time. The government’s size, power, and involvement has created many improvements, but has also weakened other areas.
The government has hurt education through its prevalent approach of setting up laws and regulations that protect bad teachers. Many teachers are inadequate to begin with and continuously diminish the profession because government makes it difficult for them to be fired. Previously it was much easier to replace a bad teacher, but due to these increased laws this is becoming harder and harder to accomplish.
Likewise, where laws protect bad teachers, they also protect bad students. In the past, some people were discriminated against and not allowed into educational institutions. Today, the power of government has been used in reverse, as institutions must admit people based on their background. Extending education to more people is an improvement, but has become counter-productive in terms of creating a better educational system, as people are admitted to create diversity rather than on the student’s abilities.
The government’s efforts to make education more affordable may actually achieve the opposite. When the government helps pay for education, institutions have no incentive to keep costs low and instead raise prices, knowing that government will pay.
In many cases the road to bad education has been paved with good intentions. This article describes ways in which each candidate may improve the system. However we believe that maybe the best thing would be for them to simply back off. If the government was able to get out if the way, then America could regain its position as an educational leader. By strangling the nation with laws, regulations, and big government education is in a constant decline.
Discussion (1) | October 14th, 2012 Categories: Government Policy
