Innovation – A Step by Step Solution to Improve Education

1038 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Private schools compared to public schools

Innovation – A Step by Step Solution to Improve Education

This week the media was full of stories about the outrage regarding the severe cuts California is undergoing in the area of public education funding. California currently ranks 49th out of the 50 states in public school performance K-12. Most people are understandably perplexed about how we will improve school performance and close the achievement gap if we keep cutting the funding? A bit of a chicken and egg dilemma.

The failing of our public schools across the US and particularly in urban areas has been a rant of mine for a long time. I am convinced that a failing education system is the most critical long-term problem facing our country. I have made education the top budget priority in my family, and fortunately, had the means to send my children to private school as the alternative to my real wish – that our public schools were close or equal to the educational experience of most private schools and many high-performing public charter schools. However, during the same timeframe, I decided I could not turn my back on the public education problem, if not for my kids, for the generations that will follow and the well-being of our country overall.

For more than ten years I have invested a great deal of time to K-12 public education reform with a particular focus on schools in low income communities through my active participation in several organizations dedicated to this cause. Often, friends and colleagues say to me “Why bother with all your effort? The system is broken.” While I have believe that this is a very tough, complex, entrenched systems problem with no quick fixes, I also believe we simply HAVE to make it better as soon as possible, and m...

... middle of paper ...

... a society, attack and solve the biggest threats to future of this country’s wellness –

1) Get great people on the issue with a passionate commitment to solve it over time

2) Fund innovation to create long term solutions, not short term band-aids

3) Be tenacious and patient, yet act with urgency

4) Realize progress comes in small steps most of the time, adding up to systemic change over time

5) Experiment and adapt as we go

Hopefully we can elevate the Education issue to others that feel more pressing and urgent, and in the long run are not. In the long run, if we don’t fix education, every one of the other challenges gets worse. And, if (when) we do, they all get better. A better educated country is a country with fewer societal challenges.

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward” – Thomas Edison

Show More
Related

  • The Common School Case Study

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    America’s public school system started off very rough, but through the dedication of many hard-working Americans, it was starting to shape into a system that allowed all children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin, to have an education.

    Read More

  • The American School System: In Need of Change

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    Webber, Karl. “A Nation Still At Risk.” Waiting for Superman: How We Can Save Save America’s Failing Public Schools. Ed. Carl Weber. New York: PublicAffairs. 2010. 3-10. Print.

    Read More

  • California Education System

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    With this many students, both state and federal representatives have made efforts to adopt reforms designed to make a solution to the funding inequality. The disproportion of funds first and foremost effects the amount of programs offered to children that vary from basic subjects such as: English, Math, and Science. This created the motivation to improve the quality of education for low-income neighborhoods by targeting resources other than property taxes and redirecting the states budgets. The goal the school districts all shared was the need to increase instruction, add after school activities, promote a well-rounded education, physical innovations to facilities and classrooms, and to update the academic resources. The popular demand that the funding to public education needs to correspond throughout all the school districts. Wealthy tax payers often argue that a region that depends on property taxes is the “American way.” This argument derives from the ideology that American success relies on perseverance and hard work, but if the playing field is uneven the higher born student has an advantage. “High property taxes—the burdens and perverse incentives they create, the rage they generate, the town-to-town school funding inequities they proliferate—…represent an endless New England nightmare…” (Peirce and Johnson, 2006). In the attempt to

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech On The American Dream

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    Education is the backbone of most nations. Proper teaching to students ensure things such as better technology, better fund distributions, running operations like businesses, military training, and the government. Sadly, our nation is very low on the ladder when it comes to education. Students First has pointed out that most children are reading below their grade level, are respectively the 20th and 27th best nation when it comes to Math and Science, and there is no signifigant change. Americans are however getting an education, though lower than against other nations America still are able to make a living with their lives. There is much needed improvement, but at least Americans are not completely ignorant. Citizens can make a living with their lives and though not as intelligent as someone from Korea or Japan there is no way to dispute that our education system is doing

    Read More

  • Year Round School Year Analysis

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    Education has been the pathway to a better life for many years now. It is full of opportunity for many Americans. Education is not for every child but it is necessary in the early part of kids’ lives to learn the important things. Thanks to our government, we have public education in which we have free kindergarten through 12th grade. Public education is paid by through our taxes. Because of this, the government runs the schools and that can cause some problems. There will always be room for improvement in the public education system. I think the biggest thing we can do to improve K-12 schooling right now, is to go to a year round school year schedule.

    Read More

  • The Budget for Public Schools in Georgia Should be Increased

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... past decade has not only affected teachers and valuable elective programs, but mostly importantly the education of today’s youth. The Georgia school districts have exhausted almost every way to make up for the billions of dollars of lost state financial support and they have reached the tipping point. Since over 9,000 teachers have lost their jobs, students are being forced into already bulging classes where they do not receive the kind of individual attention needed in order to boost student achievement. If Georgia leaders expect student achievements to improve, they must invest the necessary economic resources needed to achieve this goal. At the end of the day, one of the most important things in life is a good education, so we need to start putting more money into the K-12 school funding and help build back what years of austerity cuts have nearly destroyed.

    Read More

  • inequity in education

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    In America, the idea of equality between people is important, it is in fact, written into the Constitution. However, for years the American educational system has operated in a completely inequitable manner due, in part, to the way that schools are funded, mostly through local or property taxes. The differences between schools in wealthy neighborhoods and those in poor neighborhoods are, many times, reminiscent of the differences between white schools and black schools before the end of segregation. While there is a desperate need to fix this broken system, there has been little progress.  The issue is so divisive and the problem so big and entrenched in American laws, many politicians refuse to even attempt to come up with a solution. The answer lies with the federal government. To make American public schools equitable the federal government needs to step up its role in funding and administering the schools.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of California's Charter Schools

    2349 Words  | 5 Pages

    An article from the Los Angeles Times showed that the majority of Californians give California schools “a grade of C or below” and half think that the quality of schools will continue to decline (Watanabe). While the economic downturn affected the public school system in a negative way, it was not the sole root of its problems. It just simply exacerbated existing issues. Because of widespread discontent with the public school system, many different solutions to reform the mainstream public school system have been brought up in public discourse.... ...

    Read More

  • Problems in the Inner City Schools

    2038 Words  | 5 Pages

    For decades now, there have been educational problems in the inner city schools in the United States. The schools inability to teach some students relates to the poor conditions in the public schools. Some of the conditions are the lack of funds that give students with the proper supplies, inexperienced teachers, inadequate resources, low testing scores and the crime-infested neighborhoods. These conditions have been an issue for centuries, but there is nothing being done about it. Yet, state and local governments focus on other priorities, including schools with better academics. It is fair to say that some schools need more attention than other does. However, when schools have no academic problems then the attention should be focused elsewhere, particularly in the inner city schools.

    Read More

  • Chicago Public School Budget Review:FY2014

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even our President Barack Obama has spoken about how important it is to make sure the children are being educated to their fullest. Learning the ability to think critically and problem-solve gives way towards national prosperity. Book, Higher Education. It is easy to see that there is a strong urge to get the best education you can receive for a reason. Education is and will always be an important factor in our society....

    Read More

  • Unequal Education in America: Urban vs Suburban Education

    2470 Words  | 5 Pages

    The gap between the nation’s best and worst public schools continues to grow. Our country is based on freedom and equality for all, yet in practice and in the spectrum of education this is rarely the case. We do not even have to step further than our own city and its public school system, which many media outlets have labeled “dysfunctional” and “in shambles.” At the same time, Montgomery County, located just northwest of the District in suburban Maryland, stands as one of the top school systems in the country. Within each of these systems, there are schools that excel and there are schools that consistently measure below average. Money alone can not erase this gap. While increased spending may help, the real problem is often rooted in the complex issues of social, cultural, and economic differences. When combined with factors involving the school itself and the institution that supports it, we arrive at what has been widely known as the divide between the suburban and urban schools. Can anything actually be done to reverse this apparent trend of inequality or are the outside factors too powerful to change?

    Read More

  • The Segregation of America's School System

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s problems. Most important, money cannot influence student, parent, teacher, and administrator perceptions of class and race. Nor can money improve test scores and make education relevant and practical in the lives of minority students.

    Read More

  • Failing Urban Schools

    1882 Words  | 4 Pages

    Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On School Funding

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    Proper school funding is one of the keys to having a successful school. Americans believe that funding is the biggest problem in public schools. School improvements revolve around funding. There needs to be funding not only in the successful schools but also the schools that aren’t doing as well. In documentary, Waiting for Superman, it talks about how smaller class sizes will help students. Funding is what will help the smaller class sizes. State funding mechanisms are subject to intense political and economic scrutiny (Leonard). Studies have shown that funding is inversely related to accreditation levels (Leonard). School funding needs to be increased, but there must be accountability as well.

    Read More

  • To Create a Better World

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    We have many global problems, but we are lacking global institutions powerful enough to effectively address such problems as global terrorism, human rights abuses, global warming, the ozone layer, pollution of the oceans and rivers, arms trade, child soldiers, war, the weaponization of space, and nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. Finding a way to participate in solving these and other global problems is one of the great challenges of our time.

    Read More

More about Innovation – A Step by Step Solution to Improve Education

Open Document