In many towns and cities across America people are demonstrating their disdain for school boards. For years, citizens have been trying to abolish school boards because of the corruption and problems they cause. But school boards still stand today and without them public education would develop many problems. With some revisions school boards could be brought back to their former glory.
What does a school board do? Many people couldn’t explain what school boards actually are allowed to do under the government’s standards. School boards “connect federal and state levels” to make sure that all schools in the United States are following laws and regulations (Resnick, 2010 p.12). The board has five primary functions, setting policies
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The news constantly shows the negatives in school boards and only shines a light on the corrupt ones. If the good in school boards was made more publicly, I believe that many would have a different opinion when they heard about school boards. Most school boards are very good at using the tax dollars toward things that will actually aid the education of the children. Each district in America is different, each has their own economic difficulties and problems. What one district needs for their schools could be the total opposite from what another might need so, school boards make custom decisions for their schools. School board members bring diverse opinions and backgrounds. They “ensure that different voices get heard, the marginalized have someone to appeal to, and different concerns get weighed” (Hess, 2010 pg.16). If school boards were taken away then the decisions would be made more like a business, we would lose the “moral, and social responsibility” each school board member feels (Ravitch, 2010 …show more content…
People want to rip apart school boards but I feel that with some revisions many against them would come around. The federal government needs to put more revisions on who can run and be elected on to the boards. This would flush out most of the corruption and would show the candidate’s motives. Also, if people became more acquainted with the five functions of school boards than the boards could focus more on the main aspects of their responsibilities instead of citizens trying to push trivial problems on the board members. With these revisions, I believe school boards will become more respected. School boards have been helping aid education for years and with a couple tweaks can be more
Education is a huge topic of controversy, society is always trying to reform what we know as education today. Right now, the first 12 years of education are entirely free for students directly, but in the end are paid for by the taxpayers of the town. The question is, why should only grades k-12 be free why not a college education too? On the other hand, there are some exceptions to free schooling at the k-12 levels. The most prominent being, Private schooling, most towns in the United States have at least one if not many private schools. They require a certain amount in tuition for each of its students every year. An example of this, in my town Salem, NH one of the most known private catholic schools is St. Joseph 's. I had a good friend a few years back
Local school boards must know and completely understand the basis of legal responsibilities and restrictions. These responsibilities and restriction include overseeing the operation of local public schools. The school board is held accountable for creation of policies, rules and regulations that provides guidance for the administration and operation of schools. The school board is perceived as a corporate body, which means an individual member of the board do not have more power than the overall power that is given to the board by the legislature. Therefore, individual school board members do not have the freedom to formulate policy, or act self-sufficiently of the school board as a whole. School board members are known to be public school officers, and are given powers by the legislature that help them fulfill their responsibilities.
The role of school boards “is to establish a vision for the community's schools that reflects a consensus of the board, community and district staff.” Although this is their main purpose, they also have to balance a district budget, create a district-yearly calendar, negotiate contract, construction, and approve district curriculum. (Stover 1) Although it might seem harsh to argue with school boards even though they do a lot, it is their job. They were appointed to lead and better the community, guide our children. If they are not mentally ready to be a leader, then why run for a school board member, the focus should be on the children, how to better education for them, and how to make sure they get the most out of every day coming to school.
By having school board meetings, it helps to see what the school’s needs. This is very important for the reason that this may be the only time that a concern parent or person voice might be heard. From this meeting, it was learned that the school board members are willing to help people that have concerns. An example, of this, was when the concern Pre-K parent was worried that she heard that Pre-K has been just a daycare. However, someone from the board mentioned to her that she would personally go with the parent the next day and show her how Pre-K is running during the day. This made the parent so happy because her concerns were being met. I have learned that school board members look out for the students and that they are the number one source that community members should go to if they have a concern or a suggestion to better their children’s
Schools are where we spend half of our lives at, our kids are spending time and energy in these places to become better people in the future. There is absolutely no reason why budget cuts should ever happen in a school. If the country is taking taxes from all of the citizens than they should be conscious to spend that money on things that matter like our children. Making budget cuts takes away programs for kids to excel in and makes a child harder to express himself. Arts are usually the first programs to be cut.
Only now is evidence emerging testifying to the fact that much of the criticism leveled at public schools is exaggerated and misplaced. It is easy to forget that schools reflect what is happening in society, not cause it. Schools of today have recently shown that they are performing better than ever. Unfortunately, the traditional challenges confronting schools have increased dramatically and broadly as the world and students have changed. Now schools are facing drastic change -- necessary change that must take place quickly so students are able to cope in a dramatically changing world of the future. All of the criticism creates fear in teachers and administrators rather than a desire to embrace change.
There are many factors involved in creating a good learning environment for children. There is little evidence that decentralization as the first (or only) element of an educational program of school restructuring is a successful strategy. Changes in governance may be critical to restructuring when they occur along with other activities that are designed to enhance student learning, and when they function to support this goal (Conley, 1993). Recent problems in commercially managed schools in Baltimore and Hartford may be indicative of combinatorial effects of complex factors that can render seemingly well thought out plans ineffectual in satisfying the communities they serve.
Community colleges in California should offer two years of free education to students that are responsible. First, by making community college free for two years, struggling low income families can get a two year education at their local community college. By going to a free college people can save money for two years and transfer out to a better college with the money that they have saved. More student will switch from expensive colleges, and come to a less expensive college and acquire their Associate's degree. Next, some of the students will realize that they are going to graduate from an expensive college, and they are going to leave with a diploma and a huge debt in loans. Some people just need an Associate's Degree to get the job that they want and people can get that in two years. For example to become a police officer, people need an Associate's degree, and be twenty one years of age. Last, the crime in the cities will be reduced if community colleges would offer free education. Most people that are in the streets doing bad things are the ones who dropped out of high school because college was going to be too
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.
Something is amiss in America. Something does not fit. How can America be one of the strongest nations in the world, yet have the lowest educational ranking among advanced nations? This trend is a disaster for America and people are learning this quickly. There are many theories and ideas on what is wrong with America--terrible teachers, too much testing, or people that have authority positions with little experience. All are certainly relevant and play a factor in the American education system, yet they are missing something--a common link. Fixing one problem and ignoring the others, will solve nothing. These issues are the end products from the real problem on how the American Education system has flopped. The problem began for the American
Sadly over 40 years later, the the educational revolution still hasn't taken off. The “pieces” are still lying around unassembled and the education in the schools is still tolerated. The need for change of public schools in the United States has been emerging since of the the passage of Pennsylvania's Common School Act in 1834. The Common School Act of 1834, set up a "general” system of education by common schools. People are continuously saying how children are the future and we must nurture them in order to ensure a bright future for our country. However, we are failing at a very basic level. The current education system in the United States is extremely poor. Drop-out rates for high school students continue to rise and student performance has been steadily declining. An article published in 1999 showed exactly how much of a crisis the American education system is really in. The article was written by William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, and it ranked high school seniors form 21 industrialized nations based on their performance in math, science, and advanced physics. American high school seniors ranked 19th in math, 16th in science and last in advanced physics.
I should receive a passing grade in this class because I can write now. Not just an exaggeration, but after another semester of English I finally feel confident that can write. Three of the reasons behind my confidence is I learned, I experienced and best of all I repeated. These three values helped prepare me for what is in store in English 1302 and here is why.
The decade of the 1980s saw numerous calls for widespread school reform, with changes recommended in teacher education, graduation requirements, school structure, and accountability measures. With the advent of the 1990s, school reform finally to...
Many don’t realize that the road to success isn’t so much a road as it is a winding,
Ask any number of people, what the value of an education is and they all will agree that a good education is exceedingly important. However, ask any number of people, how the country should improve it, and that is fiercely contested. Every couple of years a new hopeful idea is put into the system to help in some way whether it be enforcing standards, opening schools like charter schools, giving out checks to private education, or having a teacher’s pay be based on their performance. The most recent ideas have been two federal programs that have both sought to remake the educational system. The first one is the “No Child Left Behind Act” that was put into place in 2001. This act is to r...