A little over halfway through the Obama administration’s term in office, Americans are missing the point as reports from dozens of polls project the most important issues on Americans’ minds are the economy, jobs and the war on terror.
America has the largest and most prosperous economy in the world, yet out of the 30 most developed countries in the world we are ranked 25th in math and 21st in science. School authorities across the nation are warning thousands of teachers that they could lose their jobs this June, causing the possibility of the most extensive layoffs in education in decades.
Public schools around the nation have graduation rates as low as 35 percent and it is estimated that students who don’t finish high school will not only earn less but be eight times as likely to go to prison.
In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have raised revenue by taxing some of the state’s richest citizens while shortchanging the school financing formula by $1.6 billion, nearly 20 percent, using the economy as an excuse.
Even in our great state of Texas, Gov. Rick Perry proposed to slash $10 billion from education spending that would devastate public schools. In Dallas, for the first time in 40 years, the school district has an uncontested May election with no candidates challenging the two incumbents and the expected appeal of a third seat with departing member brought forth only one candidate.
Do you see the trend? The backbone, the determinant, the foundation of our nation’s future is quietly but quickly fading away without notice simply because we are allowing it to go ignored and remain a low priority on our nation’s agenda.
Along with those in the education business, President Obama is among the few who realize the threat that our failing education system brings to our nation and future. He warned in the State of the Union address a few months ago that nearly half of all new jobs will require beyond a high school education and that as a nation we must out-innovate, out-educate and out-build all other competing nations.
Not only do we need to ensure quality and equal opportunity for education to our youth because we want them to be competitive in our own job market, but also to compete in the fast-paced growth of innovation and technology to put America on top. Why aren’t Americans getting this message?
Our way of life shows that we care about the present and we care about adults. The difficulty in seeing the consequences of a failing education system is we only now witness students failing out of school and possibly their low achievement levels. We don’t look ahead to the future of businesses, the economy, advancements in science and technology, government or public service.
Educational reformer Geoffrey Canada says that the declining of our schools is in part due to the fact that we don’t consider it a crisis. We are not in a position to have civil conversations about this issue because no one in America cares to even have them.
“I think we’re going to have to yell, to make lots of noise,” Canada suggests in regards to how to change this apathetic state in which our nation sits. We need to begin highlighting the tragic neglect our education system receives.
Most of all, demand for new is to be executed, and if they fail, try others. We must encourage and allow strides toward innovation and growth.
Caroline White is a sophomore communications studies and spanish double major. She can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected].
