A Summary Of The Direction of Education By: Anthony Pellegrino
The past several articles discussed choices parents have who are dissatisfied with the quality of education the public school system is offering their children. Parents can choose school vouchers, charter schools, private scholarship programs, home schooling, private schools. Though several of these programs are still restricted to several states, they are slowly being adopted nationwide and some of them are available in the CNMI. We have discussed, on numerous occasions, ways in which parents can demand and fight for better quality education in the existing public school system.
The underlining basic theme running throughout all these innovative teaching opportunities is that parents feel the need for better education, want better education, and are seeking creative ways to obtain it for their children. Parents everywhere rank education as a top national and local priority. And in many cases are willing to pay higher taxes to improve it.
According to a survey released on September 7, 1999, a telephone survey of 1,422 adults revealed that many parents rate their own children’s education highly, but worry about schools in their communities and across the nation. The survey sponsored by National Public Radio, the Kaiser Foundation and Harvard’s Kennedy School of
Government found that three out of four people say they would be willing to have their taxes raised by $200 to $500 a year to pay for specific measures to improve community public schools. Most Americans believe that the amount of money spent on education has a big effect on quality. There’s a strong belief in getting what you pay for.
Concerning school vouchers, an issue that is causing much debate across the country, the poll shows that Americans are divided. Fifty-four percent oppose vouchers, which provide disgruntled parents with government dollars to pay for private school. Forty-two percent favor them.
When asked about charter schools, the poll suggests that sixty-three percent of Americans say they haven’t heard enough about them to have an opinion about them- Charter schools are public schools that receive waivers to exempt them from many of the bureaucratic rules and restrictions that public schools must adhere to. Unlike traditional public schools, however, they are held accountable for achieving educational results or are closed down.
The adults surveyed said the major problems facing today’s American schools are undisciplined and disruptive students, lack of parental involvement, overcrowded classrooms, violence and school safety, student’s use of alcohol and drugs, and unequal funding of school districts.
An interesting result from the poll is that 80% of white parents believe that African Americans and other minorities are getting an equal education in schools, but only 39% of black parents agree. Seventy-two percent of white parents gave their children’s school an A or B. But 52 percent black parents gave their children’s school a rating of A or B. Forty-three percent of African American parents say their children’s schools deserve a C, D, or F. Only 27 percent of white parents grade their children’s schools that way. The poll seems to reinforce the belief that schools and quality of education are split along racial lines in America.
The poll seems to challenge a ‘national rhetoric’ that schools are failing to educate most kids. The findings also support increased public education spending. Adults think children’s education is so important that they’re willing to pay more for it, even if it means higher taxes.
Even adults who do not have children or have children who have graduated from school realize that education is important for the future of our country even if it doesn’t affect them. In truth, educated youth affect all of us! A wasted mind is a tragedy.
