Opposing viewpoints The Quality of Public Education Has Declined

Opposing viewpoints
The Quality of Public Education Has Declined

In this article is tom Bethell’s explanation on why public education in America had lost the strength that it once held. Tom Bethell explains that performance in American’s public education has gone down gradually since 1970. He explains that this problem is not only a threat to our countries future but also an embarrassment considering the money that we have put into these programs. “The budget of the Department of Education rose from $14 billion to $55 billion.”(Tom Bethell). That is a $41 billion dollar difference, and instead of seeing the American money being put to good use the system has only provided lower test scores. They have made what would seem to be productive changes, such as creating smaller classes and raising teacher salaries but these have yet to provide a productive out come.
I feel frustrated to read this. He shares straight facts that show the lack of progression but we aren’t going down without a fight. The country is putting effort in but not in a constructive manner apparently. I agree that there need to be changes but they should be thought through more carefully and more planned out because the current strategies are not working.
The information that could supply reasoning for these results isn’t much. He shares the school year used to be seven days longer then it is currently, but I don’t feel that those seven days are truly enough to make the difference that is at hand. He also explains that teachers with different master’s degrees in subjects other than education have fallen and is currently at 5 percent. I feel that although that is an odd trend that has taken place, I don’t think it is the most important back round information that he could have offered. He then shares that teacher’s salaries have increased as well as their benefits. I don’t that this could be a bad thing, but maybe it sets in a doming plan for teachers, allowing them to focus more on the money rather then their passion for education.
The slump that we are reaching in education is no ones fault but our own. We have led our education systems to this point, and have now gotten trapped in a dead end. He quotes Nation at Risk which compares our action to “an act of war” (Nation at Risk) against us. He feels that we have weakened ourselves and now we must change this path.
Bethell also points out that another problem in our educational system relates to something other then school days, it relates to race. The inner cities schools are trapped with schools were almost nothing is learned, while the middle class is benefiting from a quality education. One solution to this problem is to “introduce a competitive environment, accountability and choices,” (Hauser). Another idea is the voucher program. This was attempted in Milwaukee. This program was the processes of supplying vouchers to people that were in need, mostly being the poor and minority families. There are arguments that this isn’t a new change, that minorities were doing the same then as they are now, but the gap was the same as it is now, so how could they possibly expected to improve. I feel that the gap between classes and the education program is disturbing. I don’t want to believe that there our children in this country that aren’t given the right to a proper education. America is the land of opportunity but that name is only mocking to all of those that aren’t given a fair chance to succeed in life. As a result of the education system Hispanic students and blacks students are majority in 46 or 57 of the city schools, while “There are 15,000 school districts nationwide, a mere 10 districts educate 19 percent of all black schoolchildren” (Tom Bethell). I don’t understand how it is even possible for these numbers to be true. To have only ten school districts educate only nineteen percent of all black school children is embarrassing. I feel guilty for belonging to such a corrupted country that would allow this system to continue for so long.
Bethell then goes back to the idea that the teachers unions could be to blame for the decline in the education system. The fight to protect jobs and increase benefits is the common goal of these unions. I feel that unions are a productive part of American history and most likely a necessary aspect to the teacher program today. The Hoover Task Force idea varies from the outline of the unions. The Hoover plan is to reward good work by teachers and punish those that fail.
Over all although much more money has gone into the support of education there haven’t been positive results yet. It is frustrating to still not see the light after all of the work and money that seems to be going into it. I feel that they could still be looking at the wrong places and getting to picky about details. It could be a more general, or overall change that needs to be made to the system.
When being compared to other nations America lacks. Our gap provides two separate groups to be rated. While those stuck in the inner city fail on a more severe level, the people that grow in the middle class aren’t doing as well as it was once thought.

Bethell, Tom. "The Quality of Public Education Has Declined." Opposing Viewpoints: Education. Ed. Mary E. Williams. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 10 Feb. 2010 .