When sitting in a busy classroom, students are deprived of the opportunity to learn, therefore depriving them of their chances to do well on tests. The public education system failing is a result of low funds from the government, overcrowding, poverty, and parents not caring. Low funding from the government means that clubs or other activities that keep kids out of trouble will be cut in order to have a math or biology teacher. These situations are pushing parents to be more in favor of private schools. There are many reasons the public education system has started to fail. The largest reason begins with the parents. Encouragement from parents outside of class will make students more likely to want to succeed inside of class.. Secondly,
…show more content…
In the 21st century, poverty is a very large problem in public schools that teachers, and everyone else, is ignoring. In 2000, students who needed free or reduced lunch made up half of the students in four states and in 2011, half of the public school students needed free or reduced lunches in seventeen states. With counselors, nurses, and social workers being extras in a school budget, teachers have more duties to deal with than teaching. Dealing with behavior problems has become part of the job description for a teacher. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs says that all physiological needs must be first before students can focus on themselves. If a student is hungry, or tired, they will not do well on homework, resulting in bad test scores. This places them further behind their private school counterparts (Strauss 2-3). Education is not “one size fits all” and standardized tests do not close achievement gaps between students in poverty and students not in poverty. The sooner the government realizes this, the closer we are to fixing the education system. In Finland, students are thriving because they have chosen to focus on funding schools and training teachers. Here in the United States, we focus on what gets taught and how kids get assessed. (Townsend …show more content…
In 2002, NCES found that private schools had students who scored higher on standardized tests, had more demanding graduation requirements, and sent more graduates to college than public schools (“Benefits of Private Education” 1). While a public school teacher observed a private school class, he found that all fifteen students had reviewed their homework and were ready to start class in five minutes. For the full ninety minutes, there were zero interruptions, zero cell phones and zero distractions. One could tell the teacher knew what he was talking about. This is compared to a public school class where there are thirty students and twenty distractions. Sometimes public schools are able to have fun amenities like weight rooms or gyms, and few private schools have these. (Godsey
In the 21st century, poverty is a very large problem in public schools that teachers, and everyone else, is ignoring. In 2000, students who needed free or reduced lunch made up half of the students in four states and in 2011, half of the public school students needed free or reduced lunches in seventeen states. With counselors, nurses, and social workers being extras in a school budget, teachers have more duties to deal with than teaching. Dealing with behavior problems has become part of the job description for a teacher. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs says that all physiological needs must be first before students can focus on themselves. If a student is hungry, or tired, they will not do well on homework, resulting in bad test scores. This places them further behind their private school counterparts (Strauss 2-3). Education is not “one size fits all” and standardized tests do not close achievement gaps between students in poverty and students not in poverty. The sooner the government realizes this, the closer we are to fixing the education system. In Finland, students are thriving because they have chosen to focus on funding schools and training teachers. Here in the United States, we focus on what gets taught and how kids get assessed. (Townsend …show more content…
In 2002, NCES found that private schools had students who scored higher on standardized tests, had more demanding graduation requirements, and sent more graduates to college than public schools (“Benefits of Private Education” 1). While a public school teacher observed a private school class, he found that all fifteen students had reviewed their homework and were ready to start class in five minutes. For the full ninety minutes, there were zero interruptions, zero cell phones and zero distractions. One could tell the teacher knew what he was talking about. This is compared to a public school class where there are thirty students and twenty distractions. Sometimes public schools are able to have fun amenities like weight rooms or gyms, and few private schools have these. (Godsey