What’s going on with American public schools?
It seems the institution is failing at its main purpose – to educate all students.
The neglected or poorly educated eventually have to enter society as ill-prepared adults.
According to Time magazine, “An increasing number of researchers are saying that nearly one out of three public high school students won’t graduate.
“Virtually no community, small or large, rural or urban, has escaped the problem.”
Someone once said the educational system in America is not meant to educate everyone. That means despite all of the government’s plans to “leave no child behind,” some children have been.
“For Latinos and African-Americans, the rate (of students who won’t graduate) approaches an alarming 50 percent,” according to Time magazine.
Just as the graduation rates among races are different, many public schools are different among levels of race and class.
And many educational reform efforts, such as the voucher program, just make the situation of poor schools worse.
Why should some students be allowed to leave a failing school, leaving the rest to be undereducated?
This example shows how many efforts to “reform” the educational system by the government are not designed to help all students.
Some people stop thinking about the state of the public education system once they graduate. But we can’t sweep this societal problem under the rug. Students deserve better. Society deserves better.
Ebonie Ledbetter for the editorial board.