In my opinion there are many issues of concern that the national government must change but I believe the most pressing issue today is our education system. As the leading country in the world we should be expected, and held acountable to produce the sharpest and most brilliant minds. Sadly, our students are well behind students of some developing countries around the world. It is a strange anomaly that many people in other counties want to come live in America because of the wonderful opportunity, yet still consider Americans to be “stupid”. I noticed the idea in the previous sentence during my recent stay in The People’s Republic of China. The Chinese students I met were so highly educated in every subject with an emphasis in foreign languages. Every student knows at least three languages by the time they enter the university level, and his is a large advantage especially with the direction our world is heading.
The entire idea of education in China is so structured and is based around disciplined. The students respect their teachers as if they were their parents, and their entire life is dedicated to their education. This discipline streams from their culture to have pride in their family name. I understand that American society is not going, and should not adopt an entire new and strict culture, but there are some changes that must be made in order for Americans to keep up with the rest of the advancing world.
First off, we need better teachers especially in the elementary and middle school levels. That is where students either make the cut or get left behind. If a student falls behind in these critical years, their chances for success in high school or college drastically drop. The government needs to set higher standards for schools to enforce. Let me be vary careful with how I portray this because I don’t want our education system to be a one size fits all, strict government run program. I think that the national government needs to set higher criteria for both students and teachers to meet and then the local schools can adjust accordingly to their individual needs.
We need to make teaching an elite profession not just simply a job you can get after completing the necessary classes. We need to raise the pay and make competition in the profession, which will hopefully attract more qualified individuals. If a teacher is not bringing in successful students who are meeting the national regulations then they must be removed and replaced. The security of seniority should be eliminated and each year teachers should have to compete to keep their jobs just as they would in any other profession. If a doctor was not doing their job correctly, they would be fired, I don’t see why a teacher should be any different. They are just as important to the success of life as a doctor.
Moreover, I think that the public school system is a terrible institution that must be changed. Schools know that no matter how they perform, there will be students in their district that will have to attend their campus. I think that all schools should be privatized and have to compete for students to attend. This would take the low performance schools out of the picture and another higher performing school could then replace them.
Ultimately, Americans have a false security in their futures anf the future of our country. Other countries are well on their way to passing us up in the very near future. For the amount of resources and opportunities we have as a country, the level of our education is abysmal and a disgrace to our nation. We must break the trend of “the dumb American” and change our ignorant ways. This is a dangerous path and will certainly lead to the death of our county as we know it. If we continue on this path we will surely be the ones saying that we aspire to live in county x, y, or z because they are the new land of opportunity and education.
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