The level of education is one of the most important concepts in this discussion and it is directly connected to the required standards. If these are lowered then everyone will "pass," but this success is ephemeral and is not translated into capacities or resources which could be afterward used outside school in the real life. Excellence in education is a must for a strong democracy while at the same time, one of the most important challenges that democracy faces is that of finding a way to provide all the citizens with the opportunity to an education of excellent level.
Last but not least a measure which could help improve the present situation of the educational system is reducing the bureaucracy. The work of teachers and professors ought to be simplified by the administrative and political experts and not made more difficult. Barber underlines how striking it is that "in New York half of the city's teachers occupy jobs outside the classroom. No other enterprise is run that way: Half the soldiers at company headquarters? Half the cops at the stationhouse desk? Half the working force in the assistant manager's office? Once the teachers are back in the classroom, they will need to be given more autonomy, more professional responsibility for the success or the failure of their students." (Barber, 7)
It is obvious that trying to reform the educational system means going against the trend.
The consumerist values are the dominant ones and if the citizen will not fight to defend his own best interest, then nobody will do it for him. Instead of trying to transform the young readers into young consumers, we ought to direct the interest of our children in the very opposite direction where solid life values are taught. Many voices suggest that such an approach is idealistic. There are so many factors which contribute to keep this ideal a
Among them we could mention the present economic crisis, the absence of funds and the attitude of the general public who is highly unsatisfied with the performances of the public institutions.
Nevertheless, the U.S. could make a concerted effort to improve and continue to build to improve on those changes. For example, we need not only need to spend more money on education, we need to make sure we make changes to the educational system from the top down. We need to make use of information technology where the best teachers can teach virtually using the Internet. Furthermore, teachers need to be paid proper compensation based on performance, not tenure. In addition schools ought to make use of the latest in information technology. Imagine a situation in which some of the best teacher's in the country hold lectures that are open to all students for that grade level and subject.
In conclusion, the present American society does not have a real interest in education. All the signs clearly demonstrate that the educational system is facing a severe crisis. Reforms are needed in order to shift the interest from consumerist values unto more profound ones. Measures need to be taken in order to achieve an excellence level as far as education is concerned. Just like history has taught us, this is a fundamental condition not only for the well being of the nation, but for the strength of democracy as well.
Bibliography:
Barber, B.R. "America skips school: why we talk so much about education and do so little." Harper's Magazine, nov.1993, v287, n1722, p.39
"Where does the money go? How the average U.S. consumer spends their paycheck" in visualeconomics.com, Retrieved September 30, 2010 from http://www.visualeconomics.com/how-the-average-us-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/
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