The Negatives and Downfalls of U.S Public Schools and Its System - Research Paper Example

The negatives and downfalls of U.S public schools and its system A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time; if corrected too much, he will stop talking, He compares, a thousand times a day, the difference between languages as he uses it and as those around him use it. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people's (Holt) John Holt in his article “School is Bad for Children”, published in Saturday Evening Post, February 8, 1969, heavily criticized the current public school curriculum in America. The current public school curriculum in America is not suited to the needs of the children. It prevent the children the opportunity of self-learning. Children forced to swallow whatever the things lectured to them by the teachers. In fact most of the better learned things in a child’s life are self- learned. For example, a child learns to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bike, skate, play games, jump rope etc without seeking the assistance of others. Children will never forget those things in their life since those things are self-learned ones. Current public school curriculum on the other hand tries to inject certain things in to the minds of the children without knowing the interests of the children. This paper analyses the negatives and downfalls of U.S public schools and its system. “In school, we never give a child a chance to detect his mistakes, let alone correct them. We do it all for him” (Holt). For example, instead of presenting the topic as a problem and then guiding the children to find the solutions, the current educational system presents both the problem and the solution at the same time. In other words, children do not get the opportunity for thinking, analysis, synthesis, etc. They are getting everything from the teacher and when they face real problems in their future life, they look for assistance rather than solving it by themselves. In other words, current public school curriculum increases the dependency of children rather than making them self-sufficient. “People remember only what is interesting and useful to them, what helps them make sense of the world, or helps them get along in it. All else they quickly forget, if they ever learn it at all” (Holt). The current public school curriculum is fixed. The current curriculum is not addressing the problem of individual differences. No tow individuals are alike. Same way it is not necessary that needs of two children are the same. Current curriculum is providing same thing to all the children irrespective of the different tastes of children. For example, a child who hates mathematics, forced to learn mathematics. Same was a child who likes painting may not get the opportunity to learn more about painting in public schools. Instead of tying the children inside the classrooms, they should be allowed to come out of the class rooms and learn something from the nature. Ultimately, the workplace for a child will be the nature when he grows up. So, the training to tackle the challenges from the nature should be given at an early age itself. “The good news for parents is that public schools cannot charge tuition. The bad news is that public schools are complicated, often underfunded operations influenced by political winds and shortfalls”(Great schools staffs). Private schools raise funds through tuition fees, developmental activities and contributions from the alumni whereas public schools don’t have such channels of funding. Moreover, the funds allotted to public schools have been reduced considerably by the administration. “In a recent survey of school districts, 43% of respondents reported budget cuts of 10% or less for this academic year, and 21% reported cuts of 11 to 25%, according to the American Association of School Administrators (School budget cuts across the US projected for next academic year) One of the toughest blows and most shocking hypocrisies of the Bush education budget is his plan to entirely end the Perkins Loan Program, which historically has forgiven student loans for qualified teachers as inducement for them to teach in schools serving students from low-income families, students with disabilities, or in the fields of mathematics, science, foreign languages, or bilingual education (White) Another major problem which contributed to the downfall of public school system in America is the bigger class size. The class size will be bigger in public schools compared to private schools and therefore individualized attention cannot be guaranteed to students studying in such schools. Private schools have many options to raise funds whereas public schools have limited options for raising funds. Public school facilities depend heavily on the economy of the place of its operation and any fluctuations in local economy can adversely affect the public school system. The salaries of the teachers in public schools are cheaper when we compare it to the salaries obtained by the private schools. In short, better teachers will often like to work in private schools rather than public schools and thus the quality of teaching in public schools will be poor. Public school system provides “Little school choice and most of the students forced to attend their zoned school” (Evans). “The federal “No Child Left Behind” Act provides parents of students in failing schools with options to attend the school of their choice; however, these options are limited to public schools” (School Choice Facts). The limited availability of public schools in rural and urban areas limits the freedom of selection of schools. In other words, poor children were forced to satisfy with the limited facilities available in public schools and they are not getting enough opportunities to know what is going on around them. “In fact, children learn how to live without paying attention to anything going on around them” (Holt), while studying in public schools. Home schooling and internet schooling is gaining popularity at present and subsequently public schools gradually losing its credibility and importance. “Across the United States, Muslims who find that a public school education clashes with their religious or cultural traditions have turned to educating their children at home” (MacFARQUHAR). “Homeschooling will never be the norm, but it's a pointer to the future of organized learning, argues researcher Barratt-Peacock”(Williams). The introduction of internet and the development of advanced technologies have rewritten many of the existing principles about schooling. It is possible for the current5 children to get quality education while staying at home with the help of internet. In short, home schooling developed as part of the development of internet, contributed heavily to the downfall of public school system in America. To conclude, the public school system in America is not catering the needs of the students. The dependence of children studying in public schools is increasing day by day and they are unable to become self-sufficient. The public school system should be completely restructured to make it more student-friendly. Works cited 1. Evans, Jenny. “Pros and Cons of Public Schools”. 2009. Web. 23 May 2011. 2. Great schools staff. “Private Versus Public”. Web. 23 May 2011. 3. Holt, John. “School is Bad for Children”. 1969. Web. 23 May 2011. 4. MacFARQUHAR, Neil. “Home Schooling”. 2008. The New York Times, March 26, 2008. Web. 23. March 2011. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/home_schooling/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=home%20schooling&st=cse 5. “School Budget Cuts Across the US Projected for Next Academic Year”. 2010. Web. 23 May 2011. 6. “School Choice Facts”. 2002, Web. 23 May 2011. 7. Williams, Daniel. “School's Out Forever”. 2006. Time CNN. Sunday, Apr. 09, 2006. Web. 23 May 2011. 8. White, Deborah. “Brutal Bush Budget Cuts $4.3 Billion in Education Programs”. 2006. Web. 23 May 2011. Read More