BLITZ KRIEG PUBLISHING
Why is the US Public School System Struggling?
By Donna Gundle-Krieg April 26, 2009 Note: to comment on this story or other stories about education in America, please go to Examiner.com
Many people have their own personal theory or pet “enemy” to blame for what has happened to our education system.
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Some people think that public schools struggle because of
incompetent teachers. I don’t think so. Most teachers care about the
students, and are highly trained and competent.
Maybe schools are struggling because too many parents don’t
care about their children, or they spoil them. That is probably a factor.
School boards are often the scapegoat, and take heat on
many issues. However, these people are usually volunteers or
semi-volunteers who have real jobs and children. In a smoothly running
district, the board tends to rubber stamp the superintendent’s
recommendations.
Perhaps schools are suffering due to lack of funding.
Yikes! How many more dollars can we afford to give schools? That is the
subject of many future articles.
Maybe we can privatize the bus drivers, food service
workers, and others to save money. Many studies show that privatization
saves money, though others would argue that the jury is still out on this.
Saving money on privatization would help, and I do believe
that schools should have stuck to their core mission of education from the
beginning. Instead, they now spend time and money operating non-core
businesses such as recreation centers, day care, transportation and food
service.
However, at this point, emotions on the privatization issue
are running high. Communities are committed to keeping these important
jobs within the schools. Privatizing these areas will create savings, but
people just aren't ready for districts to go this far.
Many think that public schools have too many highly paid
administrators. Unfortunately, knowledgeable administrators are needed in
school districts due to regulations, bureaucracy and lawsuits. The system
is very complex.
Aha, I figured it out! Pure and simple, the public school
complex “system” is the problem.
The system creates paperwork and headaches at the expense
of the children. Different factions all compete for their own interests
within the system.
No one group is at fault, yet rarely are any of these
groups able to work together. It is a very adversarial system.
The system has forgotten that educating children is a
school district's priority. Instead, the system has decided that
guaranteeing good jobs for adults is more important.
This is why charter schools and homeschools are
thriving. For the most part, they have focused on educating children,
and they do not have a “system” to get in the way. To me, it’s so
simple.
For more information, see:
Stories by Donna Gundle-Krieg:
Education in the United States
Books With Stories by Donna Gundle-Krieg
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Michigan Death Notices home page
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