It is finals week at my college, and I am writing this in the library. The library at my college is probably the reason I went to this school. The red carpet, wooden pillars, and secret rooms create an engaging environment for students of every level to advance their studies. However, this also happens to be the time of the trimester where students come out of the wood work. See there are the regular students who come to the library; everyone knows who you are, knows where your favorite spot to study is, and knows the classes you are enrolled in. During this time the library is crammed with foreigners, while the library natives just judge in frustration. They take your cubicle that you have studied in all year, they think it is acceptable to talk on the silent floor, and mostly they stay on facebook the entire time they are here. Being a library native I ask you library foreigners, "Where have you been?"
Finals week is a time where most students think they are going to accomplish so much more than they actually do. For example I told myself I was going to re-do every math problem assigned to me, do the practice problems, re-read the book, and re-do the test--this has not happened, and my final is tomorrow. For me finals are just one big ball of frustration, I can't understand why teachers find it valuable to destroy the lives of their students they say they want to see succeed. Students pull all-nighters every night, take Adderall, drink obscene amounts of caffeine, and worst of all some students loose the grade they worked so hard because of one test. While writing this blog post I am at the procrastination stage in the studying process. Right now I should be studying for my math and Spanish final tomorrow, but my brain feels like Jello. When I started procrastinating I immediately went to the NPR website, my favorite website/ dream job, and the headline story was Schools Across U.S. Grapple with Closures by Alan Greenbalt. After reading this article it lead to more procrastination which has then lead to this blog post...
The article discusses the issue of schools across America closing because of declines in enrollment and revenue. They use the example of Kansas City, MO which is planning on closing 26 out of 61 schools in the district. It is not uncommon for a school to close and join with another, but are we stretching this idea too far? Greenbalt stated," Kansas City will now be operating the smallest number of schools since 1889, according to the Kansas City Star. Enrollment back then was about the same as it is today." I hope someone besides me finds this embarrassing. Because of the economy, the amount of funding that is provided to schools has decreased due to the increasing number of foreclosures. Not only that, but state funding towards education has declined as well. You my be asking well what about Obama's Keynesian thinking stimulus plan? Well the $48 billion that went towards education was mostly used to make up for the cuts in state spending on education. Let's not forget, the stimulus money runs out next year...
I take my education for granted. I understand that, and I believe the majority of people I go to college with if asked this question would answer the same way. However, I also believe my education is changing me as a person in only a positive way. I have never thought my education would make me a better person, but it has. I want to be aware of what is going on in the world, I want to help, and I want to make a difference. I know that it is a naive statement, but I believe everyone should be able to feel this way at some point in their life. I personally believe everyone should be able to attend college. College is where you grow, mature, find the direction you want to take, and most of all you understand the idea of your future and the possibilities you have. In high school so many students are just concerned with "being cool." They choose their actions on whether or not it will affect their social life, and the only care about is their image. This doesn't necessarily mean what they wear or who they hang out with, but this can also mean what they are ranked in their class and what Ivy League they get into. All of this is a complete stereotype, but I have experienced this first hand and the majority of the "Rat Pack" movies nail this concept on the head.
Even though high school might not be educating students in the most efficient way (future post will address this issue) high school is a vital part of one's education. If you continue to cram students into classrooms for the sole purpose of saving a few bucks, this will only produce negative externalities. The quality of the student's education will only decrease. The student in the corner of the classroom day-dreaming away could be the next Einstein, but the teacher might never know do to such large class size. The United States is ranked 25th out of 30 advanced nations in math, and I do not understand how the concept of closing schools and firing teachers would help change this ranking?
No matter the stats I provide I believe a quality education is someone's right. Everyone should have the right to an engaging education, and a school where their music and athletic programs are not being canceled. Students are being taken advantage of by politicians who believe that the future of America is not as important as how full their wallet is. Americans need to speak up, and demand that the lawmakers start working for the average American not the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. "The funny thing is, some [communities] are very quiet, but the minute you say you're going to close their schools, you hear from them," Mary Louise Bewley, director of school and community relations for the Indianapolis Public Schools. If this was France we would truly revolt, but for some reason Americans do not feel it is their place to voice their opinion to the men and women of Capital Hill. We elected these men and women, and we need to show them starting now that they cannot take advantage of us anymore.
--This is an extremely complicated issue, and I certainly do not have all the facts and I have not addressed all the issues within it. Lets just remember I wrote this while procrastinating for my college finals. I was lucky. I lived in a predominately wealthy neighborhood whose property taxes where through the roof.
