by Jie Chen
In the 2012 election, education
reform was left out. Starting anew in 2013, these are three issues for us
to watch out concerning education:
1. Reform for Teacher Evaluations & Common Standards in Schools
Although George W. Bush’s No Child
Left Behind had many fans when it first passed, the policy hasn’t made any
substantial improvement so far. But the nation’s students are waiting in line. The
most obvious problem, as President Obama has pointed out, is that under the
provisions of the Bush-era NCLB law, four out of five schools could be tagged
as failures, which in fact are not failing. Obama has urged Congress to work out
a solution on how to measure student progress and labeling schools that fall
short. He also added measuring creativity and critical thinking along with math
and reading skills, and rewarding good teachers while being stricter with bad
ones, which caused teachers’ unions a big lot of fits.
2. Immigration Reform: Dream Act
The controversial Dream Act still
needs a finer answer that answers the problem that anti-illegal immigration
advocates raised. They renamed it the Nightmare Act for the worry that it would
increase the amount of illegal aliens. The anti-Dreamers thinks the Dream Act
would reward undocumented immigrants and encourage continued illegal
immigration, which would takes education spots away from American students.
Undocumented youth who seek American futures are now in the hands of the
Congress and the Dream Act is a good idea.
3. Making College More Affordable
Almost 20% of US households have
outstanding educational loans.
Those who are in debt owe more than ever before. Hot issue like economy
seems to capture people’s attention more than other issues, but the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau has argued that a growing level of student debt is
holding back the overall economic recovery. One observer claims that student debt is preventing new
graduates from buying homes, which plays no good role in the recovery of
housing market and the U.S. economy.
(BTW, the college application
process has cost me more than expected financially. Who can afford to apply for
15 colleges with application fees and fees for sending standardized scores?)
Hopefully in the New Year,
Congress and the president will put in more efforts and push forward education
reforms to benefit more students in the nation. Education is a long-run
investment and it is the thing that will put America in a more competitive
position.
I wrote a bill last year defending for the Dream Act and when I was doing the research, a handful of statistics and arguments alerted me how important it is to provide eduction for those illegal immigrants. Some people may argue that why should spend the resources on illegal immigrants at all when the government could have used the resources to guarantee education for US citizens, but they don't see the downside of it. Crime rate appears to be much higher when the immigrants don't receive sufficient education. One recent UCLA study estimates that between $1.4 trillion and $3.6 trillion in taxable income would be generated over a 40 year period based upon estimates between 0.8-2.1 million potential DREAM Act beneficiaries successfully obtaining resident status through the legislation. I suggest the Congress reconsider the Dream Act, which could not only promote education but also benefit economy in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI never understood the purpose of college fees. Why do I have to pay $80 for the common-app to send an electronic file to my school, and why do I have to pay $11 to send my SAT scores online (which don't even get to the school until two weeks later) after I already paid $50 to take the test? I'm sure most of us paid at least $700 while applying to college, especially those who applied to 8 or more schools.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree. College should be more affordable. There are so many students who want to continue their education, but can't because they can't afford it. That needs to change, and higher education should be easily available to everyone who wants it.
I agree that education reform should be a priority during President Obama’s second term. That said, I do not believe the answer lies in finding a solution to measure student performance and discovering which school falls short of providing a quality education. I believe that the entire current public education system in America (including how it is funded) should be re-vamped. Teachers unions should be abolished, and public education should be privatized. As it stands now, it is difficult (if not impossible) to measure accountability. It is also nearly impossible to figure out whether qualitative measurements work in providing solutions to sub-standard student performance. The system failed, and I believe the answer lies in re-vamping the system.
ReplyDelete