Improving Public Education Essay, Research Paper

Public Schools:

How to Improve the Quality of Education

On a cold August day when I was 5 years old, I stepped into the classroom of R.L. Norton Elementary School for the first time. That day began the process of learning for me. I had a teacher who obviously cared about my progress and helped me to strive in the classroom. Over the next 12 years, I received a quality education, however this isn t the case for all students. Many students enrolled in public schools fail to receive the education they need in order to succeed in life. The reason a student may receive a poor education is because the public school system has many flaws. In order for students to receive a good education, there are many improvements that must be made within public schools.

There is a saying that a student is only as good as the school he attends. To improve the quality of education, we need to improve the schools that students attend. Making improvements to a school can be expensive, and therefore government funding needs to be increased so that schools can operate to their best ability. A school shouldn t have to adapt to a certain budget. Instead, the budget should be tailored to the school s needs. A school should be able to set goals for the education they want to give to students without having to worry about financial means. Also, the superintendent and other school officials need to visit schools more frequently. These visits need to involve reviewing of academic departments and programs, as well as the campus itself. Another way to improve schools is to create financial vouchers for a student to use at private schools. Many parents send their children to private schools to receive a higher quality of education. Not all parents can afford this, however if they could receive a voucher for the amount of taxes they pay towards public schools, they could use that to pay for part of the tuition at a private school. This would create competition between public and private schools, forcing public schools to improve if they want to maintain a high student enrollment.

Improving the quality of teachers can also strengthen a student s education. Many teachers who qualify for tenure quit trying to be a good teacher because they know that they don t have to worry about being fired. The tenure program needs to be removed in order for all teachers to remain teaching in the same manner as they would if they had to worry about losing their job. Teachers also need to be tested on the subjects they teach to ensure that they can pass the knowledge on to students. If a teacher can not make a good grade on these tests, then they should not be trying to teach the same curriculum to students. Any grade lower than that of an A would not be acceptable. These tests would encourage teachers to stay ahead of new curriculum adjustments and would keep teachers interested and involved in the same material that they are trying to keep the students interested in. Many people who would make good teachers fail to enter the profession due to the pay that they would receive. The only way to solve this problem is to increase teachers salary, which would entice those people to become teachers. A student would then be able to learn from better teachers henceforth improving the quality of his or her education.

Improving the student himself can also improve the student s education. Not everyone is a great student yet everyone has the potential to be one. Many students fail to try as hard as they can because they know that they can squeak by without really exerting a great deal of time or energy. Increasing the curriculum requirements and raising the grading scale would make these students try harder. Another way to improve a student is to get his parents involved with the student s education. Parent conferences need to be made if a student is doing poorly. The school needs to let parents know how important it is for them to help their children succeed at school. Many parents do not take an active part in helping their kids with their homework and some parents do not even make sure their parents go to school everyday. If there were a penalty, such as a fee for a student s low attendance or low homework grades, parents would make sure that their children do better. Students also need to be tested before moving on to the next grade. If a student has not grasped what has been taught, then they do not need to graduate to the following grade. Another way to improve a student is to have smaller classes. A teacher can pay more attention to the individual if he only has 15 students instead of 30. Students also would not be as scared to get involved during class discussions if the class size was smaller. Mandatory uniforms are another way to improve a student in school. Uniforms would create fewer distractions while at school therefore enhancing the student s focus on academics. Less stress would also result from uniforms because students would not be worried about what they have to wear. Students would not spend so much time trying to fit in and instead could use that time to focus on their schoolwork.

Clearly, improvements need to be made in order for students to achieve a first-class education. If these improvements are not made, then students will not receive the quality education that they deserve. America s future leaders will not be as well educated as they could have potentially been. The achievements of our country will be determined by exactly how good of an education our children receive. If we want students to obtain the best education possible then we need to make sure that the necessary improvements are made. Otherwise, we need to be willing to live with a poorly educated society in the future.