Exploring Education Essay, Research Paper

Although schools in New York State are considered the best in the country to get an education in, there are still things that need to be reformed in these schools. Most students, at some point in their school career don t feel completely satisfied with their education quality and learning experience. In New York, particularly in my hometown high school in Jamestown, students feel that there are too many students in the classes, and not enough hands on work. I know from experience that classes can get extremely boring sometimes if I m not kept occupied. When students find class boring they fall asleep, act disrupting, or skip the class. There are some reasons that could cause problems like this in the classroom. The high population density in some parts of New York State and undersupply of teachers causes the class sizes to be large. Lack of funding may contribute to lack of hands on experience and field trips for high school level schools and below. This may also cause schools and equipment to be in need of repair. The funding of schools depends, in part, on the value of the property around the school area. The higher the value of property, the more taxes paid by the owner of the property, thus more funding to nearby school districts. By no stretch of the imagination can these problems take all of the blame for the lack of performance by the students. The students can t get off that easy. Some students have lack of motivation and laziness, which many are seniors in high school. If classes were made more interesting then maybe students would be more willing to work hard, and maybe their parents would step in and get them on the right track. If schools, students, and parents work together to improve the quality of education that students are receiving then students will have an easier time getting the education that they deserve.

To me, the first thing that should be changed in the high school educational system is to allow students to show more individuality than previously before. Students today are discouraged from stating their opinions and being creative in there own ways. In college, I feel that there is much more allowed. We, being college students, can state our opinions and be very creative in our own ways. Whether this is by using vulgar language or speaking out against the establishment or taking the unpopular view. The bottom line is that students would appreciate this more and find it more fun and interesting. I feel that this would encourage more kids to get involved and motivated.

More money would be given to public schools in a particular area if the property value increases. To increase the value of the property, poverty must be driven out. This is much easier said than done though. A town or city can t just kick out the people living in poverty. So some areas increase property taxes so that only people with a high wealth can live there. By doing this it will increase the amount of money coming into the school district. With the more money being brought into the cycle, better equipment and repairs can be made to the school facilities.

From elementary school through high school, a parent has to play a role in a student s life to get them to do their work and show up for class. In poverty-stricken areas, more often than not, the lack of family values can create a belligerent learning environment. A parent must play an important role in getting their kid prepared for college and the rest of their life and must be an active participant in their child s education. These parents participation is a big part of improving education in grade school and high school.

Although raising property taxes to drive out the poor would make nice rich schools for those financially well off, one must not forget that those poor, underprivileged people, are entitled to the same education as the wealthier. I think that to tackle this problem, more city and state funding should be allotted to fixing up these schools and getting them the things that they need. In the federal budget, I think that less money should be spent on building the military and weapons so that some of that money could go to teacher training and education programs that benefit financially disadvantaged people. One program would be the free or reduced lunch program at school. This program especially helped me during the 1992-93 school year, which I received a free lunch at school because my mother did not make very much money at her job. This helps families tremendously, who are having money problems, by saving them $200 or more per year on food.

All students should be entitled the same education at the same price. That price should be zero. But unfortunately that isn t always true. Those poorer families, in poorer communities, that are struggling to get by have to pay a heavy price because they have to deal with the poor schools and teachers that sometimes lack quality. If there are some reforms made, many problems will be taken care of, but it won t eliminate them all. Basically, New York has a very good education system, where there is a lot of funding for needy programs.