Education Reform

Education Reform

The educational system of New York City is in a state of turmoil at this point. There are a number of teachers, many students are failing and most parents have lost faith in our unqualified educational system. This brings us to the question of who is responsible for the problems and how can we rectify our educational system through the use of school reform.

According to Webster’s Dictionary , the definition of the word school is a place for teaching and learning(218). There are a group of persons devoted to similar principles. In other words, a school is where someone goes to learn and be taught. The schools start to break down and fail when children are not learning and teachers are not relaying the proper information. There are basically three types of institutions a child can attend, They include public, private or catholic and charter. A public school is a school that is open to all city children without the cost of expense i.e tuition fees. A child has to attend the the school that the district mandates. This is the traditional form of education for a large majority of children. There are many noticeable problems with the public school system. There is overcrowding in the classrooms where there are often thirty to forty children in one room. This makes the ability to learn and to concentrate very difficult. Each child does not always get individual attention when necessary. The school buildings are often run-down and in an advanced state of deterioration. The paint is coming off the walls, the floors have cracks, and sometimes there is evidence of lead and asbestos contaminants within the buildings. The supplies that the children receive are not all in good condition. Their textbooks are very old with torn and missing pages.

I recall that when I was in school during my elementary and secondary years my textbooks were mostly in bad condition. The books were barely held together by tape.

There were many pages missing and the books themselves were old. The conditions of

the classroom were not great either. The desks were very old and in need of repair. The

teacher to pupil ratios are way too high and this disturbs the learning environment and makes things difficult. The lighting in the rooms were not very bright and sometimes we were not even in a designated classroom. It was a different room that was turned int...

... middle of paper ...

...of time.

Unfortunately many states have only put these practices on paper and have not really come through with any actions. There are few states that are ready and willing to impose penalties. Many educators believe that if schools are given more encouragement, resources, support, and information then they will be able to make changes and be successful. In my opinion if a state or school district wants to really improve their schools, have more children passing and to improve the quality of their teaching staff then they would do whatever it takes to see success be their reality. I believe the states recieve enough monetary support that they can certainly use to make big changes. All states should be committed to making a change and putting all the proper reform principles into effect.

The New York educational system is failing at this point. The system is riddled with

unqualified staff, administrators and officials. The children are the ones that end up paying the price of state and local incompetence It is time that everyone take responsibility for their positions and make the necessary changes. School reform is the first step to ensure our children’s success..