Redefining Education for the Future

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With the economic situation today, it is more important than ever to make sure that students are being provided with skills that allow them to compete in the job market. Every year it seems like we are hearing how schools in the United States are falling behind students in other developed countries, and yet funding for education continues to be cut. Education needs to be pushed to the forefront, in order for the United States to remain competitive in the world market. While spending for administration needs to be cut, focused spending for academic programs and upgrading technology needs to continue and even be increased to make students better prepared for college and the job market.

Although we need to provide a better educational experience for children, with current budget constraints calling for tightening of belts, not expanding our spending on education. However with the United States falling further behind in world rankings, we have to look at cutting costs that do not take away from the classroom. A major expense of every school district is the administrative budget, not the secretaries and custodial staff, but the school board and superintendents salaries. Many states have copious numbers of school districts all with their own superintendent and support staff. In Pennsylvania, state officials are proposing caps on superintendents’ salaries. “Roughly 70 percent of superintendents statewide earn more than the proposed caps, according to the state. Administration officials estimate the salary limits would save nearly $9.8 million annually” (Giordano). Besides capping salaries some states are looking at consolidating school districts, many rural districts throughout the USA can have fewer than fifty to one hundred students...

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...e more productive in their careers, allowing for a more industrious society. Until we change the way we teach our children they will continue to fall behind other developed countries, and we will lose jobs to other countries.

Works Cited

Enriquez, A. G. (2010). Enhancing Student Performance Using Tablet Computers

College Teaching, 58 (3), 77-84. doi:10.1080/87567550903263859

Lamey, Cynthia, W. Steven Barnett, and Kwanghee Jung. "The Effects of Oklahoma’s Early

Childhood Four-YearOld Program on Young Children’s School Readiness." National Inttitute for Early Education Research. NIEER, 12/2005. Web. 18 Jul 2011. .

Giordano, Rita, and Inquirer S. Writer. "Christie Targets Salaries of School Superintendents."

The Philadelphia Inquirer, sec. NATIONAL; P-com News for PC Home Page: A01. July 16 2010. Web.

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