The Pros And Cons Of The American Education System

Broken. Like our promises. A system seemingly too robust to change. Inflexibly forced through the jagged fissure of inequity. A broken system, renewed each day.
The consequences of our inaction manifest themselves in tiny faces—of all colors and creeds. They are the products of a system that overlooked them—the forgotten children of America. Through the years, they have fallen victim to a system established to cultivate their minds and guarantee bright futures. Routinely, politicians, who we charge with safeguarding our children’s interests, have sacrificed them at the altar of the American Education System.
How do we expect students to brave the troubles of reality if we have not first equipped them with the tools of education? All Americans are entitled to a free and equal public education. This is a core American idea, and our Founders believed it was a right of all citizens. Ben Franklin once said, “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Nothing does greater good for any society than educating its citizens. In this regard, we have failed—profoundly.
Inequities in the American Education System have persisted for too long. Doubling down on failed policy only serves to exacerbate our compounding debts to American children. Policies like tracking and other ability-grouping systems sunder our society and

augment inequities. There is no debate among social scientists—the test results are in. We failed.
By all accounts, tracking has failed to fulfill its original promise. They told us that it would improve education— “they could go their own pace.” But, we know this was a lie—it does not work. This system bestows privileges upon the privileged and disadvantages the disadvantaged. It boils down to socioeconomic standing. The rich get richer, and the poor remain poor because of tracking (Levitsky, 2017). Do not promise the American Dream and deliver a nightmare to parents who trusted you with their most precious possession.
Tracking is modern-day segregation—the “Separate but Equal” of our time. I know. I was a part of it. While I flourished, other promising students were left behind. This mechanism maintains existing class divisions and decreases economic mobility for our most vulnerable citizens. How can we look our children in the eyes and tell them they are equal to their peers, that they can achieve anything in this nation, if our education system actively reinforces these blatant divisions? Teachers are not stock brokers; they should not be in the business of picking winners and losers. Our children’s lives and their life trajectories are on the line.
Tracking has failed in the American Education System. Let’s look abroad, then. Many East-Asian countries employ tracking systems—Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea. These countries consistently rank in the top for science, reading, and mathematics. They made it work, but the sidewalks around their school buildings are stained with the brains and blood of those students who saw no future. That isn’t a good model for American education.
Inspiration can be found elsewhere—in Finland.

They changed the culture of education over a decade ago, and they haven’t looked back sense. They abandoned standardized testing, homework, and tracking—staples in American education. They instead sought equity, and the test scores followed. Since their change, the have unfailingly ranked in the top five for reading, mathematics, and science. The scores do not lie. They pass. We fail. We are 39th in math, 24th in reading, 24th in science, we produce more functionally illiterate and innumerate students than almost any other developed nation (Levitsky, 2017). The mantle of greatness is not

ours.
Americans often say this problem is too much to undertake—a task too large. When have we shied away from difficulty? We’re Americans. Our skyscrapers climbed higher; our railroads connected oceans; our ideas connected the world. We’ve made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured disease, cultivated the world’s greatest artists and greatest economy. Apathy never served us, hard work and innovation did. We can do it—together.