Education

Education Solutions

 

Let Students Make Decisions

Young people must be given the opportunity to implement our own solutions to problems we face. Student perspectives are vital to reverse educational failures. Students have vision but must be given the tools to turn that into reality. 

 

Update School Funding Formula

Pegging funding to an inconsistent number like class size leaves school on unstable financial footing. Funding should in part correlate with the amount of classes taught in a school. This has the doubly positive effect of creating a stable revenue stream and incentivizing schools to teach a more diverse set of classes. 

 

Desegregate Schools

A child’s school is largely determined by the zip code they live in. Throughout the twentieth century, politicians entrenched housing segregation that still persists today. Zip code based school placement locks young people into segregation. If students choose their school they can escape their segregated neighborhoods.

 

Decriminalize Schools

Police officers have no place in schools. They do more to create a sense of fear than protect students from harm. School police resources must be reinvested into mental health care efforts in public schools. Guidance counselors are the most undervalued resource in a school building. If they are properly trained on mental health management, they can do more good for students than a cop ever would.

 

Increase Teacher Pay and Support

Public School teachers need to be paid a competitive salary and incentivized to continue teaching the most vulnerable students. It is vital to decrease teacher turnover and create a real community in every school. Teachers' jobs dominate their lives and they need resources to avoid burnout. A pay raise is a good start but they should also have access to the same increased mental health support provided to students.

 

Modernize and Centralize Curriculum

Congress must impose national standards on the curriculum taught in classes to ensure every school district provides factual subject matter. Teachers must also stop from incentivizing competition in their classrooms. Students must learn about the true history of the world as well as the challenges we face ahead through true collaboration. 

 

Failures of Public Education

 

Students are Criminalized

In many schools, every hour that students are there police are too. The psychological effect of this invasion of privacy is counterproductive to student safety. Constant monitoring takes away our student’s freedom to learn and communicate freely with their peers. Students will always respond better to compassion and encouragement than suppression and the threat of violence.

 

Underfunded Schools

The majority of schools are funded through property taxes meaning that when people pay more for their homes, the quality of education in their town rises. This system prioritizes richer areas, leaving poorer communities in the dust. Schools are expected to supplement their funding through fundraising, but this is only effective in communities where families have wealth in excess. Students must be able to trust their governing bodies will fully fund their education. 

 

Inconsistent Curriculum

There are fundamental differences between school curriculums across the country. Where in the United States one goes to school directly affects their level of education on many key subjects. The only consistency is that curricula tend to focus on white achievement while glossing over the success of people of color. It is unfair to expect graduates from diverse locations across the nation to work together in the labor force when they don’t even share the same truths.

 

Brown vs Board of Education Did Not End School Segregation

The 1954 court ruling eliminated barriers to school integration, but did not take the proper steps to prevent future segregation. Politicians, banks, and realtors, combined legislative action and predatory lending to ensure neighborhoods would be homogenous. Once housing was segregated, politicians tied school choice to zip codes and schools were segregated once more.

 

Public Education Leaves Students Unprepared to Succeed 

In the United States, higher education is required for most high paying jobs. As long as college is outrageously expensive it is unrealistic to expect everyone will attend. Every person deserves the chance to work and earn a livable wage. Teachers incentivize competition among their students when they should focus on promoting collaboration. This causes graduates to rely on competition once they reach the labor force. If we can shift teaching styles, the labor force will be dominated by group decision making, rather than the whims of a powerful few.