Eduction System Essays - Education In The United States,

Eduction System American Education System Education in the United States is one of the most important areas where government should continue to target resources. Public education is available to everyone and is primarily funded by federal, state and local government for kindergarten through high school. Private schools are always an option but are normally paid by parents or through academic type scholarships. Education is important now and for the future. The United States needs to maintain its competitive edge in research and development within every industry. We need skilled workers to maintain and keep our economy strong. Many programs continue to be implemented in schools, like the new Keystone exams which the State of Pennsylvania recently made mandatory, to ensure that every student has a good understanding of both math and science. Every student in the United States has the same opportunity to succeed and has equal rights to a public education under the law. The landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Brown made desegregation of the secondary school system a serious priority. Then, other programs followed like the Special Education program for the handicapped children so that they too could also have access to a quality education. Special education became a federal law in 1975. An assessment of the childs needs is first done to determine where extra or specialized help is required. Then an individual education plan, an IEP, is developed and written by teachers, parents and administrators to address the specific needs of each child. This plan is then shared with teachers and implemented, monitore d, reviewed and changed as needed so that the child can meet his/her educational goals. In Pennsylvania most special education students are included in the regular classroom as their IEPs are followed, ensuring that both educational and social goals are met. Continued education has become increasingly important. Today, specialized skills are required to land a good paying job. Students have many options like; Private Colleges, State Colleges, Junior Colleges, Trade Schools, Community Colleges where they can further their education. Many continue to graduate school to study for various advanced degrees. Today, there is a lot of competition for getting grant money and scholarships making it more and more important to get good grades in high school. There are issues facing the public school system today that mainly have to do with funding and politics. Traditional school districts are threatened by the recently organized Charter schools which are allocated a portion of the home school districts funds. Also, there are more and more smaller school districts in Pennsylvania with declining population and lack of resources that are struggling to keep their doors open, pay teachers, and provide a quality education. The local political leaders, school districts/school boards (both traditional and charter), and the State should be working together more aggressively in addressing the need to improve the quality of education in Pennsylvania. One way of providing a better and more affordable quality education is to consolidate school districts. This way administrative costs would be reduced and centralized purchasing services could be enjoyed. Consolidation would also provide for better pay for teachers and staff and ensure fair pay a nd career advancement opportunity. The road blocks for implementing a plan like this have a great deal to do with local politics and I believe that the time is now for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to step up and mandate school re-districting. A quality education is too important to be scarified for local political gain!