Arely Pellegrino
Writing 100
Professor Brummit
30 September 2012
Restoring our Broken Education System
Public school systems are still
failing, yet there is no solid theory as to why. Director Davis Guggenheim in Waiting for “Superman” focuses on
reforming teacher tenure issues as a
resolution. Jean Anyon’s theory in “Social Class and the hidden Curriculum of
Work” sheds a different light on our education issues. It is clear there is an even
greater problem faced in the public school systems. The majority of children will attend public
school in the U.S., a greater focus may be socio-demographic division in
teaching and student learning environment.
The fact is that the expectations of education are different from one
region to the next. This leaves
children, who live in a region that has a high percentage of poverty, at a
disadvantage. Schools are already
classifying these students as under achievers based on their socio-demographics. The focus needs to be equality. Moreover, to create an equally stimulating learning
environment in all public schools regardless of social classification that will
benefit and enrich each student individually, and as a whole, thus giving all children
the tools they need to become well rounded adults.
Although Waiting for “Superman” argues that teacher tenure is what is
affecting the American education system, analyzing the way schools are run from
one social class to the next creates a better way to manage the issues faced in
many school systems. Failing schools do not fail because of students’ lack of
interest, failing schools fail from lack of overall support.
In 1980 Jean Anyon, a professor of social
and educational policy at the University of New York, wrote a thought provoking paper entitled the “Social Class and
Hidden Curriculum of Work” (Teachers College Record). Anyon’s concepts separate the public
education system into individual entities based on social classification. All public schools exist to function for the
same purpose, yet affluent schools and their children are impacted less by
budget cuts. Affluent schools are able to raise adequate money needed to aid their
schools. Poor school districts are at a
disadvantage since they do not have the means to raise extra needed funds. This is why the educational enrichment of the
affluent vs. the poor school district is affected causing both schools to exist
on separate levels.
Education was created as an equalizer, to
give everyone the same opportunities.
However, test scores and dropout rates emphasize the truth and the
dichotomy of schools of different socio-demographic regions. Anyon’s ideas reflect a statistic brought up
as well in Waiting for Superman, indeed
“our nation’s capital is the worst scoring at 12% for reading” (Guggenheim). The U.S Census Bureau states that the District
of Columbia is now the third highest ranking in our nation for poverty levels
(Huffington post). These two statistics
go hand in hand. They are an example
that support Anyon’s theory designated the “working class schools” (Anyon
1). In Anyon’s writing she describes how
she arrives at her theories by first looking at the families of the working
class. Her findings are that many
parents are unskilled for the work force or unemployed (Anyon 2). When budgets
are affected, programs, teachers and supplies disappear. Communities rely on
their community, however if the community is without financial means to support
their schools everyone suffers. “Many
families in each school are at our below the federal poverty level” (Anyon 2). The disparity here is that there is no one
left to pick up the slack; therefore, the institution of education is
continuing to collapse.
In looking in-depth at the schools in
these areas, Anyon finds the teaching methods to be very cold, leaving no room
for creative thinking. With disparity lingering, the atmosphere is stale. Anyon quotes one teacher as saying “Simple
punctuation is all they’ll ever use” (Anyon 3).
This is a perfect example of how in less advantaged schools, the
expectations are very low; indeed, everyone adapts to continue to survive. This type of mentality may give an already
impressionable child, feelings of self-doubt. If these children make it to
graduation day they will have earned a basic or below average education. This will leave them to become the next
generation of adults and parents with minimal skills, earning below average
wages, falling into the same category of income levels as their elders. The children are the casualties in the long
run, for they are a subject of a society that has adapted to a divided standard
of education.
On the other end of the broken system, in
a small quiet neighborhood built off tax dollars of the wealthier class,
children are getting all the tools they need to succeed. They are not consumed by their environment in
such a negative way as the less privileged. Class rooms are filled with energy and eager
children. The style of learning is
geared to prepare the children for higher learning, it is engaging and
creative. The community fills in the financial gaps the government cannot. Refocus
and walk down the broken sidewalk of most urban streets and you can find a
school, holding on tooth and nail to every federally funded dollar they receive
for survival. There is smog that pours
into the class room filled with the aroma of a suppressed community. Since the
learning environment is dull, many children drop out for one reason or another,
due to problems at home which include poverty, lack of support from adults, and
lack of interest. Many of these dropouts
will wind up going from the school system to the prison system. Waiting
for Superman supports this fact by linking inmates with a high percentage
of high school dropouts (Guggenheim).
These high school dropouts walk out the revolving door of broken dreams,
many never looking back, only looking to survive.
These key facts are what are dividing our
country’s education system and causing America’s public schools to fail. Our problem is an inequality in education
based on geography. If children are lucky to be born into a middleclass or higher
environment, your chances for success are greater. If you are born into an environment of
poverty you have many challenges in your path from an early age. Success starts
at home and continues in the class room. When there are environmental
conditions at home that are not conducive to a child’s learning and growth,
they cannot meet their full potential. Pair the home environment with poorly
funded schools, a low bar of achievement, and it creates a no win situation.
While
private schools and charter schools do exist in poor communities, this solution
is not very attainable. In Waiting for
Superman the unavoidable truth is lack of income to pay for private school,
or lack of luck in the case of the charter school (Guggenheim). Charter schools while free to the public, are
a gamble because they only take so many students. The answer is clear, disadvantaged schools
need funding that will help create a learning environment just as rich as
schools in wealthier communities. They
need a curriculum that breathes life into the stale air, where they too get to
feel creative and challenged. There needs to be more tutoring programs, and
after school programs available. While
many children may come from broken homes, not all do, for being rich or poor
does not define a good parent. There are
many concerned parents that work odd hours, and hold multiple jobs to make ends
meet. Many children will come home to an
empty home, this is neither the choice of the parent or child, but created out
of financial circumstances alone. Some
parents simply cannot help due to education barriers of their own, or language
barriers. Where to turn is hard, for it becomes a political and financial
battle. Reconstructing the education system is a must though, since it shapes
everyone’s environment.
Create equal learning for all is
fundamental, so the less advantaged do not becoming a statistic. This will keep
children from giving up. Keeping
children off the streets, and out of prison, we can use funding elsewhere, such
as strengthening schools that need help the most. We are the land of opportunity, lets live up
to that standard. If we can restore our
broken education system, we can build stronger communities. We can build
communities with stronger foundations and stronger schools; likewise, young
adults eager and ready to be successful, with no limitations on what they can
achieve.
Works cited
Anyon, Jean. “Social Class and the
Hidden Curriculum of Work.” Journal of
Education.vol.162.no.1, Fall
1980. Web.
The Huffington Post. “New Census
Data: 110,000 D.C. Residents Live Below Poverty Line.” Huff Post DC
09/23/2011.Web.
Teachers College Record. “Jean
Anyon, Author Index.” Teachers College Record. The Voice of
Scholarship in Education. 2012. Web.
Jan.22, 2010.Film
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