America’s system of public education, which is one of the most significant national infrastructures, is in need of some serious repair just like the country’s transportation system.
The country’s public education system replaced the conventional education system which highly depended on church, family, apprenticeship as well as community. The system has always remained extremely decentralised, with most of the funding for school coming from local institutions and governments.
Though the local governments, school boards as well as federal government have responded with reform initiatives to bring about educational equity, worries related to the country’s public schools still continue to persist. In fact, the teachers as well as their unions today are being accused of causing a hindrance to accountability and improvement of the education system. Their advocates say that until the traditional approach of local school funding doesn’t halt, disadvantaged and poor communities shall continue to have just poor schools to choose.
It is extremely difficult to bring about a change in such a highly complex decentralised system like public education from top to bottom. The federal government isn’t simply capable enough to change the reform-resistant public education system.
So, what do we do now? Well, our state school boards, public universities, parents and teachers are the best shot we have to reform and reinvent the public education system of the country. They require physical and human resources as well as a lot of public support and engagement. Though this will not be an easy journey, but if all of us work together and come up with ways to counter back the present societal trends, we may be able to rebuild our public education system.
