The War on our Youth: America’s Education System

Part 3 of 4 Part Series

In the next couple of years, it is predicted that nearly 20-40 million students will have dropped out of high school, according to edweek.org. Thus the question is raised about what America’s educational system is doing to combat this problem. While some might blame this issue on “No Child Left Behind” because it has left thousands perhaps millions of children behind with its rigorous standards and mandates on not only students but teachers, administrators and educators. However the reality is, America’s Educational System was jacked up before No Child Left Behind was implemented but don’t get me wrong, NCLB made it worse.

Thus what do our youth do when the very educational system that exists for them, is set up to fail them from jump street because NCLB was underfunded and not properly planned to deal with the diverse educational system structures of each state in America. Also the mandates and standards that NCLB put into place for America’s education systems really put many students, administers, educators and others at a disadvantage because if the right resources were not there to educate the youth before NCLB than after NCLB was implemented, those same resources are still not there than how can you expect NCLB to be met to begin with.

Now NCLB is not the only problem with why our youth are failing in America’s education system but it is a part of it. The other problem is that educating our youth has become more political than educating. It is as if the schools that did the best get the best resources or an abundance of more resources than those that are failing. This did not just begin because it existed before the civil rights movement when separate but equal was fair. While Brown v. Board was suppose to rectify the problem from two stand points, color and equality, it really didn’t help that much because our educational systems are still separate but just a little less and equality does not exist across the board like many thought it would once Brown v. Board was established.

In fact some might same Brown v. Board is the reason why many African American students or children of color fail because while the educational standards and mandates are equal, the resources are not equal. Thus before Brown v. Board, we had two different sets of mandates for whites and blacks but the reality is that Brown v. Board might have contributed a small amount to America’s educational system problems today but it doesn’t bare the entire blame. Just like NCLB, Brown v. Board has its share in what ails our youth today because it didn’t change the equality factor in education; it only changed the separate part.

So one might say that why don’t parents send their kids to the best schools but what will that solve if their child gets to the best school and fails thus resulting in their child being sent back to the school where they begin or worse being diagnosed as special ed. Today’s education system is quick to label a child now days as special not gifted but special when they are not up to par. So what is a parent to do than other than to believe what the teachers and school says. Therefore the parents are what is wrong with America’s education system as well. Parents need to realize that educating does not begin or end with school but it starts and ends in the home. If parents are not educating their children before they begin pre-school or kindergarten than that’s the first problem to why their child is not up to par to begin with.

Also if parents are not spending time with their kids after school helping them with homework and on weekends exposing their child to other educational venues, projects or activities than you are setting your child up to be behind and not ahead. Parents need to stay involved in their child’s education from elementary school to high school and when I say involved, parents should know their son’s or daughter’s teachers as well as the school’s principal and assistant principal(s) as well as their child’s counselor. It is imperative that parents play a big role in their child’s education as much as they play a role in their child’s extracurricular activities such as sports. I always found it amazing that my teammate’s parents would always show up at their games but never took the time to show up at parent teacher conferences or other school functions for their child.

Now parents get part of the blame just like NCLB and Brown v. Board because statistics have shown that most parents especially in urban cities stop really paying much attention to their son’s and daughter’s education after elementary school and only begin to pick back up close to graduation from high school. Therefore those grades in between are where we find majority of youth dropping out of school because of no parental guidance at home or the right nurturing needed for our youth to succeed.

Clearly America’s educational system has problems but the major problem as I see it is that America’s teachers have become paycheck grabbers and less about educators. While I commend those educators like Mrs. Brandenberg, Mr. Caleal, Mrs. Wise, Mrs. Valentine-Hollie, Mrs. Hollie, Mrs. Brothers, Mrs. Turner, Mr. Shabazz, Mr. Jones, Ms. Jones, Mr. Gibbs, Dr. Jenkins, Mrs. Didlake, Mrs. Maddox, Mrs. Middlebrook, Mrs. Overstreet, Mr. Bolton, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. D’Angelo, Dr. Kalmendai, Mrs. Connaly and Mr. Hargraves (rest in peace) for all the wonderful years they have committed to educating our youth, they are just a rare few who loved children and cared about inspiring tomorrow’s future to believe that they are today’s future right here, right now. Now I believe that some of those educators still exist but a new breed of educators with that same passion needs to step in because many of the educators that I just named have retired from their posts. So it makes one wonder why did they retire and can they be replaced. The answer, education has become more political than ever and yes we can replace them as long as the new breed of educators don’t use this job as a paycheck but as a moment to change the course of America and the world.

Educators are suppose to inspire not just the best and brightest but the ones who really need the educator more than others, you know those, we call them trouble makers or lost causes. Educators look at trouble makers not as lost causes but misguided souls who need more nurturing, patience and love than others. Now everyone has seen the movies Freedom Writers, Lean on Me or Dangerous Minds and in those movies, the educators inspired their students to be more than what their critics thought they were. Therefore it is no wonder why when you look at today’s education system, you begin to wonder do any of those educators exist when you hear that 6,829 students per day are dropping out of high schools all across America. You ask yourself why are we losing so many youth in our educational systems and some of the answers you might get is gang violence, drugs, and the usual lost causes answer in the sense that they don’t want to be educated.

The reality is that when you have majority of our 50 largest school districts in America graduation rates below 60% and some of those school districts in major cities such as Chicago, New York, Detroit, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Nashville, Memphis, Houston, Miami-Dade County, and Austin, Texas than it makes you wonder what is really going on in America’s educational system. Then when some of our congressional leaders such as New York Congressman Joseph Crowley didn’t know that his district had the lowest graduation rate among congressman at roughly around 24%, it really makes you scratch your head in disgust. So why are so many youth dropping out each and every day in America and what can be done about it? Those are the questions that need to be answered so that parental involvement, NCLB, and Brown v. Board can be fully addressed. The answer to what ails America’s education system is simple and it starts with politicians stop using our youth as political pawns but start using them as what they are, the future by giving educators, administers, and school districts the proper monetary aid and resources needed to educate children today.

Secondly it starts with big corporations and other people sitting on school boards to step down and allow educators and those who actually deal with kids and have taught in the classroom to have those seats because they know what is in the best interest of our children. Thirdly, it starts with educators who don’t want to educate but collect a pay check to resign and find a new profession because our kids need inspiration and need to be taught thought provoking, stimulating information. Fourth our youth need the proper resources from textbooks to computers to after school tutorial programs so that they can continue to learn beyond the classroom.

Lastly America’s educational system needs counselors who will do their jobs to better guide our youth on the right career and educational paths and hold counselors responsible to a degree for not properly tracking students’ successes and failures. However at the same time, we need attendance officers or truancy officers in America’s schools. While some schools have them, others don’t. Each school needs its own truancy officer or two where teachers can properly give attendance records to counselors who in turn attempt to contact the student and the parents before the truancy officer is contacted to take legal action against the student and the parents. Therefore if politicians want to help our youth than pass a national and state laws making it illegal for our youth to drop of high school before their 18th birthday. In fact, I would take this law a step further and say that if a student drops out, they must quickly obtain their GED within 6 months of the day they dropped out or be forced to enroll in one of America’s Armed Forces.

This way, we will not have a bunch of uneducated 18 years olds simply dropping out and they will at least obtain some type of equivalent to a high school diploma. A national data base for those who drop out of school and have to obtain a GED within 6 months should be established for military offices to access and be able to see who they can contact in order to recruit to the Armed Forces. Thus, this would not only help our educational system but our military as well. It is a bite much but sometimes, we need bold stances to show our youth we mean business. Our youth need help as well as tough love at times and that tough loves begins with all of us working together to ensure that they finish high school no matter what.

If it becomes illegal for our youth to drop out and if parents can get locked up for their child(ren) dropping out before their child(ren) turns 18 than it will make parents force their child(ren) to go to school and it will make parents take a more active role in their child(ren)s education than usual. With parents seeing what could happen if their child(ren) drops out than it would be beneficial to schools in terms of more parents being more involved in the school. However we might have a few students who might not care if their parents get locked up for them not going to school that’s when the legislation should include penalties for the child to pay as well as be forced to perform several hours of community service until their 18th birthday and after they turn 18 they have 6 months to get a GED or they have to join one of America’s Armed Forces. Either way it will benefit our educational system and our military as they get young fresh recruits every year that they can mold into better American citizens in the long run. Also it would help us as America to stop wasting our money on those youth who don’t want to be educated properly but rather want to be forced to be educated through our military ranks thus teaching them America’s core values of patriotism, freedom, justice, pursuit of happiness, liberty, discipline, respect, honor and loyalty.

Thus America’s education system can be reformed so that our youth no longer drop out and fail. However it starts with taking the necessary steps to cut down on drop out rates. As long as our youth see no penalties to dropping out of school than they will continue to do it no matter the consequences later on down the road in terms of careers. However if penalties and consequences are set up now to prevent that and show our youth that dropping out of school in America will no longer be tolerated than a new culture could develop where our youth would rather finish out high school than to be forced to join the military for not finishing high school or obtaining a GED. Just think of the educational dollars that could be saved and the type of response this could get in terms of building up our military forces.

We must think of the children and save them before 20-40 million students in America drop out in the next couple of years. Save our youth now because a mind is a terrible thing to waste!

SAVE OUR YOUTH!

Resource: Education Week report on Diplomas Count 2008: School to College, www.edweek.org and CNN’s Lou Dobbs show on Failing Grades, http://loudobbs.tv.cnn.com/.