Paradigm Shift in Public Education

The public school system is broken, but not in the way that many people envision. Many schools, urban, suburban, and rural do an admirable job of educating students. There are strong and weak teachers in every school in this country, but that isn't the main issue either. Giving more local control (school boards and parents) versus state or even federal control is not the issue either. While safety and security are issues in some schools, they are not the reason why public education is not working for so many children in America.

Some of the preceding points are valid, but are only symptoms and not the root cause of the problems with public education. If a patient goes to the hospital with a headache, fever, bleeding, and each problem is treated separately, the patient could have a serious illness that is never diagnosed. That is the situation in public education. The system is wholly reactionary- Too many students are failing tests so remediation tutoring is set up without any guarantee that students will be proficient. Too many students are malnourished so we have the federal school lunch program (which also feeds students breakfast in some cases too). In schools where there is increased violence, metal detectors have been installed. There are many more examples of reactionary programs and policies in public education. In all fairness, schools have to be reactionary because they have been under constant assault. Schools get blamed for problems that they neither created nor are equipped to fix.

Public education was intended to be the great equalizer in society. An education is supposed to give people options and opportunity. Public education did not simply stop working. The idea that educators no longer know how to teach children seems ludicrous. Again, there strong and weak teachers in every school across the country, just as there always were.

Public education is broken today because schools were not designed nor were they intended to operate as social service institutions. Many of your “failing” schools serve a distressed population in America’s urban centers. It is not very surprising that students from the lowest socio-economic strata have the most difficult time achieving. It is not a case of these students lacking the capacity to learn. To the contrary… many students in schools that are considered to be underperforming are quite bright and capable of achievement at high levels (and some do just that). The issue is that many of these students face conditions that hinder their learning.
Students have to be ready to learn upon entering a school building. When their basic needs are not being met, how can these children be expected to perform at the same levels as students who do not face issues like hunger, homelessness, inability to purchase school supplies, no support system to help with homework and studying? When kids don’t know where they’ll be spending that night and whether or not they’ll have a bed or food, their priorities are not always on their studies. A student may be capable of being in an advanced placement class in high school but if he or she is homeless, their ability to focus on assignments is going to be hindered.

None of these conclusions are new. How to alleviate these symptoms in public schools (particularly in urban education) remains the issue. The solution is expensive. People do not want their tax dollars to pay for other people’s children. Suburban tax payers do not want to see their tax dollars sent to the city because they do not perceive the value in helping to educate children in other districts. The most telling statistic (and I don’t recall where I heard it) is that a community can determine how many jail cells it will need based on how many students are reading below grade level when they are in the 3rd grade.

Here is the solution! Schools need to be morphed into community centers. Children need to be cared for from sun up until sun down. Federal school breakfast, lunch, and dinner for those who are in need. Students who can not afford clothes should get financial vouchers to spend at area stores. There should be job training programs (including computer classes) for the student’s parents/guardians at the school that their child attends. There should be tutors on hand to help with homework. There should be counselors on hand to help students talk out problems. There should be fieldtrips to colleges, historical sites, etc. Not only will students basic needs be met, but there will also be more buy-in because of the close partnership between the schools and the students and their families.

If we expect schools to solve societal problems, there needs to be a paradigm shift. Schools need to start being thought of as a place of nurturing and love for children. This change can happen. It will be expensive. You can pay now in taxes or pay later in the salaries of extra police and the building of more jails…