Education Matters by Benton

Education Matters by Benton - October 2022 Scholarship Essay

The arrival of mid-August, no matter the year, is dreaded by many children, celebrated by many adults, and all for different reasons. In August of 2021, I was once again ready for the first day of school, the last first day for me. Thirteen years of desks in straight rows. Thirteen years of teacher lectures. Thirteen years of “getting to know you” activities. Thirteen years of “sit and get” instruction. After thirteen years of reproducible assembly-line education, I am one of the fortunate ones. My education extended beyond the walls of my school. My parents provided me with opportunities and options that many of my peers were not privileged enough to have.
W.B. Yeats once said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Creating a desire to learn in students should be the goal of education. Still, it seems that education has become a factory to mass-produce cookie-cutter children entering society with no basic life skills and a disdain for educational learning.
In the twentieth century, my parents learned skills such as writing a check, balancing a checkbook, woodworking, sewing, cooking, math, English, science, and social studies. Unfortunately, funding was cut, many of these courses were deleted from the school curriculum or became electives, and students missed out on learning these skills. Advanced algebra and calculus became more critical as college entrance became more competitive and engineering courses became the next big thing. The expectation that all students attend college was pushed onto the students, and vocational occupation training and life skills were cast aside.
State tests and accountability were mandated, and teachers began to teach the test instead of teaching innovation and creative thinking. As a result, we have created a generation of factory workers unable to fill the jobs of tomorrow. Instead, students are being taught skills of yesterday and will graduate to fill a position that does not even exist yet, but lack the skill set to find success.
Attempts for education reform are nothing new. Changes to the educational system are needed but rarely met. Unfortunately, educational reform has become a political issue than one centered on the needs of children. As a result, the future of our society is at risk.
We are a transient society, and to meet the needs of the people, a national curriculum and scope and sequence would help students maintain consistency when forced to change schools. In addition, creating a national board certification for teachers rather than one that varies from state to state would ensure teachers all had the same standard of excellence. I have had many opportunities, such as dual enrollment courses, to earn college credit from highly qualified teachers. Unfortunately, not all schools can attract this level of an educator to fill their many positions. Many American rural schools do not have the resources to offer advanced coursework or hire adjunct professors to teach dual enrollment courses. Larger, wealthier school districts can provide more advanced resource courses and even offer higher pay to their employees than the smaller or more rural community schools.
Essential life skills such as changing a flat tire were pushed back onto the parents. As a result, today’s students are unable to function independently. They have become bored in the classroom because they do not see the relevance of their learning. The curriculum teaches the skills but lacks a connection to real-life application.
For many students, schools have a guaranteed meal twice daily where they would have had none at home. School inclusion has expanded educational opportunities to more people, such as students with disabilities. While it would seem politics has too much influence on the education system, civic participation in elections has dramatically increased in the last decade.
Public education is not without faults; improvements are slow to be implemented, but successes can be seen daily. Teachers are leaving the field at an alarming rate, but student drop-out rates are decreasing annually. The education today’s students are receiving is effectively improving American society. The literacy rate in America is 99%. Any quality system constantly evaluates itself and looks for ways to improve; education is no exception. If politicians allowed all stakeholders to participate in the change process, perhaps today’s students would see a more effective school system that allowed them to meet the need to compete in the jobs of tomorrow.
Teacher burnout is at an all-time high as teachers are asked to do more with less. Dedicated to their students, educators take on more tasks and ask for nothing as they become fatigued and cannot effectively teach. Most new teachers leave the profession within their first five years of teaching. Often teachers receive no hands-on training before stepping into their first teaching assignment. Creating a program that allows teachers to obtain more realistic on-the-job training with a quality mentorship program would enable future teachers to learn with a great support system rather than a sink or swim learning environment.