Marisa
Post number: 3
Topic: education
Title: The Other type of Cheating
Author: Gary Rubinstein
Publication: cnn.com
Date of publication: April 12th, 2012
Length of article: 2 pages
In his article, Mr. Rubinstein asserts a variety of problems plaguing the U.S. education system. First and foremost, lawmakers do not know how to fix a broken system, despite claiming otherwise. This leads to the firing of perfectly good teachers in suffering districts, and misguided statements such as this: that the way to solve problems is to “'cut the number of teachers in half, but [also] double the compensation of them, and [thus] weed out all the bad ones and just have good teachers," under the mistaken impression that "'double the class size with a better teacher is a good deal for the students.'” (Michael Bloomberg, New York Mayor) Rubinstein also states that another significant threat lies within the gamut of standardized tests administered every year. These scores are easily doctored before being sent off to the relevant government body, making a school with poor scores seem acceptable, a quality that has allowed the practice to continue.
Indeed, a school with good scores is, effectively, a school that continues to receive money [particularly in the case of charter schools], which has led to money-grubbing practices that do very little to benefit students. Money also plays a significant role in the systematic elimination of subjects such as art, history, science, and physical education in so-called "failing" schools, in order to place emphasis on mathematics and reading - nothing else. Another notable issue presented in this article is the discrediting of poverty as a factor in performance, a fault exhibited by none other than the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. It is evident that there are a multitude of problems plaguing the educational system, but few solutions forthcoming. Mr. Rubinstein implies not only the [many] failures of the No Child Left Behind act, the repercussions of which are felt nationwide on a daily basis, but also the incompetence of those who claim to "'know' how to improve education in this country."
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ReplyDeleteI believe that it is unfair of the government to tamper with schools' personal affairs. It is unfair to the students and teachers if the government is controlling most of their personal school decisions. For example, the government makes less educated schools seem more intelligent that more educated schools when tampering with the school's STAR Testing scores. This also makes poor schools seem more acceptable to colleges and other universities, which is unfair to more intelligent schools and students.
ReplyDeleteThe cutting of subjects like art, history, science, and physical education is poor judgement on the school's end. Mathematics and reading are definitely important, but students should be well rounded and have at least basic knowledge of multiple subjects. Not all students are cut out for a career in mathematics or linguistics, so giving them exposure to other subjects allows them to get a feel of what they're passionate about. It's horrible that schools would get rid of educational programs in exchange for cash.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it is unfair to the students who attend schools that "cheat" the system in order to make the school look better. Firing "bad" teachers and just having larger classes with one "good" teacher is not a better alternative, to having smaller class sizes. All of the bad decisions that administrators at certain schools are making to make the school look better, are only hurting the education that the students are receiving. Another thing that is only hurting and not helping the students is the fact that schools are cutting out certain classes like art, history, and physical education, in " so-called 'failing schools' in order to place emphasis on mathematics and reading - nothing else". I believe that students should receive education from a wide variety of subjects to make them more well rounded, and give them the experience of finding a subject they wold like to further study. It is sad to see that kids are getting cheated out of a good education, just so school can get more money and look "better".
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