The Collapse of The American Education System

Our education system used to be the core of the American Dream. A tool that embodied the rise from lower to middle to upper class in this country. Today, that system is outdated and an international symbol of failure.

According to Business Insider, the country ranked outside the top 10 in literacy of Mathematics, Languages, and Sciences.

The first question we must ask is what is causing our educational failures? Experts point to high education costs, education discrepancies, outdated textbooks, and a lack of teachers. Honestly, they are all correct, and with this laundry list of problems, we are forced to conclude that fixing any single problem will only bandage a much deeper wound.

Were Americans ever that smart?

According to Cengage, at the beginning of the 19th century, many people in America were illiterate. Union jobs ruled the 20s, and the depression didn't leave money for college. It wasn't until WWII that America realized they had an education problem when the country turned away 5 million soldiers for their illiteracy.

During WWII, America revamped its education system to focus on math, science, and languages. This altered focus resulted in the 40s and 50s ranking America number one in education globally.

The golden era was short-lived, and our old problems arose again by the beginning of the 1970s. Debates about how school 'ought to be' taught shifted an educational focus on math and science back to woodworking and driver education, and in the 90s, Columbine altered the perception of American education again. These problems all piled together to render American Edu. mediocre.

Today, there are more school shootings than ever; the education discrepancy from state to state is appalling; we are using our kids as the centerpiece of political debates, and according to NPR, the average American family is giving 1/8 of their annual income to the school.

Fixing the problems:

The last question we must ask is how do we start fixing these issues? We begin by admitting our system is awful, and we should learn from countries performing better than us.

Finland, which is a top education system internationally, stopped assigning homework and gave students 20-hour school weeks. In America, children have 30-hour weeks on average and 13.5 hours of homework.

In Italy, children spend 2 hours eating a four-course lunch meal, learning both etiquette and health. In America, the average food cost for students is comparable to prison food. Finally, many countries offer free education, and America charges 10,000 dollars a year on average.

This brings up questions about how parents should teach their children, should their kids go to public school, can families afford private school, how can we provide our children with the best education system, and seemingly, is America the right country for my family?

Sadly, these answers are often unclear and lead to crippling effects on our nation. I hope one day we can offer a better education for all children and provide nourishing meals and knowledge that nourishes their malleable minds. I implore American education actually to solve these problems.