Education

1. Education Current Issues

2. Vocabulary • No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Curriculum • Accountability Silent Epidemic • Standardized Test Magnet School • Charter School Capitalism • Vouchers Globalized Economy • Head Start Program Specialized Labor • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Manufacturing Textiles • U.S. Department of Education Section 529 Accounts • Literacy Education Savings Accounts • Luxury Tax National Debt • Post Secondary Education Deficit • Pell Grant • Program for International School Assessment

3. Education Priorities and Funding • In 2009 $667 billion was spent on the 97,000 public schools in the U.S. • The federal government contributed $58.5 billion to this amount • A lot of money for very low quality education.

4. 2009 • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act • $5 billion for Head Start programs • $5 billion for reforms • $77 billion to help struggling schools by improving teacher quality and student achievement • $48 billion to help states make up for lost money due to recession-strapped budget cuts.

5. It provides money, but also increases the national debt. • It opens the door for the U.S. Department of Education to take more power away from the states.

6. Other Education Proposals from President Obama • $500 million to expand preschool programs for low income families • $300 million to assist states in evaluating early education programs • $162.5 million to expand literacy for preschool students • $370.4 million for reading programs for grades K-12

7. Critics of Federal Funding • Get rid of programs that aren’t working to save money • States should cut spending in other areas • Impose higher luxury taxes – alcohol, tobacco, gambling, & purchase of high dollar items.

8. Post Secondary Education • 2010 the President has proposed $2 billion to help increase people in the U.S. with college degrees from 40% to 60% • Increase vocational education too • Increase Pell Grants • Increase funds that help minority and disadvantaged students attend post secondary schools

9. Three Problems with the Post Secondary Proposals • 1. Increases the national debt • 2. States should be the ones responsible for bearing the costs of increasing access to higher education • 3. Increasing federal funds will give colleges no incentive to control their runaway costs

10. Ways Families Can Plan for Post Secondary Education • Education Savings Account • Section 529 Accounts • Kids can join the military to get their education paid for

11. Educating Students in a Global Community • U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but the largest economy. • U.S. has one of the lowest poverty rates at only 12% • Globalization of the economy has increased the competition in education • U.S. companies locating production plants in other countries where labor is cheaper and specialized labor can be developed. • U.S. companies look for cheap but safe places to put production facilities

12. Drawbacks • Graduates in the U.S. are now competing globally for jobs where they used to just compete “locally” as seen in • Manufacturing textiles • Auto production • Science based research

13. “What should be done to prepare students for success in a globalizing world? • Decrease the gap between U.S. and foreign students in math and science skills • Increase the number of elementary and middle schools teaching foreign languages

14. How do policy makers plan to address this problem? • Suggestions: • Spend more days in school each year • Create more magnet schools in science and math • Require a proficiency in a 2nd language to graduate from high school • Expand the foreign exchange program that sends U.S. students to other countries • Reduce the number of foreign students at U.S. universities so more U.S. students can attend the school

15. Public School Reform • Drop-outs • Almost 1/3 of students who enter the 9th grade fail to complete high school in 4 years • Drop-outs are less likely to vote • Drop-outs are less likely to find good jobs • Drop outs are more vulnerable to crime, substance abuse, and poverty

16. Some school districts are experimenting by • Making an education and job earnings more relevant to the students • Giving cash rewards for good grades • Improving the curriculum • Improving the support system for struggling students • Providing alternative education for non-traditional students • Reduction in suspensions/expulsions by instituting community service requirements instead

17. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) • Requires standardized testing • Increasing school accountability • Federal gov’t take over of schools that don’t make AYP – Adequate Yearly Progress

18. Critics of NCLB • Teachers teach to the “test” • State pays for the testing and implementation of federal programs even though budgets are already being cut. • School vouchers to send kids to private schools take money away from the public schools, hindering their progress

19. Charter Schools • Are not subject to federal regulations of public schools. • They DO have to meet NCLB standards