55.3% of Americans chose to vote in the 2004 presidential election, this was our best turnout since 1968. Out of 171 voting countries we rank 139. Education has struggled with a focus from its beginning. Without looking at the history of education it is easy to assume that there was a time people were happy with the direction of it. This is simply not the case. As our country’s philosophy and economy have changed so has the focus of education and perhaps rightly so. In the early sixteen hundreds education in America was rooted entirely in religion with a goal of educating people in reading so that they would understand the laws of God. It was assumed that a lack of education was a tool for the devil. Perhaps the devil is wearing other than Prada these days. In the mid 1600’s three paths had emerged for education. The first was Latin school for young men aspiring to enter the clergy. The second was the assumption of the father’s occupation and the third was the then popular apprentiship. Famous students such as Benjamin Franklin were amoung those choosing the latter. While these forms of education may seem rudimentary today they came equipped with some of the same issues we are currently facing. Parents were concerned about the future of their children in an ever changing world and wanted to have some assurance that they were doing everything they could to see this to fruition. The apprentiship tract was one in which monthly payments would be made to a craftsmen for a period of approximately seven years in return for the proper education of a child. In 1647 government passed official rules for apprentiship to help ensure people were getting what they paid for. In the late 1600’s laws for schoolmasters were passed based on the size of towns recognizing the need for formal public education, this was the first time in our history that government set aside funds for the education of our youth. Separation of church and state came with laws passed in 1785 specifically the Land of Ordinance or 1785. Laws, lawsuits and issues continued to plague education and people fought for the improvement of education and the equality of education all along the way. I was surprised to find that we, in truth, have never had a time in the history of our country that we have felt education was up to par or was where we wanted it to be. It has been the subject of debate for four decades.
The most recent developments came with the Johnson administration and the Secondary Education Act of 1965. Johnson was hoping to reach underprivileged children as he addressed poverty in our nation. The Secondary Education Act of 1965 increased funding to public schools by approximately 200% over the following ten years however, from 1975-1985 this huge increase could only brag 2%. If this was not enough of a blow for education. Then came Reagan in 1980. Reagan cut funding by some 21%. What followed was the Nation at Risk report that suggested common or core curriculum/benchmarks.
In 1990 the National Center for Educational Statistics claimed that only 40% of students were meeting these new standards. In 2000 a National Panel for Educational Goals was formed. Six very lofty goals followed and were supported by Clinton both when he was a senator and during his administration with Goals 2000. George W. Bush is simply continuing this idea of the betterment of education or so it would seem.
So why is all the history important? How does it pertain to the classroom? First I think in order to be effective as teachers and influence the community we need to understand the big picture. We need to understand that as the world economy changes so does education. It is our job to look at the ways that we can influence change. We live in a country that fought bitterly for the right to vote and yet only about half of us do. Perhaps we need new legislature that targets not leaving adults behind.
Who are the individuals that are sitting on these committees for education reform? What is the actual percentage and dollar amount that schools are losing when they do not meet AYP? Is the issue more about school funding in terms of the dollar or more about protecting the jobs of school faculty that are not meeting AYP in their classrooms, buildings, districts? What alternative funding is available? What is the policy of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation as they have overtly identified education reform as one of the foundation staples? What more is it that we could know? Where are the statistics from the last five years that No Child Left Behind has been in effect? What are the overall results? Has it made adequate political progress?
