Utilization Essay Example

quality of schooling as a paramount concern.  Education has declined so greatly due to all factors listed above, that the old adage, ‘we aren’t gonna' take it anymore,’ has become reality.

And, this concern is not only one held by parents in lower socio-economic and inner-city schools; this concern extends into middle-class areas as well, where anyone from an earlier generation recognizes the ‘dumbed-down’ nature of our graduates today, evidenced by the decrease in students who take advanced math, science, and literature courses. How many students are prepared to grasp the higher vocabulary and different styles of writing in literature, when ‘Johnnie can’t read’ beyond  a 3rd grade level upon completion of high school?Parents have the right to choose within the public school system where their children will attend.  They have a right to choose the public school which has the best success rates in all ways schools are critiqued -- the schools with the best-educated teachers within the disciplines of interest, the schools with the highest standardized test scores, and the schools whose students have the highest scores on ACT and SAT tests, etc.   They have the right to chose the schools with the greatest number of students accepted into college, the greatest number of students accepted into Ivy League schools, and schools with the greatest numbers of students completing college – whatever the particular family’s goals may be. Much overcrowding would be eliminated instantly; the overcrowding would be eliminated in the poorly performing schools.  Overcrowding would occur in those public schools most sought after, initially.

However, with the market factors of demand and supply, equilibrium would find its point through the factors to be discussed

shortly. What students and parents would not be excited and enthused to be able to go to schools that are superior to what they’ve known prior?  Where discipline abounds, not only in education but in students’ behavior as well, a new sense of pride, joy, and determination can erupt.  Now, there is something to strive for – the goals they always wanted but could not see their way clear, are now within their grasp. The opposing views to public school choice typically do not come from students or parents(unless they hold socialist views); they come from both the national teachers’ unions and the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, the teachers’ unions’ power is great, and their political actions prevent much of what parents and students want.

Common sense would tell us that teachers would want the best for students, as well as their parents.  However, this is not always the case. Let’s assume, hypothetically, that school choice is now in effect.  The low-performing public schools have now lost 60-75% of their students.

What this means to the administrators and teachers of these schools is this:

• Most have just lost their jobs.·
• Government funding for these schools just depleted incrementally.·
• The teachers probably cannot get a job presently at the better schools, because the schools are already adequately staffed.·
• If openings are available at these higher-performing schools, they more than likely will not meet the requirements of the school or the discipline in which they wish to teach.

This means the “education degree” is not enough; or, perusalof their success rates in passing students with good gradesfalls short of what the superior schools demand. Even if there are openings, there is

now a glut of unemployedteachers. The out-sourced teachers will need more education in their respective disciplines, or in how to relay this information to their students in successful ways that translates into good, if not superior, grades for students. The excuse from the out-sourced teachers and administrators of the closed schools would be that “adequate funds were not available for us to do our jobs correctly.”   The hype would pass, and the bottom line would be what students and faculty have for many years called “the weed-eater effect;” except, this time teachers who are not “up to snuff” for one reason or another are those who would be weeded out.In summary, parents have the right to public school choice.  Americans pay the taxes that fund the public school system; let the Americans make their own choices, not the teachers and the politicians.  The demands of the market system, if choice is allowed, will result in the less prepared teachers seeking the education to make themselves more marketable, or them leaving education altogether.  Either choice would serve only to better the educational system as a whole.