Politics and Education

582 Words3 Pages
Politics & Education There are several issues that have manifested themselves in the political arena in regards to our schools and the education being provided. The issues range from who controls and makes the decisions for our schools, to educational reform to teacher certifications, to the trend of free choice of school and funding and how are students fairing in the modern age of school reform which all stem from the NCLB. Many politicians maintain that educational reform is based solely on the improvement of standardized test scores. This is a common misconception among Americans today. Government policymakers and the general public both share the same view that increasing the average student test scores on standardized tests is indicative of an improvement in the entire education system. American policymakers, educators and the general public are divided in their perceptions of the problems plaguing the education system. Currently, there are four conflicting perspectives regarding the deficiencies of the education system and proposed solutions. The first is to improve existing public school system by increasing national standards. This entails that school officials and principles implement innovative ideas of the basic structure that students should abide by. The second is to improve the existing school system by providing adequate funding. Providing more monetary benefits would give schools the opportunity expand their activities and provide students a more creative education. Third solution involves challenging the existing school system by offering educational choices instead of a traditional approach. The last proposed solution is to reform the public school system completely by creating student centered schools. Many Americans outside of the political sector state, to paraphrase, that if we focus only on standardized test scores, we
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