Background Information on Elementary and Secondary Education Act

In 1965 Congress passed The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was created to provide an equal and better education for all children. It became one of the most essential acts for education in the United States. The act creates funding for low-income areas and schools to provide a more equal education for all children. The start of this act urged on other pieces to be added to strengthen the schools around The United States, such as the Aid to Handicapped Children. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides an education for all people under the age of twenty up to grade twelve. It states that any child is entitled to a free public education. Its goal was to "help provide an accelerated, high-quality curriculum, including applied learning" (Elementary).

I believe this act to very important to education in only the sense that it provides and entitles all children to an education. I believe that if this act was not in place there would be many children that would not have the opportunity to go to school, that said, it would deny those children the right to knowledge. In almost every other sense of the act, I believe it is useless. Many of the statements the act makes are not followed through with actions today. For example, low-income school do not have the same funding or offer the level of education that Deerfeild High School does. Both schools are public schools yet the children that go to low-income schools do not have the same opportunity as we do.

New Trier High School is attempting to pass a referendum that would involve their community to finance aproject through taxes. They would spend as a comunity a total of 174 million dollars over the course of twenty three years. Now New Trier is getting no state money for this project, yet if the referendum is passed then they will have a newer and nicer looking school. Is this fair? The state provides the funding for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) but they tax payers around them cannot afford to pay that much to provide a nicer looking school. The tax payers around most CPS schools can barley afford the school and for that matter can not afford to give a proper education at the school due to the lack of materials and teachers. According to CPS.edu their funding was 180 million dollars short of the minimum they needed for teachers and supplies. If New Trier used the money they want to use to "fix" their school and used it for CPS they could have provided teachers with jobs and students with teachers and still have six million dollars left over to improve 409,000 students educations. CPS has over six hundred schools and 409,000 students which creates little funding per kid. According to an article published in August 2008, about a possible boy cot for CPS due to low funding stated, "CPS receives $10,000 per student while students attending schools in affluent school districts such as New Trier High School in north suburban Winnetka receive $17,000 per student. " (Hudson Chicagodefender). This is unfair. New Trier has about four thousand two hundred students who attend their school which a 17,000 dollar budget for each of them. There are 409,000 students that receive almost half as less as they do. This is unfair. This contradicts The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the lack of education in these areas are again creating a cycle of lack of knowledge. With 409,000 kids receiving knowledge that is much lesser and not at all equal to the four thousand two hundred kids that go to New Trier it creates 409,000 kids with a much smaller opportunity for success. This is why the problem of low income schools has been around for too long. Until all students can be provided with a "New Trier education" all students will not be equal. The more time that goes by the more New Trier uses the high income community to better their school and the more CPS is cut off from funds due to a low income community. The Elementary and Secondary Act needs to take tax payers money into account when looking at funds for schools. Until all students are equal there will continue to be a lack of balance for opportunities for each student. All of this said does not mean that no one who comes out of CPS schools cannot succeed in life, they definitely can and all of this said does not mean that all New Trier students can succeed. What all of this means is that CPS students have a harder time finding that success from the beginning of their educations due to the lack of opportunity that is given to them.

http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-1666-proposal-could-end-pending-cps-boycott.html
http://www.cps.edu/About_CPS/Financial_information/Pages/FYBudget2010.aspx
"Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. .

Background Information on Public Schools

Public education, which first started as the best and only form of education, has been going on a downwards slope for a while now. Public schools were first considered high education schools where there was a good education available. Public schools began to get a bad name when schools in the south began to have a lower education and less funding due the fact a lot of the population were slaves. When Thomas Jefferson was elected into office he encouraged and to action to expand public education to provide some form of schooling and learning for all children. When public education began to spread religion was no longer allowed to be taught. This became a very big law that is still used today because it created, the separation of church in state. Due to the fact that public education was funded by the state this allowed for no religion taught in public schools. This action lead to many Americans turning to a public education and a better education and better paid teachers. As it became a law for all children to be in attendance at school the issue of segregation grew, but did not become a major issue until after the civil war.
As the civil war ended and the civil rights movement grew segregation in schools became a national issue. Blacks were being denied a right to a proper education. Black public schools were funded very low and had low quality teachers. With little funding for black schools the materials necessary were not available to them. This caused for generations of blacks with a poor education. With education being highly valued in America and with it being considered a key factor for success it gave blacks a great disadvantage. At the time of the civil rights movement blacks were forced into low income parts of the city, forcing kids to go to low income schools. Those low income schools cause low education for the youth. All these factors are still shown today through the problem that there is with public education still.
I believe that the process of segregation is a main factor for the reason why public education is still an issue. Through low income areas creates lower education and this problem needs to be fixed with better funding. Better funding will and can lead to better materials which leads to a better basis of education and from this a more general and better knowledge among all people of social and racial classes will occur. If there is a better knowledge among people America will be a better functioning society, which will help the government and America as a whole.
Newman, Jason. "public education." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .
"Thomas Jefferson." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .

Background Information of Education

Education has always been one of the most important values that the American people hold. Schooling began to start and grow out of the home and publicly as the country began to expand and form. The idea of education started as basic, in the sense that the settlers believed only a general knowledge among citizens was important. The children attended school for the purpose of reading and writing. American society created public schooling for all children to learn about The Bible. Schooling was new and expensive which caused the American's to create charity schools for children who could not afford other public or private schooling. Creating charity schools divided society into social classes and began to segregate the wealthy from the poor. During the American Revolution school became available for kids of all ages and there was higher levels of difficulty as the kids grew older. African Americans and many religious groups were denied education, but some of them could set of private schooling. The problem with private schooling for minority groups because of funding. This lead to a lack of knowledge for minority group, which caused many problems for the future of America and still causes problems today. Throughout all of history there have been many problems resulting around school and education which have worked themselves out in different ways. These different ways have lead America to have the school system it does today. A school system that is a problem. Many public schools in major city still show big problems that are the results of how schools came about.

Public housing caused many African American and other minority groups to migrate to big cities, this caused for a demanded in schooling. Since the schools were surround by low income housing it caused for the schools to get little financial help, which then caused to a lower education and it began the cycle. This cycle of a lack of knowledge among the people is still shown today. This problem needs to be fixed through the goal. The goal that the settlers of this country made when it was first founded centuries ago that still applies today. This goal was to create a common knowledge among the people. This goal is hard to achieve in modern day because some schools provide a high class knowledge while others are provided with little knowledge. If America can come to a conlusion to solve America's issues with education than many other issues will work itself out. This will happen due to the fact that education is so vital to the growth of citizens and citizens are vital to the growth of America.

"education." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .

Initial Response to Education

Education has been a vital part of America's history and will continue to greatly impact America throughout all of time. Throughout all of America, in present day, children and teenagers are denied the right to a proper education. With some of America's youth being denied the right to proper knowledge it causes problems for the future. It becomes a cycle by poorly educated parents, in most cases, raises their kids in poorly educated areas. Last night in President Obama's State of the Union Address he discussed the education issue in America. He presented the idea that education in America needs to be different. President Obama said "the best anti poverity program around is a world class education". If America can provide an equal and a better education for all youth then a lot of the problems America has in the future would be solved. This meaning that if America can have a general knowledge of education then issues like poverty can begin to work itself out. If the future of America can succeed from the beginning there will be few citizens who do not follow through to succeed in the future. Education is something that always has been valued as a important part our American society, but throughout history has been given and taken away. These are the reasons that I find education to be interesting and to start to see why societies value and treat education differently.

State of the Union Address

In Obama's State of the Union Address, he said "we chose to move forward as one nation, one people". There were many issues that were given a solution which leaves America wondering, what will the future truly hold? Since the beginning of Presidents Obama’s time in office there has been many Americans that wonder what will he say needs to be done and what will actually take action. At the State of the Union address he gives many actions that Washington will be taking. To me the State of the Union Address for the first time in years seemed to bring America together as a union.
The one I thought to be most interesting was the issue of education. The development of our country lies in the hands of the young adults and children, they are the future. Obama said "the best anti poverty program around is world class education". President Obama recognizes that education in America can and needs to be greatly approved. Children should not have their futures ruined because they live in poverty and if America can improve the education problem then poverty can begin to heal it. Although it will always be near impossible for all of congress, or all of America, to agree on an issue-there was a true union at the address tonight.
America cannot solve all of its issues by just listening to Democrats or Republicans, but rather can solve the issues together. America chose to be as one country and act as one people decades ago, that same concept applies today. If America can further unify then progress can be made, change can happen. To make unification happen the first step is bringing together Democrats and Republicans, which I believe was his most important statement and movement tonight.
Obama states "America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity". President Obama relates the problems today to problems that America has already been "solved". Obama discusses civil rights in terms of racism, gays, women, and immigrants as still being current issues. How much has America learned? Yes women are allowed to vote and there no longer slaves but how many Americans are allowed their "American values". How many Americans can be truly free? None, one, all?
How can the American's become motivated to reunite as a country? Can America change? America even since discovered has been in constant change so change will never truly end. Change should never end as society grows and time goes on change in necessary. It is as if America is stuck a decade behind, this meaning things that should have been resolved a decade ago are trying to be solved now. Our government has not been changing as fast as the American Society. So how do we change that? How can we find success?

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