Having Hope in Our Foundational School System
Public schools have been the democratic foundation and centerpiece for the educational school system in the United States of America since the end of the American Civil War. The public school system was created with the purpose to be government funded and free for the public. As George Lakeoff once wrote “Democracy’s sacred mission is to protect and empower everyone equally by the provision of public resources, what we call the public (Lakeoff 2-4).” Unfortunately, some individuals have mistaken flaws in a small portion of poor public schools for absolute failure and demand their closure in exchange for the opening of privately owned schools. A small amount of the population is aware of the actual statistics and don’t know that simply because a school becomes privately managed, it does not guarantee academic achievement. Ignoring that fact and pursuing such a dramatic modification creates a transition where schools begin run like businesses. This creates a free market structure and a selective system that’s absolute purpose is to maximize profits for the shareholders that take ownerships of the schools. Schools should not be run like this, on the contrary it must be run by people who seek more than just a profit by having a school succeed. People who actually care about students receiving a well rounded education.
Historically speaking, there always tends to be a correlation between poor school districts and poor academic performance. This became more persistent after most American cities suffered from large budget cuts. In the article “Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower Quality Education than Rich Kids” Gordon Laufer argues against a bill presented to Wisconsin State legislators, which proposed the closure of six low performing schools and their replacement with privately run charter schools. Milwaukee is not only the largest schools district in...