The idea of using education as a tool for advancement has been around since the founding of America, but our current education system is broken. The quality of our public education in the U.S. has stagnated and needs a change. The unrealistic and unfair standards of the No Child Left Behind Act have not worked. Privatization and school vouchers may provide short-term patches, but in the long run they will only further decay public education. What can we do as students and activists to make real improvements to our education system?
Let's start with merit pay for teachers. Teachers are in charge of educating every generation of Americans. I think they deserve the six-figure pay of doctors and lawyers. Although that may not be realistic, we can reasonably raise teacher salaries without breaking the budget. If we can attract our most talented college graduates to teaching, we can inject a new vitality into our schools. But higher pay alone will not solve the problem. Along with higher salaries, we need to hold our teachers accountable, but standardized test scores are not the correct path. Policy makers also need to develop new standards that measure the improvement of individual students over the course of the entire school year rather than using the results of a single multiple-choice test. Working with teachers to assess student improvement will be much more beneficial than forcing a top down solution"" from Congress.
We also need to guarantee smaller class sizes, especially in elementary schools. Students need specialized, individual attention to learn the essential reading and writing skills. Without these basic skills, students will struggle for the rest of their lives. A cliché, albeit a true one, says many states determine their future prison construction based on the results of the third-grade reading test. A good elementary education is the foundation on which we all build our lives. We need to guarantee every child has the opportunity to succeed in life, regardless of economic status.
Finally, we need to increase access to higher education. Cost should never have to be a factor for students deciding whether or not to attend college. However, for many people the price tag often determines whether they continue on to college or not. We need to experiment with new and creative ways to increase access - by increasing financial aid, work study grants and programs encouraging first-generation college students.
While these long-term solutions are a great goal to have in mind, there is something all students can do to have a positive impact on the Madison school districts this fall. On Election Day 2008, I encourage you to help out the Madison Metropolitan School District by supporting their referendum.
The Madison Board of Education has unanimously approved putting a referendum question on the Nov. 4 ballot. The question will ask the Madison community to exceed the revenue caps the state has placed on all Wisconsin school districts by $13 million. The revenue caps often do not allow districts to raise taxes enough to even allow for increased operating expenses and often forces schools to cut programs and staff. The average tax increase for the median-priced $250,000 home would be about $90, spread out over three years.
Lavilla Capener is a junior majoring in journalism and political science. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
