America is already widely known for having some of the worst education in the world. Our public and even private schools pale in comparison to those in Europe and Asia. Teachers are underpaid and over-worked, struggling children are not given the attention they need to do well in school, and gifted kids are so bored with the lackluster classes that they rebel or drop out all together.
It does not take a rocket scientist to see that our educational system is flawed, so what is the government thinking when they take away money from schools, forcing them to cut classes, fire teachers and raise tuition?
Americans pay an arm and a leg to get their kids into great kindergartens, sometimes signing their children up for school before they have even been born; but for what reason? Some of those children will struggle through mediocre school after mediocre school to gain a high school diploma for learning half of what they should know before turning 18, just to work a full-time, minimum-wage job in the hopes they can pay for a college education—a college education that, frankly, isn’t worth as much anymore.
Many college classes have been cut, forcing students to take classes they don’t want or need. Art classes were the first to go when the budget got tight. Spending money on paint brushes, sheet music and clay was no longer plausible. Art students have to attend over-priced private schools that cost thousands of dollars in tuition and sometimes do not even accept financial aid.
The one haven for the broke student was community college. We would come to our humble school knowing it was not the best, knowing our two-year degree wouldn’t get us far, but it would get us somewhere. Now even our cheap community college education is at stake, at least in California. Severe budget cuts are looming over our heads, and we might be forced to pay near-university-level tuition prices. Even as the tuition rises, more classes are cut.
I am most frustrated by this because I am just starting my education. I plan on getting a PhD, and this is my first year in college. I see a long, expensive road ahead, and it scares me. Like many other college students, I had giant career dreams as a child. Although I no longer want to be a famous rock climber/singer, I do dream of success; and those dreams are being threatened.
I understand that we are in debt. California and America as a whole have a very deep ditch to dig themselves out of, but I fail to see the logic behind cutting into our education to try to save themselves from drowning. There has to be a better way than jeopardizing the schooling of a generation and possibly generations to come.
Not only will it become harder to afford school, but what we learn in school will be less substantial.
For my sake and the sake of everyone in college now and in the future, I hope America finds a better way to get themselves out of debt than throwing away our educational opportunities. For my sake and the sake of everyone in college now and in the future, I hope America finds a better way to get themselves out of debt than throwing away our educational opportunities.