The American educational system is in bad need of remodeling and overhauling an antiquated system of public schools, dating back to the original idea of Thomas Jefferson. We use the stick of education to provide the carrot of a ôbetter job and higher salaryö for those who are more educated. Note, one says ômoreö rather than ôbetterö. If there is a plus to American education is that, unlike many other nations of the world, more children go to school longer. If there is a negative side- and there are many critics with fistfuls of complaints, it is that forcible attendance is different than learning; many classrooms are overcrowded; teacher capabilities are greatly varied; inner-city schools tend to have a worse impact on learning and retaining that suburban schools; African-Americans complain that most college admissions tests are created by and for a white majority. Perhaps the most recent frustrating indictment is that a good education, even a college degree, no longer assures one of permanence in a downsizing economy.
We are facing a budgetary crisis in our educational system. Teachers needing more pay, structures needing replacement or repair, new technological equipment not being on the School Board's budget. We also cannot overlook another sad commentary on school-age American children. It is a sad fact of life that our young people are seriously delinquent not only in their educational prowess (when compared even to other nations) but in the way they take care of their health, their bodies, and their nutrition.
The U.S. Surgeon General's 1996 Report on Physical Activity found that participation by young people between 12 and 21 in physical activities is declining compared to the early 1990's. Almost 50% of young people do not exercise vigorously, and only 19% of high school students reported 20 minutes or more of daily physical activities.
One also needs to comment on the ôcompetitiveö nature o...