Video Response 4-1980-present

Video 1980-present
This section of the PBS video series we have been watching was the final episode on the history of American public education. This video from 1980 to the present day captures the more modern aspects of education as well as what most of my generation experienced or still is experiencing. Ronald Regan’s proposal to fix educational problems was taking the nation by storm. The threat of a “learning” crisis was brought to the attention of America. The idea was to transform schools into possessing a business mentality with the idea of competition at the core, essentially to try and bring about the very best from all schools.

With schools “selling” something that the people would want, why wouldn’t the education system improve? Education was there to transform and inform the people living in a democracy. Therefore equality and technology were important in learning for the educational business world. With the article “Nation at Risk” appearing to the public, many were confused as to how badly the American school system was presented, the idea that schools were not preparing students for the real world and that schools were educating students differently was put on the table. Many groups who had lagged in the past were now brought into sight as NAPE, National Alliance for Powers of Equity, appeared as a counter to “Nation at Risk”. Equity was now the solution and the path towards excellence.

With this competition, schools implemented harder classes, higher standards for all, and high stakes testing. Not all schools needed to be reformed to help students, some simply needed more funding. The “Bottom Line” was hence introduced declaring that test scores were now the determining factor in funding, hence competition reappears. The notion of “Choice” was a debatable topic but with so many schools competing, finding the best way to perform and to educate was an issue. In 1992 New York schools began “choice” schooling which allowed students and parents to choose the schools for their children instead of going to the school in the district where they lived. With the emergence of President George Bush came “vouchers” which allowed students to attend private schools at the expense of the tax payers, the money that would have gone to the public school was given to the private school. The onset of choice and funds brought religious schools into the debate incorporating the “separation of church and state” into the mix.

But vouchers were not such a great thing as planned. Allowing almost anyone to have a “school program” to educate children was a risk that resulted in many people simply wanting the money and many people creating prejudice and potentially harmful environments. So with choice still being the topic, many were now turning to home schooling. With this idea of money and business in play, larger companies decided to get involved, EAI being one of them, and pay for, build, and run schools. However with this control also came the diminished art and music programs as well as educational opportunities for students with disabilities cut in half. With business being pushed back out of the education system so schools could take care of themselves, money became the issue. Media, corporate logos and vending machines made their way into schools and have stuck there ever since as a source of money.

President Bill Clinton, a new yet not so drastic improvement to ideas on education, suggested that the right to choose made education better and competition in and among schools was a healthy thing. But his solutions were in the form of more testing, differing grade levels and higher national standards were imposed. “Curricula emerged to raise the education level of all students.” With money and social/business issues being the forefront of the education crisis not the schools themselves, in my opinion, we find that critical thinking was now matched against a set body of knowledge. Therefore excellence would come in the form of more work and more standards, the call for more testing was unfortunately answered. The “future of democracy is dependent on education of people” as said by Thomas Jefferson holds true today. There needs to be a balance and a connection to and with excellence AND equality.