Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Education: The Cost of Ignorance

The US National Government is doing poorly when it comes to educating our youth in America. It is interesting to see commercials and candidates speak on how important it is for America to get ahead of other countries when it comes to education. But they then fail to put in the money needed to fund the resources we need to accomplish that goal. I realize that America as a whole is going through a rough economic period, but I still believe education is the main factor that can enrich our future.

Americans have a goal to “connect a million minds” by challenging the youth of today to gain more knowledge when testing on the subjects of math and science. I believe that teachers are at the core of getting children interested in a subject. Teachers may find it difficult to perform their job by not being compensated for their hard work and by budget cuts resulting in classroom sizes becoming larger. These learning environments put stress on the teacher and strain on a student to keep up with their peers.

The National Government should make this realization fast in order to turn it around. This will result in Americans being more educated and able to thrive in a better environment. Sadly, this runs up the line to colleges and universities as well. Every educator out there is being pressed on all sides.

I recently read an article in the Los Angeles Times dated October 21, 2011 with a title of “Senate rejects bill to keep teachers, first responders on job” by Lisa Mascaro. This article highlights how strenuous teachers have it right now and how low education resources are dropping. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) stated it well by saying “we’re trying to make sure we save these jobs and give our students a good education across America in these difficult times.” I could not have stated that any clearer than Sen. Durbin.

Education is critical to America’s overall success. The less educated an individual is, the more likely they will need assistance because they are not able to make it in today’s demanding workforce. As a result, the less educated will need to obtain government assistance and more spending will go to those individuals. Why don’t we give education the boost it needs to be on top of other countries? The National Government needs to stand firm on education and make advancement to our future generation’s educational resources. This was a quote that sums up my beliefs: “Education costs money, but then so does ignorance.” -Sir Claus Moser

1 comment:

Jessica Gonzalez said...

Education: The Cost of Ignorance and My Thoughts

“Education: The Cost of Ignorance”, a commentary by Renee D. expresses how America is expected to be “ahead of other countries” educationally and yet does not receive the support necessary to achieve that goal. Renee believes that teachers are at the root of good education and that with budget cuts on education, teacher moral is lost and education suffers. She provides a statement from Senator Richard Durbin which emphasizes her argument that education is necessary especially during difficult times because it can be what turns our economic future around. Senator Durbin states, ““we’re trying to make sure we save these jobs and give our students a good education across America in these difficult times.”

I believe Renee’s argument is more likely directed at a Democratic audience since they are more likely to support government spending which is what will need to happen just to keep some public school teachers on the job. The article, “Senate rejects bill to keep teachers, first responders on job”, that Renee refers to also leads me to believe that her argument is directed at a Democratic audience because the article talks about how all of the Republicans in Congress rejected the bill that would keep teachers on the job.

Renee’s commentary is definitely logical as it touches upon things that don’t need much research to prove their truths. Like Renee’s comment that “the less educated an individual is, the more likely they will need assistance because they are not able to make it in today’s demanding workforce.” Renee makes a very clear and forward argument that “education is the main factor that can enrich our future.” I think that we are so focused on the short run answers to our economy that we have forgotten how important human capital is to our long run economy which is just as important if not more important; after all we do have to start somewhere.