Public Education
Ninety percent of the fastest growing jobs in this country will require some kind of post secondary education.
The crisis in education in this country is hurting us all, some more than others. Amongst developed nations, our 15 year-olds are showing themselves to be 24th in math ability, and 15th in reading ability. This means, that we are less prepared to compete aggressively in the global economy.
Every year more than one million students drop out of high school without a diploma. Our nation's graduation rates among minority students are especially dismal. Only 52 percent of Hispanics, 56 percent of African-Americans, 57 percent of Native-American students graduate on time, as compared to 78 percent of white students.
We have erroneously assumed that if we take care of the early grades the students could finish building on a strong educational foundation. We must concentrate on high schools, because 70 percent of our eighth graders read below grade level, and nearly 30 percent read several grades below grade level.
If we don't deal with this dropout crisis, we will end up with only 40 percent of the school drop outs working. Seventy-five percent of our prison population are high school dropouts, and we’ll be paying increased social welfare costs, because some of our citizens won't able to move ahead.
Improving our education system is the best way accomplish significant growth in our economy. We need a nation of consumers who are able to drive this economy, by making good wages. If we can get the graduation rates of minority students up to their white counterparts, by 2020 we'll have $310 billion more of wages coming into the economy, and seven million more high school graduates who are likely to be taxpayers.
It’s the right of every child born in this country to get the best education possible. The problem with charter schools, and vouchers is that an exceptional education is provided for a few. Public education in this country belongs in our neighborhood and we should be providing only one choice, which is to provide the highest excellence in education for each and every young person.
The crisis in education in this country is hurting us all, some more than others. Amongst developed nations, our 15 year-olds are showing themselves to be 24th in math ability, and 15th in reading ability. This means, that we are less prepared to compete aggressively in the global economy.
Every year more than one million students drop out of high school without a diploma. Our nation's graduation rates among minority students are especially dismal. Only 52 percent of Hispanics, 56 percent of African-Americans, 57 percent of Native-American students graduate on time, as compared to 78 percent of white students.
We have erroneously assumed that if we take care of the early grades the students could finish building on a strong educational foundation. We must concentrate on high schools, because 70 percent of our eighth graders read below grade level, and nearly 30 percent read several grades below grade level.
If we don't deal with this dropout crisis, we will end up with only 40 percent of the school drop outs working. Seventy-five percent of our prison population are high school dropouts, and we’ll be paying increased social welfare costs, because some of our citizens won't able to move ahead.
Improving our education system is the best way accomplish significant growth in our economy. We need a nation of consumers who are able to drive this economy, by making good wages. If we can get the graduation rates of minority students up to their white counterparts, by 2020 we'll have $310 billion more of wages coming into the economy, and seven million more high school graduates who are likely to be taxpayers.
It’s the right of every child born in this country to get the best education possible. The problem with charter schools, and vouchers is that an exceptional education is provided for a few. Public education in this country belongs in our neighborhood and we should be providing only one choice, which is to provide the highest excellence in education for each and every young person.
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