When asked to name the single biggest threat to the future of the American lifestyle,   many people would perhaps say it is the escalating  price of imported oil, or maybe the growing dominance of the Chinese economic machine, or maybe even the worsening  of the world’s natural environment.   The biggest threat to America’s future is, in fact, a little closer to home.  It is the rapidly deteriorating condition of the public schools systems across the country.  Just twenty years ago, the American educational system was second to none, but due to a number of  factors, the American system of education has stood still while other countries have passed it by.  The implication of this failure is  that American workers  will not be able to compete for jobs in a world that is increasingly dependent upon a technically proficient workforce.

Recently,  the U.S. Secretary of  Education, Arne Duncan, spoke in New York to an annual conference of more than 8,000 teachers, school supervisors and administrators concerning the urgent need to improve the educational standards in America’s schools.  Among other things, he pointed out the need for early childhood education.  In far too many cases, the young children of American working families are left hopelessly behind by the time they enter the public school system at the age of five or six.  Many of these children have poor comprehension and socialization skills, and are ill-prepared to adjust  to a classroom environment.  As these “at risk” children are moved on each year to higher grade levels , they become increasingly frustrated by academic failure and more prone to creating classroom disturbances.  Eventually, many of the children who enter the American school systems without basic skills, end up learning very little, and dropping out as soon as the law allows.  In order to decrease the appallingly high dropout rate (in some school districts it is over 50%) it will be necessary for America to significantly increase its investment in early childhood education.

Recognizing that increasing the investment in early childhood development will be very expensive, Secretary Duncan has suggested the elimination of government bank subsidies for student loans, with a potential saving of $87 billion.  These funds could be diverted into early childhood development programs without costing the taxpayers any additional money.    For a very long period of time, education system experts have pointed out the need to get to at-risk children at a very early age in order to greatly increase their chances for success.  The time and money and attention that America spends on early childhood development programs today will very likely pay great dividends in the future, when technological know-how will be required from all job seekers.

—Rich

Related articles by Zemanta

• Is American Culture to Blame for Bad Schools? (tastelikecrazy.com)
• P.E.I.’s move to school kindergartens ‘on target’: minister (cbc.ca)