Education from 1980-2000

     Public education has taken many turns over the last two centuries but it seems that we just keep ending up in the same place. The fight in the 19th century was for education to teach the students to be prepared to join the work force, and now in the 20th century, we have evolved right back to that same point. Why is it that corporate America thinks that they need to have a hand in how education is managed? If it is to be a free public education then the student should have a right to decide if they want to learn the things necessary to join the corporate team or gain an education that will prepare them for another field such as theater. Over the last two centuries, it has become apparent that the main goal of tax supported public schools was to get students ready for the workforce. We have seen two major reforms over the last two centuries that involved trying to model public schools after corporations and the marketplace. These reforms have been led by public officials, educators, and business leaders in the name of improving schools. Their main goal was to produce graduates that could form a literate workforce to help the companies compete in the global marketplace. I also ask how we are to compete if all the children are allowed to study is the basic mathematics, science, and language arts? Is there not more to business than these basic subjects? If we do not have need of business classes, theater arts, music, and vocational classes such as automotive skills, then how is the economy going to expand. We need some of the elective classes that are being cut out in order to increase the time for learning the subjects that are so heavily tested nowadays. Teachers are judged on performance of these tests but are not given the opportunity to voice what or how these subjects should be taught and tested on. We have to rely on people who are not experts in education. The main ingredient missing in this takeover of education by corporate leaders, is the teaching and learning. The biggest irony  of corporate influence over the last two centuries is that in the 19th century, the influence was for  more vocational courses and less academic courses. The idea was to provide the skills necessary for students to be able to leave school and join the work force as productive employees and citizens. The push in corporate influence in the 20th century has been the opposite of the 19th century. Now there is a push for more academic courses and almost complete removal of all the vocational courses in most schools. Now all we do is spend our time teaching to the test. There has not been solid evidence that all this testing will lead to productive workers in the global marketplace today. Does all this testing, required curriculum, and the pay to perform for teachers really get teachers to teach better or students to learn better? Are we developing literate, active, and morally sensitive citizens with all this reform in education? Can we really get students to become independently thinking citizens that want to go out and become workers in the corporate workplace?

Reflection on education in America 1950-1980

     The time period from 1950 to 1980 was one full of crusades. It was a time of unrest as people demanded  equal education and civil rights. Schools were considered separate and unequal in the type of education given to minority students. Segregation was a huge factor in the unrest that dominated this era. World War II has just ended and the baby boomers are being educated in how to prepare for nuclear attacks, and being propelled in education toward a technological future. But for the minority students. it is a time of inequality and segregation. During the 1950's the crusade for equal education for all became a leading component. Many felt that in order for all students to get the education that was supposed to be provided to every student we needed to see an end of segregation. In 1950, many had to risk their lives in order to fight for equal education opportunities.  Joseph Albert Delaine was one of those that lost a lot in an effort to gain equality for his children. He filed a lawsuit against the local schools that would not provide school buses for his children. He lost his teaching job. His wife and other family members lost their jobs, His home was burned, he was shot at, His church was burned down and he was forced to leave the state. Just because he tried to get the bus to pick up his children for school each day. He was just one among many that suffered persecution for trying to improve the education given to African American children. The 1950's and 1960's was a time of  telephone threats, lynch mobs, hanging ropes, threats, insults, assaults, and rogue cops, along with many other hate crimes. Many people felt that  public school was a vital part of American culture and was vital in their children's lives. They wanted a higher education for their children to allow them to attain a higher level of living. Ethnic minority groups and women began to fight for a change in education that would close the gap in educational opportunities. The Brown v. Board of Education  of Topeka case would lead to great changes for desegregation of schools. In 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal. This led to desegregation in schools. However, it would take many years to see real progress in this area. Many minority teachers lost their jobs even though they were better educated than many white teachers. Courts failed to enforce the new rulings of desegregation. Women would still feel the segregation in schools well into the late 1970's. The 60's brought the Civil Rights Movement and many students striking or boycotting in an effort to gain bilingual schools and classrooms, more homework, advanced-placement courses at the local colleges, more humane treatment from teachers, and curriculum reform that would include more of their cultural history.
    President Lyndon Johnson was a big supporter of the minority students. He was a teacher before going big into politics.He started the Head Start Program and made funding available for low cost college loans for disadvantaged students.  He also passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which was a precursor of the "No Child Left Behind" Act of today. There was also the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which banned discrimination on the basis of race in all federally funded programs. Schools and states could lose their funding for noncompliance with the law of desegregation.
     The 1970's saw a change in education for English Language Learners after a group of Chinese American's sued for programs to help them. This brought about the ESL program and the ELL programs that gave these students help to learn the language and gave families extra support as well. Feminist leaders fought for more rights for young women in education as well. They wanted equality in athletics, and in vocational classes, as well as more opportunities for college degrees and for funding to help pay for that higher education. The 1972 Title IX  prohibits programs from receiving grants if there was any discrimination based on gender. Then 1976 began the time frame of the crusade for equal opportunity for children with disabilities. About this time period, there was also a surge of new text books and materials to allow the accommodation of almost 70 languages and $68 million dollars was allocated for bilingual programs.
     As all this change was going on, there was a surge of white students leaving the urban schools and enrolling into suburban schools so that they did not have to go to school with the minority students. This left the urban schools with  bigger minority groups and more poverty in the communities, while the suburban areas became richer. As we approached the 80's, the question is raised of rather we can have both equality and excellency in education, or will integration become a tragic failure that would lead to general deterioration in standards and school work? What is your opinion? Stay tuned for my next post where I will discuss Ronald Reagan's "Excellence in Education" program.