I know you heard it before but I believe the children are the future. Funny right? Let me continue. It is upon responsible adults to teach them proper skills that will allow them to lead the world into the next generation. Yeah… Whitney Houston or whoever wrote that inspirational song makes a strong claim. But to ensure a safe future we must ensure that there is a future for these children through education and America has falling behind.
There was a time when America was ranked #1 among industrialized nations that graduated there high school and college students, based on a December 2005 article in the Curriculum Review, but within the last 20 years have fallen to 7th on that list. The downward trend was recognized by the Reagan administration in a report submitted by an educational panel stating that there was a “rising tide in mediocrity.” One contributing factor can be the reluctance of our government to equalize the field for all children.
For instance, my wife and I would love to get our 4 year old son into pre-K but we can not afford the cost for a private pre-K school and we do not qualify, based on our combined income, for public school pre-K. To us it feels like our system is letting down our son but not allowing him the opportunity to begin his education the same time as wealthy or the impoverished. Hard working lower middle class people like my wife and I who can not afford to send our son to pre-K run the risk of our children falling through the cracks and if we do not demand our government recommit themselves to the education of our children then the downward trend will continue.
What frightens me is that my wife and I have discussed that one of us should quit our job so we would be able to qualify for pre-K for our son so he will not be left behind in kindergarten next year. It is sad how the government has left our family to make desperate choices just to educate our child. I commend politicians who advocate a mandatory pre-K for children so we will not leave any children behind.
