Flawed Education

Today’s education system in the United States is flawed. Priorities are not properly set. This results in necessary skills not being taught, and other non essential skills being taught in their place. Sure, all tests and subjects could argue they are important, but we need to prioritize which are essential and which are optional electives.

An example of a flaw in the educational system is essential vs nonessential classes. Classes like cooking, life skills (where you learn taxes and taking care of children), and drivers ed are all optional courses in high school when really, they should be mandatory. The majority of adults use a car, care for children, and cook on a daily basis more than they use algebra 2. In fact I haven’t used algebra 2 since high school. Now, not everyone drives or has kids, and of course there’s a need for exceptions for children with disabilities who can’t participate in these activities, but for the most part these are essential skills. School should prepare you for life. In life you must cook, will probably care for a child at some point even if not your own, drive, and probably file taxes and take out a mortgage. Therefore these subjects should be prioritized over things like physics and algebra 2. This is not to say those aren’t important or shouldn’t be offered, but they should only be used as additional electives in a student’s schedule.

Standardized testing is the root cause of the issue discussed above. Standardized testing trains children for testing, not learning. They are so focused on the actual test they ignore all other information. In reality, if the stress of testing was removed, we could probably have more in-depth courses for our children and have more educated children. But instead, we prioritize a paper. A paper that will be useless to anyone who doesn’t plan to go to college.

In addition to testing, classism is also an issue. Often, tax dollars aren’t used enough in drivers ed or cooking so these classes often cost money. Not every family can afford to pay these fees and so their children simply go without these skills. In reality, we need to stop blaming parents and start blaming the funding the schools are getting. Stop cutting school funding, start increasing it, and make sure enough goes to these essential classes that all children can attend regardless of their family’s financial status.

Another flaw in the education system is that it is designed to prepare one for college, not life. Not everyone goes to college. If they did, we wouldn’t have mechanics, hair stylists, bankers, nail technicians, estheticians, electricians, plumbers, welders, construction workers, and more. Trade school is just as important to teach about as college. Some careers such as banking and insurance don’t even require trade school. Just some week-long courses, a test, and you’re done (I know this because I was an insurance agent). This idea that everyone must go to college is classist. Not everyone can afford college, not everyone has access to grants and scholarships, not everyone has access to the best education for college preparation, and not everyone wants to go to college. Make school prepare every child for the one thing they will all have to face, life.

In summary, we need to change the way our education system works in the United States. We need to make sure our children know how to file taxes, apply for rent and/or a mortgage, take out a loan, cook, know basic child care essentials, and how to drive; before they know all the laws of physics and the equations and formulas of algebra 2.