Academic institutions are constantly churning graduates at high rates for the job markets across the US. These graduates are what the nation has invested into foreseeing the advancement in technology, industry, military, social and economic aspects of the country. Historically, twenty-five years ago the US was rated as the first country worldwide in terms of the population of young adults acquiring high school diplomas as well as college degrees. According to DeWeese (2011), currently, the US is however ranked ninth and seventh respectively in comparison with industrialized countries. Further investigations reveal that 15-year-olds in the US are considered to be below average in the application of math skills on real life tasks as compared to Europe and Asia. Also, the USA is ranked 18th among 24 industrialized countries regarding the effectiveness of its education system (DeWeese, 2011). As a result, students’ knowledge in Geography, History, Grammar, Literature, and Civics are all declining with respect to academic achievement as well as their understanding. As such, it is evident that this education system is currently on the verge of failing going by the quality of graduates that are currently being availed in the market.
The failure of the US educational system is a manifestation of deep-rooted historical happenings which have significantly affected the education system in several ways. The US developed quite a vast and prosperous middle class during the first quarter of the 20th century. This was achieved by making high school educating universal, besides making college education affordable through the launching of various scholarship programs (Klein, 20110). As a result of these interventions, educational achievement paralleled the radical technological advancement in the US. However, in 1980, technological progress was more rapid as compared to the educational achievement. This situation created a shortage in supply of graduates required to handle the technological advancement. As a result, there was a need to increase the number of graduates from the 4 per cent between 1960 and 1980 to almost half in the 1980 (Klein, 2011). The aftermath of this increase was the creation of two Americans that were entirely different from each other. These two distinct groups are the few wealthy elite and a vast underclass that does not possess the necessary skills to succeed in life.
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Class distinction in America is viewed as the greatest contributor to educational system failure. The wealthy elite who are the policy makers in the education system has their children attending either the elite public schools or the private schools where education is considered decent (Klein, 2011). On the other hand, children of the lower and middle class who are the majority do not get the kind of education they deserve. As a result, these children end up pursuing careers that are low-paying which frustrating them. Still, others may end in jail due to deviance behaviors or join the military to fight the many global wars (Porte 2015). The ultimate effect of this kind of imbalance is that the US will end up being uneconomically competitive with other emerging economies such as China.
Misappropriation of Educational funds is also a contributing factor in that the funds is not used to achieve what it was meant for. Albada (2010) claims that the US government spends up to $ 9,963 on average per year for each student. This figure is the third highest in the world after Austria and Switzerland. However, huge discrepancies have marred district schools. Instead of subsidizing the education using federal funds, the schools continues to charge exorbitant fee. This has forced parents to withdraw their children from such schools into private ones which they consider relevantly affordable and by doing this these public schools end up with deficits in their budgets (Albada, 2010). Moreover, most educational setups suffer because the money allocated to this institutions for improvements are used ineffectively. This, in turn, creates massive inequalities with only a few elite students benefiting from this education system. Children from the low-income families end up failing to secure a place in the college which reduces their chance of ever joining the middle class.
Educational system failure in the US has and will eventually bring about adverse effects in various spheres of life, including political, economic, technological as well as environmental. Proper education is considered as the greatest driver of today’s economies all over the world (Porte, 2015). The US with failed education system will find it hard to compete effectively with the upcoming giant economies such as China. China has invested heavily in the education sector as seen from its technological and economic developments. Inadequate skilled labor will force the US to outsource expertise from foreign countries. Outsourcing will be an expensive affair for the US if it cannot afford to produce graduates who are well versed with modern technology. Nevertheless, the poor population that fails to get quality education may pose a threat to the economy. Unemployment may lead to a rise in crime rates as well as a reduce significantly revenue collected in the form of taxes
In conclusion education system must be up to date to ensure that learners get what they deserve for them to become productive members of the society. A failure in the school system will automatically mean that the graduates who come out of the system are half-baked who cannot help in steering their nation’s vision. The major hindrance to the educational system in the US is the class differences which see few wealthy children get better education at the expense of the poor majority. The result is a reduction in workforce necessary to develop a nation’s economy.
References
Albada, M. (2011).The other Economic Crisis: The Failure of Education and its Consequences retrieved from: http://web.stanford.edu/group/progressive/cgi-bin/?p=191
Deweese, T. (2011).American Education fails because it is not Education. Retrieved from: https://americanpolicy.org/2011/04/11/american-education-fails-because-it-isnt-education-2/
Klein, J. (2010).The Failure of the American Schools. Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/06/the-failure-of-american-schools/308497/
Porte, E. (2015, November 4).School vs society in America’s failing students. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/business/economy/school-vs-society-in-americas-failing-students.html?_r=0
