The final areas that I will address are educational support from parents, companies, and higher education. Teachers will have a very difficult time teaching our children if parents are not supporting them outside of school and inside. The nurturing of a child by their parents before their school years is crucial to a child's development. This holds true for parental support during their school years. A majority of a child's self worth and self esteem is wrapped up in their parents' approval and disapproval. Apathy towards a child's schoolwork and homework will lead the child to assess that this aspect of life is unimportant. This will handicap the teacher's ability to teach the child. All school districts should deploy any ideas and methods that they can devise to encourage parents to fully participate in their child's education.
Corporations and higher education institutions should also be heavily involved in the education of our children. The employees and college students of tomorrow are being developed today. Companies have the money to invest in their workforce of the future. Universities and colleges have the educational know how to aid our public schools to reinvent themselves and once again become the premier public school system in the world. After all, our higher education schools are the envy of the world and they can play a critical role in transforming our elementary, middle, and high schools.
The United States public education system is on the decline but the decline is not so steep that we cannot resurrect it quickly. Some teachers and administrators have become complacent especially in poorer school districts that are failing. This situation can be dramatically and promptly improved through the innovation, accountability, integrity, and support that I have outlined in this article. The charter school experiments throughout the United States are laying the foundation for this innovation. If this is implemented properly it can revolutionize public education. These charter schools along with the other public schools must share new ideas to make this work.
The teachers and principals should be more closely held to account for student performance. They should also be heavily involved with the sharing of new innovative teaching ideas and methods no matter where they originate. This is educational accountability. Teacher advancement in the system and pay raises should be linked closely with student performance. Continual training should be utilized to maximize a teacher's talents. Those who fail to make the grade should eventually be dropped from the school system. Revamped comprehensive curriculums along with proper student testing will ensure the integrity of the public education system. Full support from parents, corporations, and colleges are essential to assist our educators so that our children have all the tools necessary to improve their academic achievement and maximize their potential.
These four processes operating together will ensure a turnaround in our public education system. They will also form a blueprint to maintain and reinforce a system of excellence for years to come. Constant innovation and communication of new ideas throughout the education system will perpetuate this excellence. It is essential that we do not delay in putting these ideas and processes to work. Our public education system is slipping and we need to return it to its former preeminence so that it will once again be the model the rest of the world follows. Our children are our future and we must invest our ideas, energy, and capital in our public education system. It is in our children's interest. The future of the United States is at stake here. The time to act is now.
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