Stupid in America

Diana Mendoza
Due Date: February 12, 2015
Lab 1 Stupid in America
EDUC 13001-6301

Stupid in America
Are kids really stupid in America? Some people believe it is not the students who are stupid, they believe it’s the system that’s stupid. Schools argue it’s because of the money. They need more money to give a better education. In John Stossel’s documentary we can see that money is not the problem, a school in Kansas received more than what it usually does and instead of doing better in the test scores they actually did even worse. Charter schools is a main example why money shouldn’t be a problem, they receive less money that regular public schools yet their test scores are excellent. Studies have showed that as the schools money goes up the kid’s scores and the number of graduates stays flat without any improvement, this shows money is not the problem.
Newark New Jersey has a teachers union, the worst scores, and the worst dropout rates and, that’s not all, it pays 22 thousand dollars per student. Yet they do not have enough textbooks for everyone. How does that even make sense? Where is all the money going? Unions cost the state, the tax payers, and everyone more money and reward crappy teachers with the paycheck they do not deserve and that should go to a good teacher instead. I believe that is not fair that the crappy teachers get the same paycheck as the good teacher and especially if a teacher is not even teaching their students or helping them improve, the principles are not able to fire any teacher because they have to go through so many steps because of the teachers union. For example in the documentary they talked about a teacher sending inappropriate emails to a student, and when the school found out they couldn’t really do anything about it because the teachers union protected the teacher. Of course the rules are not as crazy anymore it is easier now to fire a teacher who does those kind of things, but you still have to go through so many steps to fire a teacher. In Texas we don’t have a union and I believe that is a good thing because the bad teachers won’t take advantage of the union.
Charter schools receive less money than public schools, yet their grade scores are the high and their dropout rates are low. They do not need to spend 22 to 10 thousand dollars per student like public schools do to have the best scored yet they do. Nationwide, Charter schools spend around 1,800 less per student. Although the biggest reason for the difference is teachers’ salaries. Charter schools spend about 1, 200 less on instruction which mostly means the people providing the instruction than traditional public schools. That’s partly because the teachers at charter schools tend to be earlier in their carriers and at the lower end of the salary schedule meaning they do not get paid as much as teachers in public schools. Also they know there Is no teacher union to back them up meaning their job is always at risk if their teaching skills are not good enough, which is a good thing because that way you know there won’t be any teacher who is slacking and bringing her students down instead of helping them improve. In Charter schools you have to do a lottery to get into the school because of the enormous amount of parents that want their kids to go to charter schools.
John and his crew gave international tests to the kids in Belgium and New Jersey. Belgium kids got 76% correct, New Jersey’s got 47% correct and New Jersey’s kids in general test above average and stay in an above average school. A kid in Belgium stated that “the test was so easy that if kids in America couldn’t do it they are really stupid” New jersey’s kids defended themselves saying they don’t believe they are stupid, they believe it is the schools. By 4th grade kids test above average but once they get to high school majority get left behind. Movies show America students are stupid and that the teachers are boring, and it is true in most cases. You only need a 2.2 GPA to become a teacher, which proves that most of the people becoming teachers may not be that bright and why do we want someone who barely knows what they are doing teaching others. We need teachers who choose that career because they want to help others improve not someone who just chooses teaching just because of the benefits or because they do not want to break their heads so they are choosing the easy way.

Kids in America are not stupid, it’s the system that is stupid and we have got to work on our system because it depends on our future, the kids are our future and how are we going to trust the world to our future kids if they don’t know half the things that are going on. Instead of focusing on the money we should be more worried about the test scores and prioritize it. Although yes money does intervene in students learning appropriately and in better conditions but it shouldn’t be what matters the most. If Charter schools can do it with a few money so can public schools, because more of the money does not even go to the students it just goes to the staff as was showed in the video. Just like money shouldn’t be a priority the teachers unions shouldn’t either, all it does it gives bad teachers benefits they do not deserve, probably work 3 times less than the good teachers yet receive same pay and bonuses. Not only that but if the teachers is not teaching, the principles are not able to fire them, they would have to go through a million steps that at the end of the day they still won’t be able to fire them. Charter schools for example fire the teacher that is not doing well. Which can also lead to a teacher being fired unfairly. Although why would the principle fire a good teacher that is helping them look good. Charter schools believe that If a teacher is not teaching well they should fire them asap and I agree why do you want a teacher that is not teaching. Likewise this video let us all know that kids in America are not stupid it’s the system that is stupid and we need more teacher who actually want to teach to help students over achieve in whatever it is they want to do.