Stupid Schools
Educational Reform
In chapter five “Stupid Schools” of John Stossel 's book Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity we get a clear and direct view of Stossel 's view of the American Education system. It 's apparent from the beginning that in the authors opinion we 're doing things wrong, American education is a "government monopoly". Stossel states several interesting "myths" such as American public schools level the playing field, all high school students can read, and public schools are underfunded. He then follows up with his “facts”, introducing his main idea of competition in schools, giving first hand interviews with administrators, students and providing the reader with statistics. By the end of the chapter it’s easy to see how Stossel thinks the American education system should be reformed. “Stupid Schools” makes a few interesting points, public schools are segregated, many high school students can’t read at an appropriate level, how public schools have plenty of money, and how competition should be a part of the education system, I think these points are valid and are area’s schools should focus on. Throughout my high school career I’ve had exposure to all three of these points and have seen first hand the truth to them. If each individual school focused on just these three aspects, education could begin its reform school by school. Stossel gives the statistic that “54.5 percent of public-school students were in classrooms that were more than 90 percent white or more than 90 percent minority”. It’s been my experience in public highs school that 90% was even under shot. I can count in single digits the students that were in the minority group at my school, and that’s including our foreign exchange students. We had about three to four foreign exchange students a year, mainly from European countries, so yes public school is indeed segregated. The few minority students we have certainly fit in but as a predominately white school we have little to no
In chapter five “Stupid Schools” of John Stossel 's book Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity we get a clear and direct view of Stossel 's view of the American Education system. It 's apparent from the beginning that in the authors opinion we 're doing things wrong, American education is a "government monopoly". Stossel states several interesting "myths" such as American public schools level the playing field, all high school students can read, and public schools are underfunded. He then follows up with his “facts”, introducing his main idea of competition in schools, giving first hand interviews with administrators, students and providing the reader with statistics. By the end of the chapter it’s easy to see how Stossel thinks the American education system should be reformed. “Stupid Schools” makes a few interesting points, public schools are segregated, many high school students can’t read at an appropriate level, how public schools have plenty of money, and how competition should be a part of the education system, I think these points are valid and are area’s schools should focus on. Throughout my high school career I’ve had exposure to all three of these points and have seen first hand the truth to them. If each individual school focused on just these three aspects, education could begin its reform school by school. Stossel gives the statistic that “54.5 percent of public-school students were in classrooms that were more than 90 percent white or more than 90 percent minority”. It’s been my experience in public highs school that 90% was even under shot. I can count in single digits the students that were in the minority group at my school, and that’s including our foreign exchange students. We had about three to four foreign exchange students a year, mainly from European countries, so yes public school is indeed segregated. The few minority students we have certainly fit in but as a predominately white school we have little to no
Cited: Stossel, John. “Stupid Schools” Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity. New York: Hyperion, 2006. 106 - 141. Print.