Tracking Is Bad

• Each state funds their schools as well as the federal government. Each level has their own rules and regulations and mixed agendas. The ‘Blob’ we have created to help make are schools better, is actually making them worse according to the documentary. There is no accountability for producing results for kids. Additionally, one of the rules most schools have is that the children have to live within the district, or city the school subsides in, for them to be eligible to attend. This creates unequal opportunities for families because if they live in a poor neighborhood, their taxes fund the schools, so they have poor schools, and they are not allowed to attend schools outside of their city limits. Therefore, a vicious cycle is created where
Tracking was originally created because only the top percent of students would attend college, the middle percent would work clerical jobs that did not require a further education or they would be bureaucrats, and the lowest percent would work on farms or in the fields. Nowadays, this process does not lead children to specific jobs or steer them away from unnecessary coursework, it creates an environment where children are not pushed to learn. They are segregated from their classmates and made to appear as lesser. They are placed in classrooms where they learn little to nothing and have no chance at higher education or career via higher
A ‘Lemon’ is a teacher who is horrendous and should be fired. The principle knows they are awful, the other teachers know they are awful, and the students know they are awful, but because of tenure, they cannot be fired. So each year, the principles participate in ‘The Dance of the Lemon’ and transfer their Lemon to a different school in the hopes that another school will transfer a slightly better Lemon to their school. Instead of simply being able to fire the teacher who deserves to be fired, they have to continue to give them a paycheck, continue to damage their student’s educations, and continue to participate in The Dance of the Lemon.

1. How does our education system compare to other nations? List some of the statistics presented in the film.
US schools fail to keep pace with the rest of the world. Among 30 developed countries, we are 25th in math, 21st in science. The top 5% of our students are only ranked 23 out of 29 developed countries. We have fallen behind in almost all categories. In math, we are ranked 8th out of the 8 countries. Probably because most states have about a 30% or less proficiency rate in math. Additionally, we ranked #1 in confidence for our math skills which is almost comical because we always believe we are number