 Over 50 million children learn in American public schools, and the face of those schools is changing. Advancing technologies and the increasing need for a globally competitive workforce and new social needs drive new educational advances in their bow wave.
The changing face of public education is best understood in relation to its history. One of the most comprehensive histories in recent memory is provided by PBS, which created a wealth of online companion content for a documentary called “School: The Story of American Public Education” http://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/
Other good history resources:
EduHistory: http://www.eduhistory.com/
History of Education: http://www.thoemmes.com/education.htm
EdWeb links to education history resources: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/dkitchen/TE655/resources.htm
Public education's evolution is driven by government edicts like the No Child Left Behind Act commensurate demand for more public learning choices like charter schools and magnet schools, and small community schools.
"…Students of today need to explore keyboards, computer labs, and processing of data," writes the advocacy and information organization, Education Seek (http://educationseek.com/schools/Public_Schools/) " while competing with students across the United States and the world. Because students’ backgrounds influence their choice of schools, it would not be valid to infer differences among types of schools by simply comparing achievements. Public schools have achievement scores on standardized tests that are not based on income, so the students earn their way. Public schools attract a more comparable mix of students, relative to private schools. Public schools also serve a sizable proportion of children in families where they compete for higher resources.
There are many major ideas of why public schools can become more competitive in the labor markets:
♣ Equity: Everyone pays school taxes, so everyone should enjoy the benefits, even if they want to buy more than the tax dollars will allow. Equity equates success.
♣ Freedom: Maximizes the range of choices, and the decision to not harm others while allowing other children to learn more. Society benefits when children learn more.
♣ Parental involvement: Parents choose more carefully when there is not such a big out-of-pocket cost. Parents involved helps to keep the children involved.
♣ Efficiency: Price is a primary market mechanism. Changes can only reflect political forces. There are fewer costs because each child gets the same amount of public money.
Check out our Resource Guide section on Public Education to understand the whys and wherefores of public education today. As always, the use of common sense and reason in evaluating all resources is paramount.
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