Introduction
The United States of America is the nation that controls the economy of the world. Consequently, the USA is the founder of equality. Despite its efforts however, the nation is currently facing problems in its education system. Ironically, the US government comes up with a new idea almost every decade that are parenthetical good but they are not as effective in practice.
The main question that comes up as a result is, who it to blame for this? In the United States of America, the government controls the education system. Due to this fact, I believe that due to its institutional inefficiencies, the American government has failed to successfully manage the education system in America. As a result, there is a huge disparity between the education that is offered in public schools and the one offered in private school.
In practice, private school education in the United States of America is of a higher quality as compared to the education offered in public schools. With regards to these factors, this paper will thus focus on the role played by the United States government in the declining quality of education that is offered in public schools.
It is important that the problem is understood from its root cause. As stated above, the United States of America is the leading economy in the world. The country is also home to some of the best educational institutions in the world. According to Tyack (82), the United States of America is one of the countries that receive the highest number of foreign students who come for the quality education offered in this country. It is a fact that the quality education offered in this country is in the private sector.
Carrasco (67) appreciates the effort that the government has made in subsidizing education in the private sector. He says however, that the qualities of education in these public schools are compromised. It is not fair when the education offered to a learner in the third grade in a public school is not in the same level as that of a third grade learner in a private school.
Education is not limited to class work. A learner should have access to various facilities that would help in improving growth and development, besides their academic developments. This means that they should have access to various facilities that would put them at a place where they will develop in all the aspects of their life.
Government as an Institution that has failed to Take Care of the Education System
The government of the United States of America may score well when it is pitted against other countries around the world on the basis of development of the education system. However, when the analysis is done internally, the score will be much lower.
Private educational institutions have managed to offer quality education to their students, while learners in the public schools struggle to meet basic necessities in the school. According to Tyack (113), basic needs are changing, and the government should be ready to change with these changes.
This scholar notes that twenty years ago, access to a computer to students in college was a luxury, only afforded by those students who were from the rich families. This has changed. The current society is defined by technology. Access to internet connectivity through personal computers is now a basic need. Students need to conduct research, and this can only be possible if they have access to computers.
They also need to have a good storage facility where they can store their literatures for future references. These are some of the facilities that are still missing in most of the public schools. In most of the developed private schools in this country, students at high school level have access to personal computers which they can freely use as long as they are within the institution.
They can conduct research easily in the internet and they find it easy accessing any form of information that may be available in the internet. On the other hand, learners in high school who are in public schools can hardly access these facilities. They do not have enough computers that they can use in their research.
Another fact that points out to the disparity between public and private schools is the ratio of teacher to student. On average, the ratio of teacher to student in public schools is 1: 35. One teacher is expected to take care of 35 learners. In private schools however, this ratio is 1: 10. When a teacher is given as little as only ten students to take care of, the quality of education will definitely be high.
This is because a teacher will be in a position to offer personalized attention to the student. A teacher will be in a position to understand the uniqueness of every student and prepare tailor-made instructions that will create maximum benefits to the learner. This is a sacrifice that the government is yet to make.
It is also a fact that the government has failed to give enough attention to school when one is to conduct a comparison of the budget that it awards to other departments, and that of the department of education. The department of defense has a budget that is several times that offered to the department of education.
This is a sign that the government gives more emphasis to this department at the expense of the education system in the country. Russell (58) has always argued that the Government of the United States has been keen to develop all its sectors equally, based on the pressing needs.
This scholar has held that the United States of America still remains one of the countries with the best education in the world, whether in public or private sector. This claim may be true. The claim may be factual when this comparison is to be done with other countries. However, the analysis should be based on what other institutions within this country offer.
Conclusion
The government of United States has made an effort to ensure that government sponsored schools receive enough funding to help in the development. However, the gap between the private and public schools is too wide to be ignored. The private schools offer quality education because they have heavily invested in development of various academic facilities.
The government has focused so much on other problems it considers fundamental to an extent that it has limited attention on education. This explains the low quality education offered in public schools. It would therefore, be recommendable for the government to reconsider its focus on the education sector of this country.
Works Cited
Carrasco, Frank. The American Education System Fails the Mexican American. New York: Cengage, 1971. Print.
Russell, John. The American Educational System: An Introduction to Education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2010. Print.
Tyack, David. The One Best System: A History of American Urban Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007. Print.