HW 44 - Big Expectations for School

In my professional opinion i think that President Obama's speech on school is really the best out of all the articles. He doesn't say that school is there to transform you into something that you aren't. It simply says that if you try your hardest then you will be in a better position to help yourself in the future. Although it is the most generic and designed to embrace the path of least resistance, he still does an excellent job of getting his message across. He doesn't say that if they try to be something that they aren't then they will be better, but if they try their hardest then they will have more opportunities then if they just drop out. On average the people with the college degrees have a higher salary (http://www.all4ed.org/files/u1/TaxesGraph.gif). Albeit that race does place a significant role in these topics, that is not what i am discussing now. What Obama was basically saying is that if you try your hardest and stay in school then the chances for success are much higher.

My beliefs in the school system are quite simple. I believe that school should be mandatory but for those who are going to go and just make it harder for the people who went there to learn then what is the point. Things don't always happen like they do in movies. There isn't going to be a new white teacher in every bad school in America who goes there to miraculously change the lives of the students by reaching them through various trust exercises. Some of the students will just be dragged through school and just barely graduate if they don't drop out and then find a job that they can do. That's what i think at least.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/02/column-we-need-two-school-systems-.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/opinion/23herbert.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/opinion/03friedman.html?em

Those three articles seem to understand what i am talking about. The first address the fact that people are different and that there should be schools to address the different peoples needs so that they can be more effective to this country and be more successful in life. The second article states that schools are more successful when they are more stern with their students and mold them to follow their rules and do what they say. They make the children submissive and because of that they are more successful and therefore more able to adapt to our society. Terrible but true. The third article is about how we are beginning to have to outsource more and more because although we may be leaders in most aspects of the world. We are beginning to let the rest of the world catch up with us and in complete honesty. They are just plain cheaper then us. They can produce the same labor and basic needs for a fraction of the price and be the same quality. These three articles are all really important because as cheesy as it may be, they all connect back to the original Obama speech. They all basically say that we need to step up. We have become lazy! I am no exception, i have had all week to write this and i am doing it the night before it is due. I don't know who is to blame the school, my home, my friends, my teachers. Maybe it might just be my fault. At least i am willing to accept it.