Education in America

Why is education valued in American society?

Education has been one of the strongest aspects of our way of life and remains meaningful in current times. Our Founding Fathers believed in the power of education to such a high degree, that they set up a public school system making quality education accessible to every child in American, regardless of economic background or ability to pay. Likewise, after watching the documentary American Creed, I took note of the fact that many people who immigrated to the United States or had family immigrate to the US, talked about how important education is to them. This is due to the fact that many immigrants came from places with little or no access to education. Lack of education makes it quite difficult to become well educated and have a prosperous career. In America, quality education is available to all, not just the rich. Regardless of social status, all Americans have access to education. This enables young Americans to become successful in their later years of life.

Does more funding for schools equal better results and more opportunity?

People who support urban and inner city school systems often make the claim that those schools are radically underfunded compared to their suburban counterparts. They argue that school funding is based merely upon money gathered from local property taxes. Hence, creating an unequal distribution of funding. However, that is always not the case. Many states have adopted a system of funding that gives each school the same amount of dollars for every child that attends, which levels the playing field. In Minnesota, New Jersey, and Ohio, urban schools outspend neighboring suburban schools, however academic performance is no better. Furthermore, historical trends and other various statistics show us that just increasing funding for public schools does not improve academic success.