Divided against Ourselves

James Marshall discusses the articles that came out blasting the U.S. education system because we were supposedly losing our “unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation [which] is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world” (114)—a “Nation at Risk”. I found this concept extremely irrational. Students’ education process is not supposed to be based on the possible economic gains of the U.S. I do not send my children to school to so they can boost the world economy. I send them to school to enhance their knowledge and discover their passions.
Marshall goes on to say these particular articles raised such a firestorm that we have been revamping the educational system ever since. Each president since the prescribed “Nation at Risk” has added and/or deleted policies that they felt were advantageous to them and their party rather then what was beneficial to the U. S. students. The downside to throwing out strong verbiage like “We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament” (114), is that it causes short-sighted, short-term fixes that cause more harm than benefit. For instance, the school systems are dealing with President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” philosophy, which put pressure on schools to gather all the students that were struggling and save them! Of course, the extra money, training, and supplies to help these students did not materialize, yet the expectation to whip students into educational shape is still there.
Over the weekend I went to EMU's play “No Child.” As you can guess this play exposed issues that the “No Child Left Behind” has caused in schools especially schools with a depressed socioeconomic status. The most poignant line to me was the reference to being compared to a five-year-old Chinese student. Our fear of not being number one blinds us to what is really important to American children, which is to help each child find their voice, use their voice, grow their voice, and make changes with their voice. This may sound philosophical, and maybe it is a bit—but if one really thinks about it educating students with a focus on the students rather than a test score or economic gain, we will achieve this vision.