After watching the 2010 documentary "Waiting for Superman" I was left with two very poignant moments. One was the statistics that, on average, it costs $25,000 more to keep an inmate in prison over four years than it would cost to have a child go through 8 years of private school. The second was the scene where prospective students along with their parents are attending a lottery which would decide whether they are granted admission to some of the more high performing schools.
The first scene just outraged me because more of my taxpayer dollars are being spent on feeding a convicted rapist or murderer thrice a day, providing for his high level security, and arranging for his recreation. That money is going into a black hole in the system where the prisoners don't work, thereby not contributing to the society via taxes. After their lengthy prison sentence where they are supposed to have "repented for their sins" and are "rehabilitated" they re-enter society with a high probability of slipping back into a life of crime. Less money is going to educate the leaders of tomorrow! Yes I've reached an age group where I consider kids in primary and middle school to one day be senators, industrialists, CEOs, thinkers, writers, and even presidents while I'm still around. And yet dropout rates in high schools are high, reading and math proficiency in both inner city high schools and among the wealthier society has flatlined, and president after president has poured money into the system without actually looking at where the faults lie.
The second scene was just disheartening. Daisy, a fifth grader, is a student with a lot of potential but with very little help from her home and current school. Her parents are making ends meet to put food on the table. Her teachers think that she could go on to fulfill her dreams of becoming a doctor or a veterinarian, a feeling echoed by her father who wishes he could do more. They go to KIPP LA in the hope that Daisy is given one of the 10 seats up for admission. It seems that a lot of good schools in USA (charter schools, focused schools etc) have a lottery system for admissions due to limited resources. Her father told her to keep her fingers crossed the entire time. She did. But after every number was read out her jaw dropped ever so slightly. After the tenth number was read out and the lottery process over, Daisy is crushed. Her fingers are still crossed but her future has been decided by a mere lottery. A girl with so much ambition at such a young age that she had already started contacting colleges is not able to get the level of education she desires and deserves. Is that too much to ask for as a kid? To be educated in a school where teachers are actively interested in the child's future? To be in an environment which encourages learning and reaching for your goals? Is there no hope for kids like Daisy who are unable to afford private schooling but have the same dreams of living a better life? Young Anthony was asked why he wanted to try his luck at the lottery for admission to Seed Public Charter school. He said, "I want a better life for my children".
I keep in touch with some of my friends from high school and we share laughs recalling the hilarious experiences we had during our four years at Modern High School. We constantly criticized the school, the teachers, the system. We complained about the amount of homework, the number of tests, the labs, even the food. But looking back, we received the education which got us where we are right now. Every single person in our high school graduated and went to college. Almost all of us graduated and moved on to post secondary school like myself or ended up in Wall Street, or the bay area, or took over the successful family business and made that bigger. I always felt that my school had not prepared me adequately. I had this nagging feeling that they could have done more. On hindsight, they did a pretty decent job comparatively.
So what is it that is hindering school students of America from going to high school and then university? Is it the teachers? The movie spoke a lot about tenure affecting a teacher's overall performance. In the current system you merely need to "breathe to get tenure". The strong teacher unions won't abolish tenure. But do we blame the unions? Finland has one of the best educational systems in the world and 90% of their teaching workforce is unionized. So it's not just the unions. Is it the pay? The average high school teacher gets paid around $45,000. The average banking salary is about $100,000. Based on the current scale why would smart people want to teach in our schools unless they are passionate about teaching? There is some amount of higher calling in teaching but when it comes down to getting your kid through college and paying off that mortgage and that auto loan wouldn't it be a no-brainer to get the job which pays more money? My gut feeling is that its a matter of priorities at this point. As individuals its our responsibility to achieve as much fame, money, power as we can in our lifetime. But as a society do these same values hold? We are, after all, living in a society where are constantly depend on other people who clean our streets, ensure our neighborhood is free of crime, keep us in good health, and make laws which affect every aspect of our lives? Food for thought.
P.S. Some facts and figures may not be exact. A lot of it is my own opinion.
