Academic Essay The subject that is on everyones mind these days is how is Americas education system?

After such governmental programs like, in the Bush era, the No Child Behind Act have been added are there any significant progress being added? The causes, effects and solutions to the problem of why we arent on top when it comes to our education system, throw up a number of complex issues. Everyone has their own speculation as to why the American education system is lagging behind and not progressing like other leading nations. This essay will examine the current state our education system is in and whether money has an effect on the direction it is heading by considering the considering the argument put forth by a variety of professionals.

We see a lot of federal money given to schools year after year to aid for programs and building that are suppose to better them. One significant program that was enacted in 2008 was the NCLB Act. At the core of the No Child Left Behind Act were a number of measures designed to drive broad gains in student achievement and to hold states and schools more accountable for student progress. They represented significant changes to the education landscape (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). Sarah Reckhow discusses in her book, Follow the Money How Foundation Dollars Change Public School that the act hasnt been as productive as planned to be. She states that over the past few years we have seen a rise in national academic progress, but in actuality children that arent able to pass these standardized tests after the second and third time are just being pushed along through the system. (Reckhow) Author Arthur Wise who wrote Rich Schools Poor Schools The Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity agrees with Mrs. Reckhow. He

states recent studies have shown that about 23% of students who have taken and failed these standardized tests the first time still arent able to pass them a second time, and 10% arent able to pass them at all. (Wise)

The recent recession has not only put a dangerous impact on American families but also students in public schools. Michael Hill writes in a recent article called High School Sports Schedules Shaved to Save Dollars article puts into perspective the effect of Americans recession and how it put a damper on high school sports. In New York a slimmer schedule is the new way to cut spending in public schools. Instead of a football schedule being a 24-game season they would cut it to 20, and have other sports experience the same cutbacks. (Hill) While I was in high school I played basketball, usually on a away game we would have a bus driver to drive us and the cheerleader team to the game and back to the school if our parents didnt bring us back. My junior and senior year there was a difference our coach became the driver. Guilford County Schools stated that we either had to provide our own transportation to the games or our coach or someone registered to drive a bus would have to. Although this wasnt a big impact on our performance I thought about the drivers who are most likely out of a job. This really put into perspective the degree of the situation.

The upside to federal money circulating in our school systems is seeing schools moving in the right direction. In Durham two of their strategic goals are tied at 93 percent complete: academic acceleration and talent development. While the rest arent to far behind leaders say they have completed 96 of 120 goals. (Platt)