The cost of the education gap

In a couple of years, I will be a teacher. The thought both terrifies and excites me.

I mean, in just a short amount of time, I will be totally responsible for teaching my students to learn and love music. That’s a big commission.

Subsequently, I have been paying more attention to anything pertaining to education.  

Recently, America’s schools have been getting a lot of press time. It is expected that President Obama’s new national overhaul will attempt to change our crumbling education system.

I say: It’s about time!

Yes, health care reform was a great accomplishment that our grandchildren will remember with fondness. It was a monumental step to do what’s right for the people lacking a basic human right. We are now starting to see the benefits, especially for us collegians, and there is more to come. 

Naturally, the next issue to tackle is education.

I think I am qualified to speak about the conditions of private and public schools because I have attended both. Though I mostly attended private schools, I remember my public school days very clearly.

For those of you who only experienced one, I can tell you the difference is so vast, it’s just plain unfair. For example, in the public middle school I attended, the few cafeteria meals I did have to eat were such quality that my dog probably wouldn’t have touched them. We had chocolate milk and Fruitopia by the gallon, along with all of the mystery meat we could stomach.

On the other hand, the private Seventh Day Adventist high school I attended had lunch prepared each day by a group of mothers. I had a home-cooked, nutritious, vegetarian meal everyday for a small fee of three dollars. 

Meals aside, the quality of education is quite different, too. I actually learned stuff in private school. My teachers didn’t have to waste class time breaking up fights or dealing with obnoxious students. Yes, we had our class clowns but the teachers would mostly just send them to the principal’s office and be done with it.

I had a lot of homework and rigorous curriculum, but the educational experience I received was, and still is, unparalleled. Maybe it was the fact that we met for chapel every day, or, that our teachers began every class with a prayer, but I was genuinely cared about.

However, my parents paid dearly for that kind of caring. My high school cost around $7,000 a year. The only reason I ever attended public school was because I wanted to. I am so fortunate to have been blessed with parents who sacrificed to see that I had the absolute best educational experience I could.

Unfortunately, most parents don’t have that ability. Just like everything else in life, the richer people always seem to have better opportunities. That should not, and cannot, continue to apply for education.

As a future educator, I am so passionate about this gap being fixed. It is not right that those who can pay get the better education. Thankfully, President Obama feels the same way. 

In an interview, he was asked if he would send his daughters to the D.C. public schools, and not the elite private school they attend now. He said that he wants the quality of education to be the same. That is what we all need to work for. 

Having said all of this, I have no idea how to accomplish this incredible feat. Perhaps it will begin with the teachers. 

All of us know what a difference an extraordinary teacher can make in our lives. We have the power to break down or build up the future of this country. With our school systems the way they are now, we do not have a future. 

Call me a communist, call me whatever you wish, but every child in this land of opportunity should have the exact same opportunities. When that happens, we will see change, and a brighter future ahead of us.