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the attacks on public education and move toward privatization of education in The National Commission on Excellence in Education: A Nation at Risk and D. C. Berliner & Biddle




            In “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Education Reform” by The National Commission on Excellence in Education and “The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America’s Public Schools” by David C. Berliner and Bruce J. Biddle, shows the two different fights in the fight for public education. In the past 30 years the American education system has gone from something that would have rivaled other countries to being placed in the mediocre category. Both passages address the subject differently in ways “A Nation at Risk” suggesting that there are many changes that should be made to education. As well as Berliner and Biddle saying that there is not enough supporting research to back the need of better education. To Berliner and Biddle’s credit their report was written during the 1980’s as was “A Nation at Risk”. Though written thirty years ago both reports can stand true today as well. Is there an attack on public education in the United States today? As students fight to get through schools each year because they either cannot comprehend the material or the school cannot afford the proper supplies for the students to properly learn the material, most would say yes there is an attack on public education.

            Berliner and Biddle argue that these claims were fraudulent and that the reforms wouldn’t work in the school system. Most of the reforms proposed in “A Nation at Risk” would actually benefit many school aged children well into their college years. Were they implemented in the 1980’s? This is a question for lawmakers who even in the 21st century have decided that educational cuts are necessary for the future of the American economy.  Berliner and Biddle’s arguments that there should be more research before any reforms are made to the public education system were true in the time their argument was written. They say “Supposed our community, state, or nation were thinking about building a bridge, sending astronauts to the moon, or authorizing an expensive program to control disease. In each case, we would want to base our decision about the issue on research - on relevant theories and evidence that investigators had assembled concerning our decision.” Today these ‘relevant theories’ about the decision on public education have become true and the changes that would have been made from the proposed changes that The National Commission on Excellence in Education wrote about would have greatly benefited the young minds of the American public school system.
            The American school system is become privatized today public schools are losing funds due to the Sequestration that occurred in March of 2013. The government not reaching a deal that would have stopped these cuts from occurring. Many programs even teaching jobs have been affected. The National Commission on Excellence in Education says “What was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur – other countries are matching and surpassing our educational attainments”. They knew long before it occurred that America was losing ground in the education of their students. The United States ranking in world education has fallen, no longer considered leaders in education many parents have enrolled their children in private schools or in religious schools hoping that this would give their children a better education in order to better perform in the world job market. These schools earn profits for enrolling students when public education earns nothing because it is free for students to enroll. Why are these schools becoming popular for parents? Including those in the lower income brackets? The government is no longer making education a top priority. They may say otherwise when politicians are speaking in front of large crowds but the cuts that have taken place since the 1980’s have shown a different story.
            The only question that should be asked is Why? Berliner and Biddle’s arguments are no longer valid should they return with an updated argument? I understand that students who receive an education from a private institution can place higher on exams than those who attend public schools but aren’t their parents already paying taxes for public education? Religious schools don’t always teach the same curriculum as a public school and some students enter college not understanding everything they are taught in school because these things may have been taken out of their curriculum in school. Again the question should be why? Why would parents pay for their children to attend privatized institutions when they are already paying for public schools in their taxes?
            The privatization of the American Educational schools has been happening for years students in public schools are being shortchanged because teachers aren’t being paid enough or the schools cannot afford the materials that are needed. My opinion on this is that a better budget has to be made for this country, as well as closing loopholes in corporations so they are taxed properly. A lot would have to change before a better school system for all can be established but students shouldn’t have to suffer for the crisis that is created by the government. The authors of  “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Education Reform” and “The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America’s Public Schools” should reform their ideas together an present it to the United States government before education becomes a luxury that can only be afforded by those who have wealth. Everyone has a right to an education.
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