The United States Educational System - 1072 Words

A good way to become and stay a valuable member of the United States is to get an education. While this is not named in the Constitution, it is an essential part in becoming an informed and productive US citizen. This is because education is not only one of the key components used to creating the United States; it is also what has been used for millenniums in order to build great and prosperous civilizations such as: The Roman Empire, The French Republic, Great Britain, The Kingdom of Spain, etc. An extraordinary educational system allowed these sophisticated cultures to transform from a dream into the historical innovators. Sadly, The United States educational system is in trouble. Just over 200 years ago, The United States proudly†¦show more content†¦30 years ago, America was the leader in quantity and quality of high school diplomas. Today, our nation is ranked 36th in the world. In the US in 2010, 74% of students in American high schools graduated and received their hig h school diplomas. If the other 16% or 1.3 million students had graduated that year, the nation would have seen $337 billion more in earnings throughout those students’ lifetimes. The problem is not only those 16%, but also the education of much of the graduating 74%. The problem is High schools are not preparing students with the skills and knowledge necessary to excel after graduation. Some of the failures that accompany US education are the fact that: only 1 in 4 high school students graduate college-ready in the 4 core subjects of English, Reading, Math and Science. Since 1983, over 10 million Americans have reached the 12th grade without having learned to read at a basic level. Over 20 million have reached their senior year unable to do basic math. Almost 25 million have reached 12th grade not knowing the essentials of U.S. history. American 12th graders also rank 19th out of 21 industrialized countries in mathematics achievement and 16th out of 21 nations in science. Ou r advanced physics students rank dead last. The low ability that is represented by American high school students is many times because of the quality of the teachers who are educating these students. In the U.S., 14% of new