The School Systems in America

The School Systems in America
The system in American school has been alternating through the years, some for the better, most for the worse. I feel there are many flaws disempowering the American education for the students. There are many examples all around about how students should have parental support, proper funding, and the encouragement from the people around them to better their education.
A student’s environment at home is the first key to their success. If they do not have the encouragement at home, how will they ever know what they can do in the world? When a child is raised their whole life in an environment where they are told they are going to work in a sewing factory, such as in Still Separate, Still Unequal, how will they ever know differently? I went to a decent school growing up and had a fantastic environment at home. My mom and dad always pushed me to do my very best and informed me about all my options after high school. If they had not done that, then I probably would not have come to college right away. They did not force me to come, but they encouraged me to go to college, because it would benefit me in the future. Some teenagers do not have a family that supports the school systems. In the movie, Stand and Deliver, when the girl is in her living room studying and her mother walks in, she does not care that her daughter is studying but instead she tells her to turn the light off so she can sleep. Does this sound supportive at all? My best friend, Vanessa, has had a tough 12 years of schooling. Her mom was in and out of jail her whole life. She was never there to support Vanessa with anything she did. I remember Vanessa calling me crying many times because her mom was not there for her. She has been in and out of counseling for the last ten years. Vanessa has struggled through school and communicating with others. When her mom met a guy named, Scott is when this all happened. He was very abusive towards her mother, and he liked to showed Vanessa and her little sister this all the time. When they started a drug lab is when her mother started going to jail. Vanessa tried to talk her into moving away from him and back with them (she lived with her grandmother). Every time her mom would come home, she would only stay for a day or two then go back to Scott. She was never there to support Vanessa with anything she did, including school. Her mother was not there for any banquets, any sports events, or any parent-teacher meeting. Vanessa saw no point in reaching out and trying to achieve anything because her mother did not care either way. She is not going to college right now, does not have a job, and is still living with her grandmother. Vanessa even telling me, to this day, that if her mom would have been there for her more, she would probably being doing something different with her life; not following in her mother’s footsteps.
All schools should have the same funding. Schools should not get any less amount of funding just because they are in the “ghetto”. I understand they are not paid the same amount as the people living on the rich side of town, but every student should get the same amount of money spent on them every year for education. The cities should take some of the taxes from the richer schools and give them to the less fortunate schools. The schools, mentioned in Still Separate, Still Unequal, are great examples. Those schools are in walking distance from the “rich white school,” but are hardly given any funding compared to them.
The next key to the American school systems is the encouragement given by the school. Every student, in every school, should be given the same opportunities and pushed to do their very best. In the movie, Stand and Deliver, the faculty of the math department did not believe the students should be pushed to their potential. They felt if the students were pushed or challenged, they would give up. When the new teacher arrived, he felt that the students should be challenged so they could succeed at life. He challenged them with AP Calculus and encouraged all of them. When they went to take the AP test, they all passed with extraordinary grades and finally new what they capable of doing. Not all schools are privileged enough to have teachers that care this much about their students’ lives after high school.
The school systems are disempowering the American population, because the systems are decreasing in value. The parental support is decreasing along with the school funding, and the encouragement from the faculty of the schools. When all these reasons begin improving, then the final key to better the students’ education is the student’s willingness to take on the responsibility of bettering their own education.


Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. 2007. Boston: Bedford. Rereading America. “Still Separate, Still Unequal.
Stand and Deliver. Dir. Ramon Menendez. 11 March 1988.