Running head: PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL LEADS TO DISASTER 1

Public High School Leads to Disaster

Marissa L. Rochefort
Baker College of Jackson

PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL LEADS TO DISASTER 2
Public High School Leads to Disaster
High school is a complete waste of time. As a student of a public high school it is easy to
feel invisible. The building and the class sizes are large. A class can seat thirty some people, all at
different learning levels, and with the lack of one on one attention it is not hard for a student to
fall behind, dropout, or fail.
A student that does not receive the proper help can easily become uninterested. They
may find it easier to skip or dropout because they see no other option. This is not to say that even
straight A students are not struggling in public schools. A student that achieves even the
highest of grades may still not feel like they are challenged. They may become bored and not see
the sense of being there. The academic material may no longer seem to have a purposeful use in
the real world, so there is no point in turning in exceptional work anymore, because why does it
matter?
Students of all kinds are getting left behind because school is one giant struggle, and that
does not include other factors that make high school the scary beast that it is. Perhaps bullying
influences a students decision to not show up to history class, not just one week, but for the rest
of the year. Perhaps sitting in the back of the class, unnoticed, is easier because it eliminates the
mockery that can be put upon a person. The students decision to drop out starts to appear more
enticing to them, and it makes sense.
High school students should not have to endear such horrendous situations. There are
other options that can fix these issues that students are faced with on a daily basis. All high
schools should be converted into a specific type of charter school because it would better prepare
students for the future.

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The Problem:
Public high schools are not preparing students for college. The most popular type of a
school is a public school. The majority of the students who graduate from public schools are not
college ready. The graduating students do not have a practical plan. The new high school
graduates start college with no idea of what they want to spend the rest of their life doing. They
are clueless because they do not know what type of jobs there are, and they do not know what
they are interested in. How can a student be expected to leave high school knowing they want to
major in a position in the health field, when all four years of high school taught them nothing
except how to solve x = y + z ?
The students are forced to take classes without any say because they are required. A
high school student is obligated to take a math class each year in high school. The math classes
include Algebra, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus, but the student cannot take a basic math class and
be done. It would make sense if they needed to take a higher level math if they plan to pursue a
career that needed it; however, this is not the reasoning behind requirements at all. The classes
students get to choose from are all classes that the high school has labeled as required, when in
reality, only a handful of those classes are really going to prepare the students for college. The
majority of classes a high school student is forced to take are classes that provide busy work,
with no real goal of teaching the student what they need to know for the future. This results in
feelings of frustration and boredom because the student does not see the purpose in the classes
they are taking seven to eight hours a day, five times a week.
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These feelings can lead a student to act out or bully the other students around them.
Students that are not provided with the proper attention or help, or who are bored and not
challenged, can easily turn toward picking on the people around them for entertainment. This
leads to other issues that public schools are faced with. Bullying leads to: fights, weapon
possession, drug/alcohol possession or abuse, and dropouts.
According to Schools and Staffing Survey, directed by the National Center for Education
Statistics, in 1987-88, and 1990-91, major school problems that were reported by teachers and
principals included: absenteeism, student drug abuse/alcohol use, weapons possession, lack of
parent involvement, and poverty. According to these reports, a higher percent was recorded in
each category for public schools compared to private schools. Out of the specific categories:
student drug abuse, alcohol use, and weapons possession, the percentages tallied from public
schools were tripled compared to the percentages of private schools (U.S. Department of
Education. 1993). Charter schools would land in between public and private, favoring the private
schools percentages. This is due to the fact that most charter schools are like private schools, and
considered so, based on student population and the enrollment process being similar. Charter
schools require a specific application to be filled out, as well; however, they do not charge tuition
like a private school. In most cases, the two types of schools can be sometimes be clumped
together. Public schools claim these are concerns, yet they do not provide any major changes as
a solution.
A Solution:
Converting public high schools into small charter schools would provide a solution to the
growing problems that are resulting from public high schools. Charter schools are a better
PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL LEADS TO DISASTER 5
alternative because they are a smaller type of public school. The limit of students allows for
smaller class sizes, which offer more one on one attention to each individual.
Charter schools differ from public schools in the way that they are independently
operated, and they can be run with the help of private funding. Although charter schools are for-
profit as well, they can be sponsored in more ways than one, rather than just funding provided by
tax payers as public schools generally are. Charter schools do not have to rely on taxpayer
funding, which also helps eliminate the fear of the funding possibly getting cut (Boland, 2012).
This opens a new door because any additional amounts of money can go toward improving the
curriculum. This allows for improvement within the standard curriculum and provides challenges
beyond just the basics.
Another positive is that charter schools are free of regulations as long as they have the
basic requirements included. In addition, they are free of school boards and government
authorities if they so choose (Boland, 2012). Charter schools are different compared to public
schools because some schools enforce a dress code upon the students, and a part of the education
includes character building. This is beneficial to the student because most high school students
need this incorporated into their lives. They are being molded into future employees and they
need to learn about character in high school. They need to be educated about morals, ethics,
goals, and responsibility before they are released into the working world. The idea of the dress
code is so the students are reminded that they have a place, and they are representing something,
mimicking a future workplace. The point of high school is to create college-bound students.
This includes molding them into future employees.
Providing high school students with classes based on career-oriented material would
benefit the students in high school and in college. Students should be placed in classes based on
PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL LEADS TO DISASTER 6
interests. This should be a familiar idea considering college classes are presented this way. A
college student gets to pick what field they want to study, and they get placed in classes that will
help them achieve the degree they need for that specific field. High school should be no different.
Students in high school should be taking classes that will direct them into the field they
think they might want a future job in. This would eliminate the urge to dropout, or fail, in high
school because students would understand the importance of the material. They would see how it
would relate to the future college courses they plan on taking. If the students understood why
they had to learn certain material, they would be given a challenge, and they would persevere to
be exceptional students.
The issue of bullying, and the other problems involving weapons and drugs would be
decreased. Students would not be bored but instead they would be busy. Classes should include
those that any field would call for. For instance, computer classes should be a part of the
curriculum and they should teach the students everything they need to know about Microsoft
programs (the types of writing styles, how to create a resume and cover letter, etc.). This should
be taught at a lower level, that way the knowledge can be used throughout high school and
before college. Prior knowledge about computer programs, and how they work, would benefit
the student in any writing or speaking class, not to mention in any job. Furthermore, these types
of classes can later be bypassed at the college level, saving the student money and time. If a
student can test out of these types of classes at the college level, they can spend time taking more
significant courses, shortening the amount of credit hours they would need to take a semester.
Allowing students to take college oriented courses in high school, would give the
students the opportunity they may need to experiment in certain fields to get an idea of what they
might want to do for the rest of their life. This would give them existing ideas of what they want
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take in college, allowing them to develop a concrete plan before they graduate high school. This
would decrease the amount of students who decide to switch their majors once they are in
college.
On a different note, this type of curriculum would allow for better high school graduates
who are not college bound because high school students who choose not to go to college will at
least have some real-world skill. They would at least graduate with some idea of what it takes in
the work field and they will have a better chance of finding a decent job coming directly out of
high school. Graduating seniors, now, can barely find jobs because they do not have anything
remotely important enough to put down on a resume, let alone know where to begin to create one.
A Specific Example of the Solution:
Charter schools, in general, are a better type of school but a specific type of charter
school would be an even better solution. An example of this specific charter school, as
previously mentioned, would be that of the new Jackson Preparatory and Early College charter
school in Jackson, Michigan. This is a new form of a charter school that began in September of
2012. There are similar schools already established in Saginaw, Michigan. The newest, the
Jackson school, is located directly on campus of Jackson College. (Smith, 2013).
It is composed of a building consisting of 6th to 8th grades, the students in that building
are expected to follow a dress code. The remaining grades consisting of 9th to 13th are to attend
class in the actual college building. Those students do not have to follow a dress code. All grades
totaling around 330 some students. Grade 13 is included because it gives the graduating students
time to receive a tuition-free associates degree. The idea being nothing but genius because the
students are put on the right path starting at a young age, and are ensured to be college prepared
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by the time they get past 8th grade. This provides a type of guaranteed promise which allows the
students to challenge themselves and work toward exactly what they want. (Smith, 2013).
The school follows a year-round schedule which includes a total of 1,470 hours of
instruction. This is in a 210 day school year that runs from 9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. This exceeds
the state required minimum of 1,098 hours of instruction in 170 days. Specifically the school
calendar follows three 60 day terms, with three 10 day instructions, allowing a four to five week,
summer break in between. Surpassing the minimum state requirements, presents no time for
lacking, but instead challenges and pushes the students toward success. The presented challenges
results in nothing but focus from the student, decreasing the amount of students who are being
bullied for entertainment, or who are creating other issues within their school day. The strict and
well organized curriculum will eliminate students who do not take high school seriously, thus
decreasing the amount of failures and dropouts. (Smith, 2013).
The curriculum included focuses heavily on science, technology, and engineering. Arts,
athletics, and foreign language are also offered. In the article, by Leanne Smith (2012),
Proposed Charter School at Jackson Community College Would Follow a Year- Round
Schedule, the Jackson Community College President, Dan Phelan, states the goal of the
school, is to be a high-quality, competency- driven option that would produce college- and
career- ready students (p.1).
Conclusion:
Public schools should be converted into charter schools because public schools are not
producing college bound students. Instead, public schools continue to produce a growing number
of serious issues that are negatively impacting the younger generations. The charter school
should have limited amount of students based on applications but should not charge tuition. The
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grades should be divided and the lower grades, 6
th
to 8
th
, should have to follow a dress code. The
curriculum should be based on higher level college courses so the students are prepared for
college. The extra grade year will provide time for the student to graduate with a high school
diploma, in addition to an associates degree.
This would benefit all types of students starting from middle school grades and extending
to college undergraduates. Middle school students would learn the basics, and high school
students would be presented the opportunity to start college. School would consist of material
that the high school attendees could use in their high school years and later use in college. Young
adults could apply for jobs right out of high school because they would already have a vast
amount of knowledge about the working world. They would be able to progress on their own,
changing the image of young adults everywhere.
Young adults now, represent a generation of lost souls. If these younger generations were
put on the right path from the start, young adults could represent diligent participants of this
nation. Students should be able to graduate thriving and succeeding, prepared to take on the
world. With these rising issues in public schools all over this nation, students are sinking, and
society is drowning them but not providing proper a way for them to swim.
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References
Boland, M. (2012, April). School types: the difference between public, private, magnet, charter,
and more. BabyCenter. Retrieved from http://www.babycenter.com/0_school-types-the-
difference-between-public-private-magnet-ch_67288.bc
Dobyns, L. (2013, February 26). Countdown: top 10 education issues I'm following in 2013.
The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lydia-dobyns/top-10-
education-issues_b_2726942.html
Editorial Projects in Education. (2011, May 25). Education Week. Charter schools. Retrieved
from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/charter-schools/
Smith, L. (2013, January 12). Proposed charter school at Jackson community college would
follow a year-round schedule. Jackson Citizen Patriot. Retrieved from
http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2013/01/proposed_charter_school_at_jac.
html
Smith, L. (2013, January 23). Jackson community college trustees approve authorization of
Jackson preparatory and early college charter school in 4-3 vote. Jackson Citizen Patriot.
Retrieved from
http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2013/01/jackson_community_college_trus
_18.html
U.S. Department for Education. (1993, January). What are the most serious problems in schools.
National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs93/web/93149.asp