Garcia 1

Stephanie Garcia
December 14, 2017
Susie Huerta
English 1S

Empowerment in Education

The public educational system in the United States is known around the world as one of

the best educational experience because, it allows students to discover their passions. It sets up

students to believe they can grow and, achieve their aspirations. However the problem with this

statement is that not every educational experience is the same for all students. The education a

student gets varies depending where he or she lives and, their ethnic background. This both

discourages and, hinders students from reaching their full potential no matter their economic

stability. Public education disempowers students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds by

forcing standardization and preventing critical thinking, rather than teaching students dissent,

which will encourage self-empowerment.

Education in the United States was founded on the hope to teach its “ideal qualities” a

citizen should acquire. In midst of all of core values education has, it tells students that they

should be able to think critically yet, teaches students to limit their learning capacity to only

learning basic skills such as: math, reading, and writing. Citizenship in a democracy requires

people to think critically which, can empower all people to be great decision makers. A study

done by a an educational historian John Gatto, described public education main focus in three

categories: to make a good person, to make a good citizen, and to make his or her personal

best(117). This is where public education fails its students by neglecting them from learning the

tools to think for themselves. A research professor Diane Ravitch conducted a study on , The

essentials of a good education, which explains that students in public education don’t learn

further than the basic skills, since programs such as No child left behind law were passed. “A

citizen of a democratic society must be able to read critically, listen carefully, evaluate
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Stephanie Garcia
December 14, 2017
Susie Huerta
English 1S

Empowerment in Education
competing claims, weight evidences, and come to a thoughtful judgement”(109). This shows that

the education that students are getting is not fulfilling its so called “ideal qualities” it promotes it

will achieve. However students are taught to listen to directions, by doing a step-by-step

curriculum, which both doesn’t teach students to be critical thinkers, and become great decision

makers. This proves that public education does not create a place where students from all

backgrounds can became the “ideal citizen” they should be.

Because schools are required to spend certain time practicing basic skills, time for other

curriculum is shoved to the side. This action is called standardization. Standardardization in

education is used in order to keep students from expanding their learning further than the basic

skills taught. Standardization is mostly used in schools that are not in affluent communities,

because of budget cut their only solution is to create a systemic curriculum to make up for what

the school is not getting through money. This confines students to follow directions rather than

giving them the tools to think critically. Ravitch says that the action of schools expanding the

time they spent in teaching basic skills has created student to have low confidence when it comes

to how they perform in school, “weather they are honored or humiliated”(106). This explains

how important it is that schools spend more time creating a well balanced curriculum that has

both basic skills and extracurricular subjects, in order to allow all student to have confidence in

their school work. However this is not the only problem that is caused through standardization, it

also creates inequality between students in affluent schools, and students in non affluent schools.

The differences in curriculums in both kinds of schools varies from how much or even if the

school can afford to have extra curricular subjects. In affluent schools student “get access to a

full and balanced curriculum”, unlike the non affluent school where students are forced to
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Stephanie Garcia
December 14, 2017
Susie Huerta
English 1S

Empowerment in Education
“heavy dose of basic skills”of math, reading, and writing classes (Ravitch 108). By creating

unequal opportunities in education children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are exposed to

learning that they are not capable of getting an education they were promised, but they are also

confined to learning skills that will not empower them to their full potential.

Another glish in the public educational system is how it confines students of color to

programs that teach no further than basic skills. An example of a program is ELD standing for

english language development. ELD programs hiddeners students form lower socioeconomic

backgrounds by not exposing them to extracurricular subjects. Extra curricular subjects exposes

students to discover their passion which motivated them to want to learn. This creates students to

become excluded by separating them in small classroom learning the same material over and

over. An article by Linda Darling, Unequal opportunity in race and education, explains the

different ways students from either unstable economic stability, and of color, or even both are

limited in what the can learn.1“ Inequitable systems of school finance inflict disproportionate

harm on minority and economically disadvantaged students”(Darling). This shows that programs

like ELD create unequal opportunity to students by restricting certain groups of student from

reach their personal best.

A result from confining students, and restricting them to learning the same material over

and over again results in creating boredom.When students are bored they do not retain material

as well as if they were engaged, which discourages students from wanting to try. Boredom is one

of the main complications in education for both students and teachers. It is most said that

1
Darling-Hammond, Linda. “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education.” The Brookings Review, vol. 16, no. 2,
1998, p. 28., doi:10.2307/20080779.
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Stephanie Garcia
December 14, 2017
Susie Huerta
English 1S

Empowerment in Education
students are responsible to make an interest in their education, not their teachers responsibility.

However this not the case, “teacher were every bit as bored as they were”, both students and

teacher find themselves disengaged when they are forced to teach or learn the same material

repeatedly(114). Boredom is a result of not allowing students to find their passions through

exposing them to extra curricular subjects.

Discipline is kept as a form of of keep students from expressing themselves and their

opinions. Discipline is to train student to act in a certain way in order to have be ready to be have

this kind of behavior when they enter the workforce. Because most blue collar jobs require

discipline students in non affluent school are taught to listen to direction and punished if they do

not comply.This also makes students to act alike, and reform them from be creative.Gato states,

“its intention is to make children as alike as possible. People who conform are predictable, and

this is great use to those who wish to harness and manipulate a large labor force”(119). This

shows that disciple disempowers students from allowing them to express themselves, and by not

allowing creativity.

Allowing students to be able to speak their minds, and show control of themselves allows

students to become self aware. Dissent is a one of the main skills that is neglected in most of

students educational experiences. Students are not taught to be able to make decisions for

themselves nor, express their opinions against the majority. By teaching students dissent students

are able to demonstrate confidence when expressing their ideas and or opinions; setting them up

with leadership skills. Gatto say,“Endow every individual with the intellectual and ethical power

to pursue his or her own interests and to develop the judgement and character to survive life’s

vicissitudes”(109). This brings to light that by not teaching student to be able to express their
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Stephanie Garcia
December 14, 2017
Susie Huerta
English 1S

Empowerment in Education
idea or opinion they are truly not setup to be in the “real world”. If students cannot stand up for

what they think or believe they are not fulfill their responsibilities as a citizen of a democratic

society, which mean that the educational system has failed to be teach to be to make a good

person, to make a good citizen, and to make his or her personal best.

Although the public educational system in the united states is known to be one of the best

educational experiences, it fails it students by not teaching them the tools to become a better

person, and be his or her personal best. Not every students is exposed to extra curricular subjects

that spark an interest that motivates them to want to continue to learn. Public education

disempowers students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, discourages and, hinders

students from reaching their full potential no matter their economic stability. This is important to

recognize because when children are exposed to understanding the inequality in their education

before the can read properly it also set up the reverend cycle of raquel in all aspects.