Education

Did you know that out of 30 countries the United States ranked 25th in math? How about that of those same 30 countries the United States is 21st in science? But surely the majority of our kids are graduating from High School right? Nope. We're 20th of those 30 countries there. Germany, Japan, Korea and the U.K. all do better with graduation rates of 90% or more. In the Unites States, it's just 75% and that's overall, in areas of lower income the percent is much lower.

Did you know that our kids spend 40 days a year less in class than kids in South Korea do? 40 days where our kids are forgetting what they learned the year prior making it necessary for our teachers to re-teach our kids a full 6 weeks to just get them back to the point they were at prior to summer vacation. 6 weeks = 42 days add in the already lost 40 days and you have a total of 82 days our children are sitting stagnant in our schools.

Did you know that of those who go to college only 27% will obtain a college degree, 7% will get their Masters degree and a measly 2.94% will get a PhD.

Why? Are our kids simply getting... dumber? And what can we do about it? If we throw more money at the system will our kids get better classrooms, better teachers and then better educations?

Why do we have wait lists miles long for schools we all want our kids in? There are parents going to jail for using a false address just to get their child in the good school. There are parents working 2 jobs and living in low rent areas to send their kids to private schools hoping they receive a better education that the one our public schools provide.

When did a good education become a privilege and not a right?

In the 50's our schools may have been better (I'm using 'may' to soften the blow, but what I really mean is WTF is WRONG with our schools?!!), but so was our country, and our families. Parents weren't over scheduling their children with playdates and soccer practice. Parents were putting an emphasis on school work and studies. Kids didn't spend afternoons after school playing video games and watching witty TV shows. (I'm not saying my kids haven't done both those things.) Parents in the 50's were a different breed than parents today. Does that have something to do with our students performance in our schools, and consequentially our statistics as a nation? Absolutely.

As parents with no choice but to send our kids to public school (and those who can send their children to private school) how do we help our children achieve a good education? How do we make up for our schools shortcomings and ensure they go to college and become part of that 27% with a degree?

I think we all, as a nation, need to stop pointing fingers. (And for this super stubborn, massively opinionated mom that's gonna be hard because believe me I could go on and on about how terrible our education system is.) We need to take action in our own homes to help our children become the awesome, intelligent, successful human beings they are. We need to turn the TV's off. We need to put the emphasis back on education. How can our schools bring up the education standards if we're not in our homes? They can't. Your kids teacher can not teach your child everything they need to know in the amount of time they have them. It's our responsibility as parents to continue the learning at home.

I'm just a mom. I'm just a woman with high aspirations for my three kids and a stubborn streak a mile long. How can I help my kids? While I don't have the answers, and I'm sure I'll make mistakes along the way I can say I'm never going to give up on my kids or be satisfied with mediocrity. My children are amazing, and intelligent, I expect them to be amazing and intelligent their entire lives.