Knowledge is power: Education must be reformed

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today – Malcolm X.

From an early age, we are taught that education is important. We attend elementary, middle, and high school, in hopes that we can attend a college or university. But as time passes, true education is fast fading into a void where its importance once resided.

In 2002, the Bush administration passed the No Child Left Behind Act.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's website, its purpose was to "eliminate the achievement gap that exists between groups of students within our nation's schools."

But in 2003, 39 percent of white fourth graders scored at the proficient level in reading, while only 12 percent of Black students and 14 percent of Hispanic students scored at the proficient level in reading on the "National Report Card."

In elementary school, I learned the tools that I would need for college, including science, social studies, and health. Now, in most elementary schools, reading and math are the only focus, leaving students to learn the other subjects on their own.

While tutoring at several elementary schools, I noticed how unimportant education has become to parents and teachers. I tutored Black kindergarteners who were about to move on to first grade but could not recite their alphabet and Black fourth graders who could not read a sentence as basic as "See Spot run."

I tutored in classes where several children, majority Black, attend special education classes. They did not attend these classes because of mental disabilities, but simply because they did not know the basic priciples of reading a sentence. One fourth grader told me that she did not know how to read because her grandmother told her that she would never amount to anything.

Is this something that we want instilled in our children?

We must remember that children remember everything that we say, even if it is not to them.  

When I was in high school, our classes were taught by uncertified teachers, retired teachers, and coaches teaching math who could not figure basic algebraic equations I knew that if I did not teach myself, I would not be prepared for the collegiate level.

Our schools are suffering because education is about passing the required tests. I bow my head in disbelief at the failure in our systems.

Now the Obama administration is working to reform the No Child Left behind Act. Blueprints of this reform have been released.

Five key changes that the they are proposing includes, student proficiency in reading and math by 2014 would change to a standard of "college and career readiness" for students by 2020; evaluations of schools would shift, being less punitive and offering more rewards; and schools that miss certain targets would not be required by the federal government to provide students with tutoring or with the option to transfer.

The Act should be reformed, but there is more that needs to be done for the future leaders of this country.

Teachers should be retrained, plans should be enforced, and students should be taught material that will prepare them for college.

We should motivate our kids to attend college and not let them just accept a minimum wage job.

Peter Zsebik, educator, taught for more than 20 years in countries such as Kuwait, Singapore, Thailand, Austria and Canada, spoke of the education problem in his new book, "Educational Leadership for the 21st Century."

"It is a 120-year-old system that is having difficulty achieving the same educational goals that it initially had set for itself," Zsebik said.

"I believe that in order for public education to move past this point, a commitment must be made for all levels of family, education and society to participate in creating the right environment that would enhance a child's educational development."

Education starts at home. If the parents do not educate their kids, the teachers are left to pick up their slack. If parents do not motivate their kids, motivation from anyone else does not matter.

Education is a companion which no future can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate it and no nepotism can enslave -- Ropo Oguntimehin.