Educational advocate

The other night, Megan and I went to dinner and a movie. During the previews, we saw this amazing trailer for a documentary coming out that's called "Waiting for Superman." I have never been more excited to see a documentary as I am to see this one. Now it's time for me to get on my soapbox for a bit and tell you how I feel about our current educational system.

The premise of "Waiting for Superman" is to shed light on how too many students are falling through the cracks and not receiving the proper education that they deserve, simply because their numbers failed to be called during a lottery for placement in a better school district than the ones that they live in. These students are subjected to sitting through tense and emotion filled lotteries, praying that their numbers are called so they have a chance to receive the education that they know they deserve, but are not getting. There are clips of kids sharing what they want to do when they grow up, but the fear that they won't be given the chance to achieve those dreams.

How has our educational system come to this? This doesn't just happen in big cities like Washington D.C. and New York City. This is happening all across America. It's happening right in our own backyards. What are we doing to stop it? Nothing. The No Child Left Behind Act has become a joke. Our districts are losing money because their students aren't performing well enough on standardized tests. We push, push, push our students to do so well on these tests that we forget that we're not teaching them everything else they need to know. Students are being pushed ahead to the next grade because no teacher wants to admit that maybe the student needs resources and assistance and instead of trying to help them, they dub them the "trouble maker" and pass them on to the next teacher so they don't have to deal with them anymore.

During my senior year of college I took a Sociology of Education class. It was the one Soc class I never got bored with. The professor was so passionate about education and making us aware of the crisis going on with our students that I was on the edge of my chair from the beginning of class to the end. He had us read a novel called "The Shame of the Nation" by Jonathan Kozol that, much like "Waiting for Superman," strove to make the nation aware of our students and teachers who are dealing with inadequate resources and materials to help the students learn, all because their districts are failing on the standardized tests.

When was the last time we took a step back to reassess what was going on? When was the last time that education was about passion and learning and not money? What happened to putting our students first? No one I know goes into the educational field for money. They go into it for the satisfaction they get at the end of every day knowing that their students are growing and learning and striving to be the best that they can be. When we make it about money, our students fall through the cracks.

Here in Cincinnati, we have districts whose levies are failing left and right because parents are so concerned about property taxes that they've stopped thinking about their children and how less money will impact them educationally. When levies fail, schools start cutting programs and students no longer get the education that they are entitled to. No one district should be better than the other because they have more money.

During my undergrad, we watched this amazing documentary filmed right here in Ohio (I wish I could remember the name of it!) that focused on several different school districts and the education that the students in each district were getting. It broke my heart to see inner city and rural districts where students were dropping out of school to get jobs because they felt their education didn't matter. They knew they would never get into college because that's what they had been told. If they're not going to college, why bother finishing high school?

How many time are our students being told this? How many times are certain students being told that they'll never succeed, never go to college, so they may as well come up with plan B? What happened to wanting our children and students to grow up to be the best that they could possibly be? Why are we now dashing the dreams and hopes of students simply because of the city or the school district that they live in?

As a future school counselor, I want nothing more than each of my students to dream to their heart's content and to believe that they have a chance. I intend to make sure they know they have choices ahead of them and that because one person tells them no does NOT mean that that door is closed. Our students deserve so much better than what we are giving them right now. It's time for our educational system to be reformed. We need to re-examine the No Child Left Behind Act and figure out where and why our students are slipping through the cracks and not succeeding. It's time to put a stop to low income districts and give each and every single one of our students the chance to receive the education that they deserve.

You can argue with me all you want but you will not get me to change my mind on this. I hate seeing programs cut, teachers being cut, and most of all, I hate to see my future job on the line, all because some parents, districts, and administrators are trying to push their own agendas and not seeing what is truly important. We need to put our students first. They have voices too and it's about time we start listening to them.