THE IMAGE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | ADVOCATE | August 26, 2014

What is the purpose of public schools? 

          Amid widespread concern that schools are failing to prepare students for workforce participation, higher education, and the economic and technological challenges of the twenty-first century, has increasingly focused much of the nation’s public school reform efforts on standards, performance, and accountability. The focus on American schools has been on achievement, particularly on standards of performance dictated by states and tested through state mandated examinations. What is the purpose of a public school? Is it really a place to promote the success of all students, or an expensive and mostly ineffective and inefficient institution to house children until they reach adulthood? Is it a more caring and productive place for students and teachers, or are students and teachers dehumanized in an uncaring and insensitive bureaucracy? Perhaps it is a place where the goals and purposes of the community are inculcated in the children of the community, or a place where special interests perpetuate their special beliefs and interests? What are your thoughts?