Sarah Baran (Georgetown) on Educational Opportunity
March 30, 2012
Does Educational Opportunity Remain the Key to Success in the United States?
Educational opportunity is still the key to success in the United States, in terms of both personal achievement, and yet also in regards to the national well-being of our country. Educational opportunity means access to a well-supported school system—elementary through high school—that adequately equips its students with the tools needed to be engaged citizens in society. Consistent with the national values of freedom and democracy, educational opportunity means there is always the feature of choice. Given that students and families are provided information and aware of the benefits of these features, they are free to choose whether or not to take advantage of these assets.
On a personal level, education as the pathway to success can be embodied in a number of different ways. It can mean opening the door to the possibility of college and a degree. It can mean a stable career and social mobility. It can mean developing the bare minimum foundational skills needed to participate in society. It can mean becoming critically aware, acknowledging the freedom of what to think in sequence with how to think. It can mean acknowledging the experiences beyond institutions that substantially develop our lives like relationships or spirituality. All these different definitions of success cumulatively rely on the premise that education, like Plato declared in The Republic’s allegory of the cave, is a changing of desire. It is a shift in perspective that awakens the individual to live deliberately.
In regards to the country as a whole, education is essential because economically it means competitively entering the global rink. Education is the force through which new products are introduced, markets opened, and innovative services are begot. Moreover, national success also means cultivating politically active citizens. Thus, through which, an enlightened legislative body and voter population can attain sustainable social justice.
In order to achieve this success—both individually and collectively—we must address our current achievement gap. This disparity in academic performance, which is based on the student’s socio-economic status and race, has a very complex political, social, cultural, and economic origin and history. Nevertheless, there has been and continues to be a strong movement of reform for amelioration. Many of these initiatives seeking to improve teacher quality, create effective means to measure accountability, development of new market-based strategies, searches for alternative means of funding, and the implementation of comprehensive programs, which span from early childhood to fight the surrounding force of poverty, such as those inspired by Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Renaissance Zone, have all been meet with both success and failure. However, it is important that as a nation and as individuals we recognize the value of education and then place it as a top priority because it is in fact the key to success.
In regards to the country as a whole, education is essential because economically it means competitively entering the global rink. Education is the force through which new products are introduced, markets opened, and innovative services are begot. Moreover, national success also means cultivating politically active citizens. Thus, through which, an enlightened legislative body and voter population can attain sustainable social justice.
In order to achieve this success—both individually and collectively—we must address our current achievement gap. This disparity in academic performance, which is based on the student’s socio-economic status and race, has a very complex political, social, cultural, and economic origin and history. Nevertheless, there has been and continues to be a strong movement of reform for amelioration. Many of these initiatives seeking to improve teacher quality, create effective means to measure accountability, development of new market-based strategies, searches for alternative means of funding, and the implementation of comprehensive programs, which span from early childhood to fight the surrounding force of poverty, such as those inspired by Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Renaissance Zone, have all been meet with both success and failure. However, it is important that as a nation and as individuals we recognize the value of education and then place it as a top priority because it is in fact the key to success.
Opens in a new window