The Supply and Demand of Education

Klein, Joel. "The Failure of American Schools." The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, June 2011. Web. 28 August 2012.

From, “The Failure of American Schools” Joel Klein states, “But when you’re short of qualified math teachers-as virtually every major urban school district is-poor kids with the greatest needs invariably get cheated, because most teachers prefer to teach highly motivated kids who live in safe communities, and whose parents will contribute private money to the school”. Klein’s point is to argue how the money for education is not being used properly and the reasons that there are these debts. As a result, he compares the difference between a physical education teacher and a math teacher and why there pay should not be the same. A mathematician can find a more rewarding job elsewhere other than teaching and that is eventually what happens and causes these shortages of math teachers in urban areas. Therefore, the handful of math teachers that are available will choose to work in better communities for their own interest. Klein refers this to, “simple supply and demand”.

If you got an education and studied to be a mathematician wouldn’t you want to get in return what you deserved? Or if you were a teacher wouldn’t you work somewhere that was in the best interest for yourself? Most people would say yes to both of these, and because of this people need to understand how something like this is putting a strain on the education system that could eventually ruin it. Not only are these debts and unfair pay within the education system happening in this generation but they will also continue to be a reoccurrence if they do not end. Everyone works hard to receive an outcome and these teachers are the same way they have worked hard to get an education so that they can not only get what they deserve but so that they can also teach their knowledge to others. Klein simply wants us to understand the impact that the education system has on everyone, and that he does not have to be the only one to stand up for it so can everyone else.

Breaking Away From High School

How can I move beyond "school writing"? I have never written anything besides the papers that I am being graded on or the one’s that I have been required to write. Therefore, I am not sure how I could change from this style of writing. I have many thoughts about different topics but I never think about writing them out on paper, or to write about the information that I already know about. Since high school I am so used to having a certain topic to write about and a certain format to write it in. In order for me to break away from high school I need to become better at being able to express my thoughts and opinions on my own without the help of a set topic or format. I know that my problem with writing my own thoughts is that I do not have enough confidence in my own thoughts to write about them and that is what I need to change in order for me to break away from “school writing”. To help me improve with this and become more confident it would probably benefit me if I started to write down my thoughts. If I began to write out my thoughts it could possibly make me more motivated to write about them and go further into detail. I know that once I begin to write freely I would instantly be able to adjust and not stop writing. This is because my downfall when I would write papers in high school was that I could not write about a topic that did not interest me. Therefore, I am uncertain as to how I could move away from "school writing" but I do know that if I was to it would be very beneficiary to me. It would help me to become more confident in being able to express my thoughts and become more independent as a writer.

Education Reviews

The two articles that I would choose would be, "The Case for Breaking Up With Your Parents" and "Can You Make Yourself Smarter?". I am interested in both of these articles because they both relate to what I'm experiencing in my life now. I recently moved to a new town where I am facing living on my own and starting a new school.