AT ISSUE: IMPROVING THE PERCEPTION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
Amy Anderson edugators3@aol.com
Rick Evans revans@email.unc.edu
Rich Kozak rkozak@email.unc.edu
Blair Peterson blaire@email.unc.edu
The main idea or thesis of this article was to give the reader information about the general
public’s perception of public education. The article points out that today's educators face extreme
public criticism. This negative perception leads to lack of support in the schools and school system. In
the section “defining the issue” the authors point to three categories as to why public education might
have this perception 1. ineffective teachers, 2. poor return on fiscal expenditures and 3. declining
student performance. All three of these key points were discussed and the authors gave reasons as to
why they were important. The author felt this concept or topic was important because “educators
must speak as one voice in defending the public school system, in celebrating its strengths and in
demanding that public schools be given adequate resources to meet the needs of all, not just some of
America's youth.” the author of the article continued by saying “the public school system is mostly on
the right track and the best way to improve its results, especially for minority and less advantage
children is to pour more money into it”(Rothstin, 1995, p 89). I believe the author felt like this topic
was important for educators and especially educational leaders so that negative perceptions or images
can be addressed and so that educators will be aware of what the public Perception of public
education is.
I believe that the concepts or ideas of this article can have a significant impact on my school. I
feel like I would make this mandatory reading for each of my teachers and to the point I have shared
the article with several of my colleagues. I even took the time to discuss the section in the article titled
the standards movement as a force. This section talked about common criticisms of public schools and
how U S students rank 14th of 15 nations in math 13th of 15 nations in science etc. it was quite
enlightening to read the remaining paragraph and how the nations that rank ahead of us only do so by
a few percentage points. It was also disturbing to hear that their parents spend 20 to 30% of their
income for these after school programs and that it has a significant negative impact on their students.
The authors mentioned that they are often sleep deprived causing them to act in uncivil ways. I really
do believe that this article can have a very positive impact on student learning and achievement and
can help teachers to be more effective in their instruction. I think by understanding that we are doing a
good job and need to continue to fight a good fight in regard to changing the perception of our public
schools.
I enjoyed the article very much as a matter of fact I reread it and have taken extensive notes. I
would not anticipate any challenge in implementing the authors concepts or ideas in my school. I think
most teachers would be thankful for the information that the author presented for educators and
administrators to think about. I was very encouraged by the things I read and by the solutions that
were offered. I hope to use this article in my professional learning community and to have extensive
conversation and discussion about the points it makes and the solutions that are offered.
Rothstein, L. F. (1995). Special education law. New York: Longman.