America: Staying Back A Grade

Wallis, Claudia. “How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century” Time Magazine. Time Inc, 10 Dec 2006. Web. 28 June. 2010.

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Clara Wallis’s observation of the public school system in the school system’s current state is not a positive point of view upon reading the article. Wallis exclaims in the article how the world around is changing but the American school system is staying the same and if the public school system doesn’t do something to catch up with the rest of the world, American students will find that their futures are bleak. Wallis describes the school system like a fairy tale comparing the school system to Rip Van Winkle, saying that when he were to awake the school system would be the same as it was when he first when to sleep no matter how many years later. Wallis expresses how the school system in America compared to that of other countries, are being left behind especially in certain subjects. Wallis expresses how students now need more than just one particular subject to survive in the global economy. Wallis explains what kids in today’s society must go through in this statement, “In an age of overflowing information and proliferating media, kids need to rapidly process what's coming at them and distinguish between what's reliable and what isn't.” Students must learn how to have social as well as emotional intelligence along with their IQ to make it in the world.

Wallis’s views on the American school system are feasible when looking at the evidence that she brings into the article comparing the American school system to school systems around the world. The belief that American students are behind and need to find a way to catch up with rest of the world is a qualifying statement when the assessment of the status of the American school system is evaluated, and compared to the economic world that waits once schooling is finished. Learning more than one skill or subject in school has become more of a need than a want because of the way the global economy has developed and expanded over the years, so if kids want to do more than just live paycheck to paycheck, and education is a must, but not just any education, an education that would make them aware of the world around them and be able to adapt with their environment. Knowing that you have to be able to socialize as well as use your brain in this modern age inclines that the school system needs to change with the world but according to Wallis, it is only falling behind in America.