The Value Of Public Education

Over the centuries, education has changed based on the demands of the citizens during a specific time. As Americans become more informed (educated), their opinions, ideas, and thinking change. America’s expectations concerning public education have evolved as well. The demands that are placed on states, districts, and leadership are becoming more intense; yet, our culture still believes that public education is faltering.

Thomas Jefferson remains one of the first advocates for public education, which was later termed the Common School Movement. He recognized the inequality in education, for the wealthy stood the only ones capable of affording an education, thus the poor stayed poor and the rich stayed rich. Jefferson aspired to change the apparent injustices in the education system. He felt all children possessed the right to and education regardless of prosperity, heritage, and circumstances. Even though Jefferson remained not able to create the change he so desperately sought to make, he never stopped trying and since education stayed revolutionized, for his persistence in equality. James Conant, former president of Harvard University stated, “In short, as I view the American scene of the 1960’s, I am ready to declare without hesitation that Jefferson’s proposals have become incorporated in the pattern of our educational structure” (Mercer, 1993).

Public education gives all students the opportunity to gain a quality education within Australia. This education is of a high quality and free, thus creating fairness for all.

Thomas Jefferson is one of Americas most known noble leaders. Who had a vision for public schooling in the new United States of America in Enlightment ideas yet restricted by his own understanding of race, gender, and class (Conant, J.B 1962). Jefferson trusted that a more "normal" social structure would suit the creating political attitudes of the nation. He envisioned a "meritocracy," in which instructed men would serve in public office. Since their education would at last be for the public great, Jefferson composed and presented a bill sketching out a plan for public schooling. As right on time as 1778, with the Revolutionary War in progress, Jefferson legislated for the general education of youth. His "Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge" would give three years of basic schooling for white youngsters in Virginia, (cited in Webb, 2006).

In today's society, most people desire success. They want to attend a respected college, earn exceptional grades, get a wonderful job, and make a lot of money. However, the road to success starts before all of those accomplishments can happen. This journey begins in the classroom. In the classroom, over 25% of all high-school students fall asleep one or more times a week (Mayer-Hohdahl 1). Why does this happen? Schools have sleepy students because of their early start times. "Starting high school early is probably one of the worst things you can do as far as timing the day, as far as adolescents being alert or ready" (Wooley 2). This is a serious problem in high schools all across the nation. Students are tired, and teachers are

But we simply do not have enough time in the day. Some students don’t get home to almost seven after sports are done, some have jobs and don’t get home until seven o’clock… Before we know it, its eight o’clock and we still have three hours of homework to do. Going to sleep at eleven and waking up at six is not enough sleep for students. Because of all the work we receive in school, we need more time to sleep and make sure our mind set is in the right place. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, if you don’t get enough sleep your brain will not absorb information you learn.

The primary reason for attending school is for adolescents to get an education in hopes of getting a good job.  Attendance, test scores, and GPA’s all play an important role in a student’s success in school, and if they can all be improved by pushing the start time back, then this issue should be pushed further.  The root problem of students not performing to their full potential has to do with the inability to focus from drowsiness in class due to the lack of sleep they are getting.  To support this point, Carskadon, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and his team, “found that students showed up for morning classes seriously sleep-deprived and that the 7:20 a.m. start time required them to be awake during hours that ran contrary to their internal clocks” (Richmond).  In other words, Carskadon believes that current high school start times go against teens’ natural sleep patterns, making them be awake at a time where their bodies aren’t ready to get up yet.  This causes concentration issues making paying attention in class harder, and kids not getting the best grades they can.  Also, sleep won’t get any

The students of this generation appear to be a bunch of lazy, depressed, unenergetic zombies, but is this entirely their fault? After a considerable amount of investigating it appears as if their lack of energy could be due to sleep deprivation resulting from early school start times. When later school times have been compared to those schools that start earlier, there are significant changes in the behaviors and results that students emit in a school environment. Schools should have a later start time that is better suited to the biological needs of adolescents as a way to aid them in achieving a higher quality education.

Students are not getting enough sleep. There is either homework or after school activities keeping kids from getting the right amount of sleep they need. The author states that, most kids are going to bed at 10 p.m. or later on school nights, even though they have to get up early the next day. Changes can be made at school to adjust to students’ sleep patterns. Some ways schools can adjust to students’ sleep patterns is shifting the time to start later, giving less homework or less after school programs, schools could also end sooner.

Arguing that a better-educated populace would result in a freer and happier American public, the bill called for a widespread system of public education. Jefferson contended that “public happiness… should be rendered by liberal education worthy to receive, and able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens.” ((Thomas Jefferson, “A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge,” Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello: Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia, http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/bill-more-general-diffusion-knowledge. Accessed July 2012)) Jefferson spread the idea that a functional democracy required an educated citizenry. He asserted that the American government had the responsibility to foster the education of a meritocracy in which all citizens could compete. During the late eighteenth century, however, resistance to government-funded education was strong. ((S. Mintz, “Education in the Early Republic,” Digital History, 2012, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=37. Accessed July 2012)) In both 1778 and 1780, Jefferson failed to get the bill to pass through Congress. While Jefferson was abroad serving as foreign minister to France in the 1780’s, James Madison attempted to carry the legislation through Congress, but met the same fate as Jefferson. In 1796, an edited version of the bill finally passed through Congress as the Act to Establish Public Schools. ((Thomas Jefferson, “A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge”)) Jefferson’s plans for more centralized education fell through because Americans still favored private education ventures and local control of the education system. Very few Americans wanted there to be government oversight of elementary and high school level education. ((Herbst,

Imagine yourself in your favorite high school class. What do you reminisce first – the paper balls; the kid with the obnoxious laugh; your best friend's constant gossiping; or actually learning? What you recall and what Thomas Jefferson would recall are completely different, considering he began his first year of college at 16 years old! Education in America has changed immensely since 1821, the year public education began, and will continue to evolve as society and technology does.

Parents and teachers constantly tell students that they should concentrate on school and homework, but how can they do so when they cannot focus? Most of the time this lack of focus is caused by sleep deprivation which is induced by school activities and work, both of which cannot be avoided. Schools expect students to wake up early, be lectured for 8 hours, and then stay up late with sports, music, and/or homework. These tired students with large workloads have risks to their bodies and minds. Allowing schools to start later would be beneficial to students’ health, safety, and academic performance.

“Ameen Al-Dalli,16 years old, who will begin his junior year at Langley High School, said he has fallen asleep in class. The high-performing honors student said he has to get up at 5:30 a.m. and be at the bus stop at 6:20 to get to school for the 7:20 start time. Ameen said he aims for a bedtime of 11:30 p.m. but if he has a big test or a paper he might not go to bed until 12:30 or 1 a.m.. At most, he gets seven hours of sleep at night and usually around five or six, he said” (Reddy). This high school student stays up late for his schoolwork and is forced to get up early to get to school on time. On school nights, Ameen Al-Dalli only gets seven hours of sleep at the most. Even though Al-Dalli continues to maintains his grades, the start for

Procrastination is a tendency to postpone, put off, delay, reschedule, take a rain check on, put on ice, hold off, or to defer what is necessary to reach a particular goal.(Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition. Philip Lief Group 2009.) While attending College some students find it hard to juggle work, family, and friends. Leading most students down a dangerous path to procrastination; that negative impact affect students from their physical health, mental health, and social health.

Zeenath and Ocrullo (2012) indicated that university students procrastinate because of its affective consequences. External factors, such as peer influence and coping strategies, surrounding them also contribute to this. Furthermore, the way of teaching of the professors also affects the performance of the students toward the tasks given to them. Procrastination is the reason behind the poor academic performance and unhealthy lifestyle of the students. However, even if the individuals receive negative consequences, they still choose to