Going all the way for our children by: Glynda Carr, Executive Director, Education Voters of New York
As Americans prepare to go to the polls and elect the next President of the United States, economic issues are rightfully dominating the political debate. As we consider each of the presidential hopefuls’ plan for climbing our way out of the morass of economic problems, we must simultaneously consider their – and every other candidate’s for office – proposal for protecting and enhancing our public education system. If we as a nation are going to recover from the failures of Wall Street, we must reignite the engines of economic prosperity by providing every child with an excellent public school education to prepare them to be productive members of the 21st Century workforce. On November 4th, we need to choose leaders – from the President down to our local county legislature – whose economic strategy includes righting the course of our public schools.
These are some of the hardest economic times many of us have ever lived through. We are anxious about keeping our jobs, saving our homes and caring for and protecting our families. Even before this current fiscal crisis hit, there were far too many barriers to lifting families out of poverty and too many were struggling to make ends meet. A quality education has been a life rope for many but the reality is that even before hard times, we were living with crumbling school buildings, shortages of school books, overcrowded classrooms and low performance scores.
An excellent public school system drives a prosperous economy. To have a stable and thriving economy in the future, we must start in the classrooms in Buffalo and Rochester and New York City. In a study conducted by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University and three advocacy organizations, researchers found that the number of jobs offering livable wages for individuals without high school diplomas decreases each year. In 2001, the unemployment rate for dropouts 25-years and older was almost 75 percent higher than for high school graduates – 7.3 percent versus 4.2 percent. In addition, the earnings gap between high school graduates and dropouts has grown over the last two decades. The U.S. Census now estimates that high school dropouts will earn an average of $270,000 less than high school graduates over their working lives.
New York ranks 42nd in the country in graduation rates and forty percent of our New York State students do not graduate on time. In addition, in the United States, 15-year-olds rank 20th in reading scores and 24th in math scores. To turn around our ailing school system, we need proper investments and strong programs. As education is the foundation of our world economy and of our civil society, we can and must do better. What is lacking is the political will. Fortunately, voters hold the power to be agents of change by electing leaders committed to fixing our broken schools and educating every child.
We can elect leaders at all levels of government – from President to State Representative to County Legislature – who will fight to make our children’s education a top priority. After electing them, we must then hold them accountable for systemic change to ensure they support the kinds of public policy and provide the necessary resources for curriculum development, infrastructure, and proper staffing.
This year, the issue of public education can be the beneficiary of a nexus of two significant political shifts. First, we are anticipating record numbers of new voters. More Americans have checked back into the electoral process and have become engaged in the 2008 election cycle. Secondly, public education now ranks sky high as a genuine concern for many Americans. This, as evidence by the results of a national poll that we conducted this spring in which we found that 97 percent of voters believe in the fundamental principle that every child, regardless of race or income, should have the opportunity for an excellent education. Education is a top ranked voting issue concern despite growing angst about the rising prices, the economy and the war. If these ‘education voters’ turn out at the polls – our children win.
But it’s not just voting for President that is critical. Our state legislators decide the level of New York’s education budget and determine policy affecting classroom learning. Our county legislatures determine local tax issues, which also affect school funding. We need to ask every candidate where they stand on education issues. And we need to scrutinize their records. And then on Election Day, after making a choice for President, we must go all the way down the ballot by voting in every race for those who will stand up and ensure that every child has the opportunity for an excellent education. By making sure we vote ‘down ballot’, we can help secure a future for our children in which violence on school days is replaced with the victory of graduation days.
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Going all the way for our children
by: Glynda Carr, Executive Director, Education Voters of New York
As Americans prepare to go to the polls and elect the next President of the United States, economic issues are rightfully dominating the political debate. As we consider each of the presidential hopefuls’ plan for climbing our way out of the morass of economic problems, we must simultaneously consider their – and every other candidate’s for office – proposal for protecting and enhancing our public education system. If we as a nation are going to recover from the failures of Wall Street, we must reignite the engines of economic prosperity by providing every child with an excellent public school education to prepare them to be productive members of the 21st Century workforce. On November 4th, we need to choose leaders – from the President down to our local county legislature – whose economic strategy includes righting the course of our public schools.
These are some of the hardest economic times many of us have ever lived through. We are anxious about keeping our jobs, saving our homes and caring for and protecting our families. Even before this current fiscal crisis hit, there were far too many barriers to lifting families out of poverty and too many were struggling to make ends meet. A quality education has been a life rope for many but the reality is that even before hard times, we were living with crumbling school buildings, shortages of school books, overcrowded classrooms and low performance scores.
An excellent public school system drives a prosperous economy. To have a stable and thriving economy in the future, we must start in the classrooms in Buffalo and Rochester and New York City. In a study conducted by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University and three advocacy organizations, researchers found that the number of jobs offering livable wages for individuals without high school diplomas decreases each year. In 2001, the unemployment rate for dropouts 25-years and older was almost 75 percent higher than for high school graduates – 7.3 percent versus 4.2 percent. In addition, the earnings gap between high school graduates and dropouts has grown over the last two decades. The U.S. Census now estimates that high school dropouts will earn an average of $270,000 less than high school graduates over their working lives.
New York ranks 42nd in the country in graduation rates and forty percent of our New York State students do not graduate on time. In addition, in the United States, 15-year-olds rank 20th in reading scores and 24th in math scores. To turn around our ailing school system, we need proper investments and strong programs. As education is the foundation of our world economy and of our civil society, we can and must do better. What is lacking is the political will. Fortunately, voters hold the power to be agents of change by electing leaders committed to fixing our broken schools and educating every child.
We can elect leaders at all levels of government – from President to State Representative to County Legislature – who will fight to make our children’s education a top priority. After electing them, we must then hold them accountable for systemic change to ensure they support the kinds of public policy and provide the necessary resources for curriculum development, infrastructure, and proper staffing.
This year, the issue of public education can be the beneficiary of a nexus of two significant political shifts. First, we are anticipating record numbers of new voters. More Americans have checked back into the electoral process and have become engaged in the 2008 election cycle. Secondly, public education now ranks sky high as a genuine concern for many Americans. This, as evidence by the results of a national poll that we conducted this spring in which we found that 97 percent of voters believe in the fundamental principle that every child, regardless of race or income, should have the opportunity for an excellent education. Education is a top ranked voting issue concern despite growing angst about the rising prices, the economy and the war. If these ‘education voters’ turn out at the polls – our children win.
But it’s not just voting for President that is critical. Our state legislators decide the level of New York’s education budget and determine policy affecting classroom learning. Our county legislatures determine local tax issues, which also affect school funding. We need to ask every candidate where they stand on education issues. And we need to scrutinize their records. And then on Election Day, after making a choice for President, we must go all the way down the ballot by voting in every race for those who will stand up and ensure that every child has the opportunity for an excellent education. By making sure we vote ‘down ballot’, we can help secure a future for our children in which violence on school days is replaced with the victory of graduation days.