Extra and Better Education for Failing Students

A new federal law signed by president George Bush in January, states that parents with children in one of the 487 failing schools’ listed can request to have their children tutored for free or transferred to a better school. The schools were placed on the list because their students did not meet state standards on English and mathematics test over the last three years and did not improve enough in each year.

The state has requested many schools to provide extra tutoring, which officials said that extra federal money would not be enough to cover the expenses. Therefore, the students with the lowest incomes will have this opportunity first. Another problem is that the best schools do not have enough space to receive so many students. This new law will encourage failing schools to improve academically because right now these schools are categorized in a worst level. However, the government will also need to spend money in order to improve failing schools. The president of the New York State Congress of Parents and Teachers says that parents agreed with the federal law, which is an important part of the project.

Reflection: This new law will hopefully improve the level of education in the US. Consequently US inhabitants will be more capacitated and therefore more able to contribute with the country’s development. Do you think this opportunity given to failing students will be successful?

Answer: I totally agree that this opportunity given to failing students will be successful. I consider that parents will surely request for a better education for their students in order to have them better raised. Moreover, this opportunity will provide a better quality of life for those students who were receiving a poor education, so there is no way they would say no to this chance. In addition, I consider that this opportunity will be successful in terms of having better prepare inhabitants in the US, making it then a better off country.

Submitted by: Alizo Lalo, American University
Source: James C. McKinley Jr., “Albany Names 487 Failing Schools Under New Law,” The New York Times, September 5, 2002.