The American Public Education System: Adjusting to a New Era of Technology and Change

The world as we know it is changing in leaps and"supplemental educational services", which includes
bounds on a daily basis. Our children are growingtutoring. About 19% of those students got those
up knowing and using iPods and computers withservices, or roughly two out of every ten
gigabytes of data storage for all their music andstudents who were not proficient in core
video files. High-speed Internet has become asubjects, received aid. A good analogy would be a
way of life where more young people subscribephysician telling the parents of ten children that
to read, chat, and communicate with friends onlinethat they need medicine to cure an illness and
than ever before. As the Internet marketplaceonly two out of the ten children can receive the
continues to expand rapidly, and technologiesmedicine that they need. The need for tutoring is
afford education access from the ease andobviously there. Why then is the current method
convenience of home, it is imperative that parentsof tutoring inadequate? There are principally four
and educators recognize the benefits involved inreasons why tutoring has been ineffective: 1)
education online. The public education system inSchools can recruit tutors for students in rural
the United States grew out of an economy basedareas and even fewer for those students in
upon single income workers, zero competitionthose areas with disabilities. 2) School districts do
from outside markets for internal educationnot tell parents that tutoring is available. When
consumers, and more manufacturing jobs thanletters are sent home they often arrive late and
service jobs. The baby boomers born during theare hard to understand. 3) Tutors are not allowed
post World War II era, enjoyed the benefits ofinto schools and do not coordinate with teachers
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Servicemen'sor the curriculum in the classroom, leaving the
Readjustment Act or the GI Bill of Rights, whichstudent confused. 4) State education departments
granted affordable access to college education.do not evaluate the quality of tutors, as the law
The baby boomers of the United Statesrequires. On one hand we have American schools
catapulted into growth as a result of this, enjoyingand students failing and in need of remediation,
an unprecedented level of abundance andoperating under an outdated system of education,
prosperity. One of these baby boomers isand money going to waste, and on the other
President George W. Bush, who enacted the Nohand we have an emerging technology platform
Child Left Behind Act (NCBA), offering the societalbased on high speed broadband technology that is
challenge of making every child proficient inleveling the playing field for people, and companies
reading and math by 2012. A schoolteacher forworldwide. This technology is one that not only
more than thirty years, who now runs aattracts our children, but also captivates them, so
management company for teacher training,that they return to computers and multimedia
described the resultant effect of this act upon therepeatedly for entertainment. Armed with this
public school system as one which far exceededknowledge, how can we as parents and
the capabilities of what American public schoolseducators remain blind to the changes within our
can currently offer. Despite the grandiose claimsown culture for learning and acquiring knowledge
of the NCBA, actual school performance began toand the ways in which our children are learning?
decrease after the passage of the act and theTutoring programs such as take these tools and
United States, as a whole, fell behind in education.put them to use to educate our children in a fun
Supplemental Educational Services In 2004-2005,and engaging manner.
there were more than 22 million children eligible for