A Youth-Led Movement

Calder, Joe. “A Youth-Led Movement.” The Huffington Post. July 31, 2012. Web.                 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-calder/a-youthled-        movement_b_1556993.html. Accessed July 11, 2016.

        In Joe Calders blog from The Huffington Post, “A Youth-Led Movement,” he explains a political action committee six PACs believes that no cure-all exists for education reform. “They cite today’s tenure laws, our current system of state standards, low teacher pay, lack of vocational programs and below-average teacher quality as the problems that create systemic failure in public education.” Teacher tenure is a policy that restricts the ability to fire teachers, requiring a "just cause" rationale for firing. The individual states each have established their own tenure systems. Tenure provides teachers with protections by making it difficult to fire teachers who earn tenure. Today would be more accurate to say that we have two systems of public education, not one.

        The first of them is based principally, though not entirely, in the suburbs of this country and in some of the wealthier urban jurisdictions and districts. That is a public school system that could be better and should be better. The second system of public education, which is based principally in poorer urban and rural areas, is indeed in crisis. Too many of the students in those schools are dropping out well before high school graduation, too many are receiving high school diplomas that do not certify academic confidence in basic subjects, too many are being left unprepared for the world work, and too many are being left unprepared to go on to higher education and advanced technical training. Those schools are indeed in crisis and they require emergency treatment.

        Vocational courses and classes are offered by a number of institutions. Many high schools offer basic vocational education. Such as home economics, woodshop, and auto repair. Vocational educational institutions vary by state, but most postsecondary vocational instruction is offered by private career schools.

        “Education is the backbone of society. An effective education system has the capacity to deliver a new generation of thinkers, innovators, and leaders — and can do so without bankrupting a nation" The state is at the top of the list of main stakeholders, but it seems that education has never been a priority for our state.