Current Curriculum Issues in the U.S.

K-12 education is a staple in United States society. Kids are required by law to attend until they reach a certain age. Personally, I was lucky enough to attend a very good public-school system that allowed me to develop into the person I am. Throughout my time during grade school there are countless skills I acquired over long processes of learning. What I want to discuss is whether K-12 curriculum is as useful as it should be. I conducted a survey in which I asked if people though that the K-12 curriculum was useful to them or not. I sent my survey out to about 50 of my fellow college student peers. I received 36 responses to my survey. The results were 58.3% answering ‘No’ and 41.7% answering ‘Yes’. These results didn’t really surprise me. I expected many people to answer ‘No’. The reason I thought this is because I believe many people don’t actually realize what skills they learn from their schooling. Another reason I think this is because many people think they should learn more useful ‘life’ skills. Which is what I want to discuss. I think that curriculum should include subjects related to finance, taxes and business in general. During my time in high school, I didn’t really take many business classes and I regret it. I think some of course like that should be required. Things like filing taxes, purchasing a home, purchasing insurance should all be things that should be part of a basic curriculum. I also don’t believe high school prepared me for college or if I weren’t to attend college it certainly didn’t prepare me for the real world. On the other hand, I understand the inclusion of other subjects. Basic subjects like Math, English, Science and Social studies provide many benefits. The kind of problem solving and mental strain that these cause lead to strengthening and improved condition of the brain. And this leads me to a crossroads. This is because I think that these core subjects are essential but I also think new material should be added. The problem is what gets taken away? The answer to that is unknown to me but I think these types of things need to observed and analyzed to make sure they are beneficial. In order for quality education, we must find out what things are vital to be taught and learn.

Link to Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10t9tX93AwAYN-gM1dN5b87kooyCECCOgM6rOygzpc3s/edit#responses