Message to my next president: Public school systems need to be better

Dear Future President of the United States,

The United States was built on equality and fairness. We have amendments that promote racial equality and gender equality, and while these ideals are still a work-in-progress, we are at least improving. 

But what about socioeconomic equality?

The cycle of poverty is well known; the family is poor, the child goes to schools which are at a disadvantage, the child cannot get a job that pays well and they end up raising their children in an environment of poverty as well.

Notice how the second step in the cycle of poverty is about schools?

A good education is key to getting a good job and opening other doors of opportunity. That’s why I have heard my entire life. But for children born into less lucky families, they most likely will not be able to get that good education.

A study done by Stanford shows that students who come from poor families perform lower on tests than students who come from affluent families.

And this is not a problem that funding can fix.

The Advocate found that we have increased funding by trillions of dollars but have not found any improvement since 2009. To truly improve our system, we need to find out what the problem is at the core and the problem with the school system is the lack of innovation and outdated teaching.

We are a country that is changing rapidly and we need our education to be changing at the same rate. As the president of the United States, it must be one of your first priorities to improve the public school system.

We are all looking to you for a better education and school system and thus a more equitable society. 

Sincerely,

Grace Yang

Irvine, California