Story of School Part 4

As The Story of School: Part Four opens it begins by revealing that at this time 85% percent of students have graduated from high school since 1980. Though as the documentary continues it reveals the open letter of A Nation at Risk, which would fundamentally alter the landscape of public education for the years to come. Despite raising achievement scores the letter asserts that public schooling is failing miserably, and calls for higher standards, more credits, and more homework as a requirement for graduation. With Nation’s claims Reagan’s assertion that public education represents a dangerous uncompetitive monopoly begins to gain a great deal of momentum, causing schools to suddenly need a standard of achievement to compare schools to, which in itself is the advent of standardized teaching.

            With Standardized teaching on the scene public schools now need to become profitable and competitive, otherwise they risk losing their funding or being fundamentally reorganized. Amidst increasing pressure to perform well on standardized tests public schools begin to take new approaches to education. The lowest performing schools with the least to lose are the first to develop alternative classrooms within the traditional school, which see marked results.

            As alternative education begins to show promise numerous other magnet and charter schools appear across the country to capitalize on the new education craze. Several public schools are even reorganized by the private firm Education Advocates Inc. EAI asserts that it can improve educational outcomes and remain profitable, to do this EAI replaces special education instructors with hourly interns, slashes their SED programs, and completely cuts art and music from the curriculum. Despite all of their claims however students in these schools do not perform and better and EAI steps in somewhat ungracefully under accusations of sending profits back to its headquarters at the expense of quality education.