The American School System Gets A F Analysis

The American School System Gets an ‘F’ “Government schooling… kills the family by monopolizing the best times of childhood and by teaching disrespect for home and parents.” This quote from author, former schoolteacher, and prominent advocate for education reform, John Taylor Gatto, encapsulates a facet of the struggle children face when they go to school, especially if they are the children of immigrants. American schools place a heavy emphasis on competition, on English fluency, and on assimilation. Moreover, children spend a significant portion of their lives at school, absorbing the standardized information and values that make Americans, American; what schools decide to value, they make their students value as well. And all too often,

According to Lisa Speckhard in her article concerning a Hmong cultural summer program, Hmong American kids are lagging in academics, and a Hmong cultural summer program could help solve this problem. This program provides a safe space to learn where Hmong American kids do not have to worry as much about assimilation or acceptance, helps Hmong American children build confidence and self-esteem, and makes them better equipped to deal with academics (Speckhard). Their “attitude[s are] strikingly different from how Hmong kids often behave in public school” after participating in this program, and while some children “may be known for being quiet and not raising their hands” in public school, “here, it's a total difference. You see kids engaging, raising hands, asking questions, because they feel comfortable”; they “recognize that their other classmates look like them, talk broken Hmong like them” (Speckhard). When these students felt like they were in an environment where they were understood and felt safe and surrounded by community, they flourished. They were empowered to speak up and engage in discussions; a stark difference from the disempowerment they face in the public school system. It is also important to note that these gains made during the summer often do not last once the students return to public school. They go back to “the school year and they're struggling. They're back to, ‘Oh, I don't know who I am’” (Speckhard). It can then be inferred that a sense of identity and belonging is essential to educational success, and by denying this safety and sense of community to Xue and other Hmong American children, the American educational system is actively denying them the ability to fully reach their