English 102
Five Ways to Fix America's Schools Harold O. Levy, New York City school chancellor from 2000 to 2002 presented his ideas about America’s school system in an article he authored in the New York Times. He reports that at one time the world looked up to American standards of education, but now American standards of education have seriously deteriorated and do not rank among the top ten. He states that the major problems contributing to the fall in the standard of education are due to our state systems and therefore provides some radical ways to resolve the problem. In his argument he states that the age of compulsory education should be raised to 19 years. Also, he makes a reference to president Obama’s speech: “I asked every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training.” Moreover, Mr. Levy suggests that the federal government fund the extra year in school and provide affordable colleges for veterans so that they can achieve their career. In addition, he suggests the “aggressive salesman tactical approach” for truant students by following up with them through persistent phone calls and visits to encourage these students to come to classes and continue with their education. This way they can qualify for better education. Finally, he refers to president Obama’s speech about encouraging parents to spend time with their children. “As father and parent, we’ve got to spend more time with them, and help them with their homework, and replace the video game or the remote control with a book once in a while.” Harold Levy, in his argument or suggestion to fix American’s school, is for rising the school compulsory age to 19 years and making sure that students stay in school at least for an extra year. He believes that graduating from high school is not enough in the present economic situation. In addition, to improve American schools, Harold makes reference to president Obama’s appeal to the young to proceed with their education after high school. He gives examples of how to commercialize college enrolment and provide support for veteran so that they can achieve their academic dream. First and foremost, the age for compulsory education should be increased to 19. After graduation from high school, students would stay in school for one additional year to prepare them for college. This would help them and society, as a whole. To support the argument President
