Sherri, I enjoyed reading your blog post about the conversations needed to have the topic of education arises. I have some thought of my own… In my household, the discussion of higher education is mainly a free-range topic. I come from a family of both sides of the spectrum, my mother and stepfather have multiple degrees whereas my father dropped out of high school at the age of 17. To further explain, of course, my family wants the best for me and my future however it’s debatable on which path I am wanting to continue. Whether I go to college and work hard to earn my degree in a study of my own choice, or I can do the new trendy plan: to start my own business and thrive from that plan of action. Pertaining to my choice of majors, I don’t necessarily feel pressure however, in my current situation I’m in a rock and a hard place choosing between two majors. One that I feel as if I can excel in and one that my family has already invested in.

Education as a public good to me means that education is giving everyone, disregarding your race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and race. It can be an equality of opportunity to receive the tools and knowledge that may need to succeed as individuals and members of society. In my opinion, it calls for a curriculum that raises people’s awareness of our role is in democracy as active and engaged citizens. However, now public education is too segregated, too bureaucratic, and sacrificed to promote private interests. I also see public education as a manifestation of our belief in the power of what we call “the American Dream.” In that way, public schools represent the ideal of equity of access to quality education for all our young people. The promise is too often unfulfilled, and our implementation of the promise too often falls short of what we know to be best practice. In the end, your opinion of the education gospel has made me take another look in that Tressie McMillan Cottom’s argument on secondary education in our economy.