Devaluation of Education

Caleb Smith

Professor Hammett

1302.105 CL

9 March 2022

The United States is the world’s most powerful economy by today’s standards, but twenty-one percent of Americans lack the proficient literacy skills necessary for today’s world (“Report on Adult Literacy in the United States” 1). How can the world’s most successful country be behind in the most important topic of our education system? The United States increase in spending per elementary and secondary student from 2010 to 2017 was only two percent compared to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) average of ten percent (“Education Expenditures by Country” 1). This has occurred because of a social epidemic of devaluing education, including budget cuts, students not being engaged, and literacy rates dropping. The threat of the devaluation of education in America could have negative consequences to our success as a society. Solutions to the devaluation of education would be to increase spending on education, try to make school more engaging for students, and to focus more on students reading ability.

Spending on education is something you would think people would universally agree on but that has not been the case. In the United States, education is the most undervalued aspect by the government and it not given nearly enough funding. The United States government without a doubt needs to divert more money to education. This solution to the epidemic of devaluation of education would be quite simple: diverting money from military spending to education. While a nation's ability to defend itself is important, in the modern world education should be the number one priority under all circumstances. The United States spends “754.8 billion dollars” on national defense and “90.5 billion dollars” on education (Federal Spending by Category 1). Diverting even 50 to 100 billion from the military to the education budget would still have us ahead of several other top spenders combined in defense and improve the quality of our education system (U.S. Defense Spending Compared to Other Countries 1). This budget increase would allow higher pay for teachers, an increase in technology use, better facilities, more opportunities, and the list could go on forever. In a technology dependent world, computers should be available to all students in the United States but currently are not. Some students do not have access to a computer at home and a budget increase could put an end to that. Also, through more funding more scholarship opportunities will be available for higher education. A student in the United States with the increased budget would be much more successful than a student today.

School up until high school level is mostly centered on topics that students simply find boring or not applicable to their life. For example, all high school students need several science classes and not many will use them. So why are subjects standardized that will be used by so few students in their future? When students reach the next step in higher education they struggle, “One student noted, ‘The curricula is much denser, which was quite a difficult transition to adapt to’” (Guskey 11). Students in high school are taught in a very general sense and while critical thinking skills may be developed through classes like math, most information is likely to be forgotten because it is not used. The solution to this aspect of the devaluation epidemic is a challenging task because of the scale but allowing more options to the requirements for graduating high school. Requiring more elective based classes would allow students to explore more information and would unquestionably keep them engaged. They also as a plus might use the information they learn from the classes. For example, allowing more classes such as an auto shop, welding, business, and finance class to name a few, would let students be introduced to topics they may use in the real world. This would likely allow students to be more successful in higher education as well by getting them into topics they will take in college.

The most important subject in schools is unquestionably reading and writing. Unfortunately, even with the United States having the strongest economy and being an extremely successful country, we have fallen behind where we should be with literacy rates. According to the United States department of education, “Four in five U.S. adults (79 percent) have English literacy skills sufficient to complete tasks that require comparing and contrasting information, paraphrasing, or making low-level inferences... In contrast, one in five U.S. adults (21 percent) has difficulty completing these tasks” (Report on Adult Literacy in the United States 1). In a nation that leads the world in economics, how do we have twenty-one percent of our adults not able to efficiently read and write? Education in the United States should almost be centered on reading at every level. Solving this dilemma would require a much greater emphasis on reading skills by our schools. More reading should be assigned in schools so students can develop the skill. No students should slip through the cracks and make it to the adult world with difficulty reading. Especially not with how much money and time we can and do put into education. It takes a student almost thirteen years to graduate high school, which is more than long enough to become an efficient reader. Students should need to reach an adequate reading level before moving on to the next level and should not be let through without reaching it. No students should leave the primary school level without an adequate reading level under any circumstances.

The United States is a world leader in every way, but we have fallen behind in education. The social epidemic of the devaluing of education has taken a toll on American society and will continue to take a toll if we let it. American society may not sustain its leading economic status or may entirely collapse if education is devalued enough. Increasing the budget, making school more engaging, and focusing on students reading ability is what we need to do to reverse this social epidemic.

Orwell and Education

George Orwell was a writer who feared a society controlled by the few and educated by the few. His novels reflect the fear of people not being in control. However, we as a society are already on the path to Orwell’s nightmare by a pattern of devaluing education. If Orwell were alive today, he would be a leading advocate for making education the number one priority in the United States.

In Orwell's 1984 a common theme throughout the novel is the concept of Newspeak. Newspeak is the changing of language in their society so that words lose their meaning. Essentially it alters the language of the citizens so that they cannot speak out against injustice because they do not know how. In today’s world, at least in the United States, fortunately it is not the government trying to force this on us. However, we are forcing this problem onto ourselves by not putting education first. Literacy rates have been below par for some time now, “Four in five U.S. adults (79 percent) have English literacy skills sufficient to complete tasks that require comparing and contrasting information, paraphrasing, or making low-level inferences... In contrast, one in five U.S. adults (21 percent) has difficulty completing these tasks” (“Report on Adult Literacy in the United States” 1). By not being at a sufficient reading level, the concept of Newspeak could very easily take over. By not being able to properly express yourself through language you are likely to be unhappy because you will not be able to attain what you desire. For example, if you want a job, you may not have the qualifications without sufficient literacy skills or to speak out against something the government has done. Without proper literacy skills you are severely limited in what you can accomplish.

Orwell had firsthand experience of the problems that he speaks out against. George Orwell’s experience with propaganda serving as a volunteer soldier in the Spanish Civil War would make him a leading advocate for the betterment of education. “During the conflict, Orwell experienced how propaganda could shape political narratives through observing inaccurate reporting of events he experienced firsthand” (“Orwell’s Ideas Remain Relevant 75 Years after ‘Animal Farm’ Was Published.” 1). Understanding how propaganda and manipulated information to the public can alter people’s view of the world helped Orwell to understand the importance of education. For example, propaganda depicting one side as committing war crimes like targeting civilians. It would show him the ability to draw your own conclusions from reading all the available material necessary for life. This manipulation of the masses would be his inspiration for a lot of his later writing too. Orwell would support pushing more funds into education and away from other government spending. With a better education Orwell understands that conflict would not be as necessary and better solutions could be found. Also, he would agree that it would help to avoid any kind of government takeover like he has witnessed in his lifetime like Russia or Spain. Orwell clearly states the importance of the meaning of language in his writing. Orwellian is a concept that words lose their meaning and mean something different than what they seem. Some people believe Orwellian means authoritarian but, that is Orwellian in itself. Education is what takes away the ability of groups to attempt to take away the meaning of language. With education the old saying still holds true “Knowledge is power.”

George Orwell valued education and knowledge in his own life. His brilliance stood out and it allowed him to achieve the status of a well-known writer. “Orwell won scholarships to two of England’s leading schools, Wellington and Eton, and briefly attended the former before continuing his studies at the latter, where he stayed from 1917 to 1921” (Woodcock). George Orwell is clear in his works on what should be valued the most. However, there is no better proof than Orwell’s own actions with his own life. Orwell and his family held education as a top priority in their lives. Clear themes in his book involve characters that were not educated or were educated in a manipulative way like Boxer in Animal Farm or Winston in 1984. Orwell shows through his novels that characters in the books could avoid their unfortunate situations by being educated. Orwell used what he learned in his own education and upbringing in his own life. Throughout his entire life he used knowledge to fight against fascism and totalitarianism. Orwell himself served as imperial police in Burma for a short time before realizing it went against his values of being against totalitarianism, “In 1927 Orwell, on leave to England, decided not to return to Burma, and on January 1, 1928, he took the decisive step of resigning from the imperial police” (Woodcock). Orwell realized the imperial presence of Britain in Burma was against his own beliefs. Orwell's life was filled with landmark world events and schooling. It is clear that George Orwell valued education and knowledge throughout his life.

Orwell will always be a well-known figure in the world of education. While he was not a teacher his work has been a part of education for many. The lessons he teaches all revolve around the importance of being educated and informed. Orwell was not a super outspoken public figure as George Orwell is merely his pen name, but his influence on how people value education in our society will always be known. With how technology influences ideas Orwell would agree that we need to combat false information and threats to freedom with education. George Orwell would agree that we need to value education more.

Works Cited

(P) “Education Expenditures by Country.” Coe - Education Expenditures by Country, May 2021, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cmd.

(S) Fabian, Nelson. "World rankings of the U.S. ... education ... NEHA." Journal of Environmental Health, vol. 73, no. 7, Mar. 2011, pp. 58+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A249684618/AONE?u=txshracd2496&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=95ad7ccf. Accessed 21 Feb. 2022.

(P) Federal Spending by Category | U.S. Treasury Data Lab. https://datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finance-guide/spending/categories/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2022.

(S) Guskey, Thomas R. The Impact of Standards-Based Learning: Tracking High School Students’ Transition to the University. University of Kentucky, 11 Dec. 2020, https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=edp_facpub.

(P) Orwell, George. 1984. Secker & Warburg, 1949.

(S) “Orwell’s Ideas Remain Relevant 75 Years after ‘Animal Farm’ Was Published.” Philosophy, 13 Dec. 2019, https://clas.wayne.edu/philosophy/news/orwells-ideas-remain-relevant-75-years-after-animal-farm-was-published-43421.

(P) "Report on Adult Literacy in the United States" (PDF). nces.ed.gov. United States Department of Education. July 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2022.

(S) U.S. Defense Spending Compared to Other Countries. https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0053_defense-comparison. Accessed 7 Mar. 2022.

(S) Woodcock, George. “George Orwell.” Britannica Academic, Canadian Literature. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.