There are so many things that I want to talk about when it comes to Education. So I will speak of two things that I find really bad and nothing is being done. One of the things that I want to talk about is how crappy the public school systems are here in Los Angeles and what I experienced and seen during my time in high school.

In South Central, Los Angeles the dropout rate for black and Latino Students in public schools is a staggering 50%. The schools are extremely overcrowded and the student to teacher ratio is 20: 1. Although this is not bad, the ratio for college counselors to students is somewhere in the vicinity of 1,000: 1 or 2 or 3. In Freemont High School, there so many students that the first couple of weeks many sit on the floor. Those that care to go to school stay, but those that lack the motivation just walk out without the teacher ever noticing. Not only do students give up, but so do some of the teachers and counselors. This is a problem that seems to be ignored by everyone. Maybe in this economic crisis Capitol Hill should also take into account the failing public school system that has been lacking for over a decade now. How are counselors going to get all these students to go to college?

The second issue I want to talk about is the 65,000 students that graduate every year in the U.S. that attended public school for four years and cannot receive any federal funding to attend college. These students are known as AB 540 students. They are students who are undocumented and are not offered financial assistance by the government. After doing research for my Spanish class I was able to figure out the benefits of allowing these students to attend college.

Allowing federal funding will increase the number of students attending college. This will then result in higher wages with those with a college degree and more taxes being paid. Instead of letting these students drop out and have to find a job where they pay very low wages. Allowing these students an opportunity to attend college the government on average will spend $3,900 less on criminal and social welfare programs. This will also provide a quick return for the investment made by tax payers in the public school system.

Why should students who have the good grades have to suffer for their parent’s decision? And the decision to come to the U.S. is done out of obligation to find a better opportunity for their kids.

The Dream Act is a solution to our problem and maybe now that Obama is president it can be looked at on a better light.

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