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Current Issues

Mary Cortes

Organizational Leadership Capstone

Arkansas Tech University

October 15, 2023

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Table of Contents

Abstract................................................................................................................................3

Current Issues......................................................................................................................4

Literature Review source 1..................................................................................................5

Literature Review source 2..............................................................................................5

Conclusion...................................................................................................................5

References............................................................................................................................7
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Abstract

In this paper we will discuss the current issues within the education career field. We will

concentrate on these issues throughout this essay and how these issues greatly affect the

education department and the students and staff. The issues we will be discussing about in the

education field is education field teacher salary and the issue of government funding within the

schools. In order to back up our thoughts about these two issues in the education field we will

discuss and use some sources in order to help the reader be able to understand and really learn

about these current issues and the thoughts of other sources as well and ideas about this current

issue. As we discuss this current issue we will come up with some ideas and ways on how to

better these current issues and what we could do to help better this and not be an issue for our

education field.

Keywords: Current Issues, concentration, education, career, implications.

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Current Issues

In order to be able to think about a current issue I first started with thinking about my

concentration and or focus area of study. My BPS concentration area is the Interdisciplinary

Studies but in this essay I will be talking about issues within the education field which is the

career I am studying for. My main focus for this type of concentration area degree would be to

pursue a bachelor’s degree in the education part of the Interdisciplinary study area to better my

understanding and be able to be a great impactful teacher in either preschool or elementary area.

Some of the areas that I feel would really benefit my future career and success would have to be

communication skills, management preparation, and time management skills. There are many

issues that you can find within the education field, could be issues that affect either the staff,

parents, or even the students. In this paper I have chosen to discuss some current issues within

the education field and discuss how we can help or make these issues decrease and make things

better regarding this issue. The current issue that I have chosen for the educational career that we

will be discussing within this paper is the issue with teacher salary and government funding

within the schools. I chose these skills because I feel that these are the biggest topics many think

of when discussing issues within the public school area or any education career. It is important

that we the people know and learn more about current issues within our world in order to be

better educated about it and really understand what is happening and what is being done with that

specific issue. I believe knowing what is going on in your child’s education or school is very

important as a parent and a teacher in order to really know what is going on and if there is

anything, we could do in order to better our children’s education and school environment. It is

important that in order for our children to get the right education and the best teachers that we are

updated on how our teachers are doing and what the teachers are having to go through in order to
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be able to not only make them feel great about where they are working but are at their best when

teaching our children.

Literature Review source 1

If you were to search up current issues in the education field a big list of issues would

pop up, it is sad to think that the education field has so many issues that are affecting our

teachers and staff and can even affect our children and their future regarding their education. One

current issue that caught my eye in the education field was the issue of a teacher’s pay salary.

Even though teachers play a very big part in our children and our future the world believes their

salary shouldn’t be as high as teachers think they should be or they don’t have great insurance or

benefits as they should be getting. As I was researching about the issues with the teacher’s salary

I found out that according to the National Center for Education Statistics in 2022 the teacher pay

in most states had decreased for over the last several years. It is important that teachers’ salaries

increase especially if they take on extra responsibilities or teach at a more high-speed school and

subject. If we were to help teachers’ salaries increase and if they got paid better teachers work

quality would improve and it could help improve the interest in the industry. One of the biggest

complaints of teachers leaving the teaching job was because they were tired of having to work

multiple jobs aside of the teaching job in order to be able to pay for their bills. It is sad to believe

that teachers do not get paid as well especially because they are the ones that teacher everyone

and helps each and every one of the students decide in which career they’d want to pursue in and

helps them prepare to be successful. So if it weren’t for our teachers would we have been as

successful as many of us are today?

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Literature Review source 2

The second current issue that caught my eye in the education field was the Government

school funding issue. Many times in the education field some schools don’t have the funding for

helping our students in need for example some students might not be able to have WIFI at home

so in order to help those students the school would have to buy hot spots for students like that if

not students could end up not getting the right material for assignments like others that do have

WIFI get. It is important that the schools use their funding wisely as well. Some schools seem to

use their funding mostly for things like sports instead of using it for more books or more better

technology for our students in order to help them increase their education. Going back to schools

who don’t have the funding for students education there are many ways that we could help with

schools funding. For example the schools could make a budget for the school in order to help

maintain their money and use it wisely. Another way would be by doing fundraisers, banquets or

many other ways to raise money for the schools. Many might think that a schools funding really

doesn’t affect the student’s education but it really does in the long run according to this article it

talks about how money matters in order to help with students achievements. The article A

Quality Approach to school funding, “A growing body of evidence shows that increased

spending on education leads to better student outcomes. When states invest in their public

schools and create more equitable school finance systems, student achievement levels rise, and

the positive effects are even greater among low-income students. States, districts, and schools

must spend their money wisely, targeting their funds toward evidence-based interventions, such

as high-quality early childhood programs. Overall, efforts to cut funding for education or

services that support children are short-sighted and defy current research.”
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Conclusion

I think in order to have a happy, positive, great teacher for our children that we keep

updated in education crisis that might happen in the future. It is important that we keep up to date

in order to know what is going on within the education field and also to be able to come up with

ideas as the parents of these children on what we as the society can do in order to help with these

crisis. Even though we are just the parents of the students who the teachers teach we still can

have a big impact on any education crisis because parents have a big voice and play a big role on

what is seen in the public schools. For example like I stated above in the government funding

crisis if we were to have that type of crisis in our local public school parents could help out big

time by doing fundraisers or donating money in order to have at least quite enough funding in

order to better our children’s education and use it when needed like funding to pay for an

education school trip or paying for better technology either way there are many ways the public

can help in the education career. Not only is it important to help our teachers, staff, and or faculty

in the education field just to help them out but it also greatly affects the students because these

teachers can have a great positive impact on them and play a huge role in their development as

well. So overall not only is it helping them, but it would be helping the society as the parents of

these children.
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References

Publisher. “Here Are 20 Major Issues Affecting Schools across America.” Trade, Trade-Schools.net, 1

Aug. 2023, www.trade-schools.net/articles/issues-in-education.

President, Julia Cusick Vice, et al. “A Quality Approach to School Funding.” Center for

American Progress, 4 Oct. 2023, www.americanprogress.org/article/quality-approach-school-funding/.