FWF was founded in 1997 and it’s main mission is to positively impact communities by decreasing high school dropout rates. They work on the belief that every child can learn if provided with engaging material, encouragement and support.
“1 out of 3 students who start public education do not complete high school. Every 9 seconds a student drops out of school in the US” (www.freedomwritersfoundation.org).
Here are their main objectives:
- Increase involvement of students and teachers.
- Boost teachers motivation and confidence to avoid them changing professions.
- Encourage acceptance and embracing of diversity among students.
The popular opinion is that “at risk” problem kids can’t learn until problems with society are fixed (poverty, gang violence, broken families,..) àFWF promotes that these problems can be fixed over time by making an effort to educate those kids so they can break the cycle for themselves.
Their main effort goes into training teachers and to “encourages the use of innovative techniques, a teacher support network, and connections between teachers and local businesses and community leaders”.
“It’s time to give students the opportunity to reach their full potential and aspire to higher education. It’s time to remind them that they can deeply impact their communities and the world”.
I think that their approach is a good one which the government should pick up and further develop. There are many more aspects of the educational system that need improvement but changing the attitude of students and teachers is an important step into the right direction.
I like this, Sarah.
…. money is power…
As I read your article I remembered one of the main problems we discussed it in class in regards to education.
Most teachers in public schools are not obligated to do better…they are not given the motivation to do better. Frustration occurs easily… As a result, they transmit their frustration to their kids and the…unfortunately all these repercussions happen due to the lack money….the lack power…
Education is like a business; whichever is better financed has the most chances of obtaining better employees since it can provide its employees with higher paying salaries and better benefits.
If we compare a small-growing restaurant to a major- chain restaurant, the better financed has better chances obtaining the best.
Certainly a good employee could work in the small business but he/she will eventually lose his/her motivation and will find a better job…another job that has better paying salary, better benefits , and/or a place where he/she knows could grow in career-wise.
This is the same cycle happening with our public education system. Even though we (taxpayers) subsidize public education, they are controlled by the government, and are virtually unable to go bankrupt, which can be a negative things since it doesn’t give them the motivation to provide with better education. Thus, the head of the schools are not In contrast, private institutions are financed by only the parents of the student who are attending. Thus, they must make sure their kids are getting the best “product” as well as best “service.” They must motivate their teachers since these reflect on the reputation of the school. They must educate kids but also make them feel happy and safe. And just like advertisement, one must make sure not only that the customer comes back but also that him/her brings new customers too….since in a private school without a minimum amount of students paying there wouldn’t be a school.
Also, I agree with you. It’s a cycle that must be broken. It’s illogical to have such disparities in a land where equality is so important. Public education should be improved …but not so much that it would compete with the private schools…because these would go bankrupt….And lose money.