Education Reform: What We Can Do Better

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Unfortunately, our nation’s public education systems deprive our students of the very weapon Nelson Mandela spoke of.
All too often, students lack adequate accessibility to educational resources, and our communities are set back due to the plight caused by educational inequality.
Rates of poverty, drug addiction, domestic violence, homelessness, criminal activity and other social ills are directly and indirectly linked with one common factor: educational inequality.
With the proper access to a quality education and the guarantee of a more thorough understanding of their communities, their world and career prospects, students throughout the state and throughout the nation can become better informed individuals.
Our students are taught to understand the theories in calculus and chemistry, but leave high school and even college with little understanding on issues like taxes, financial budgeting or homeownership. Students are taught to memorize significant dates and names in American history, but they’re not taught or encouraged to thoroughly analyze and participate in their own political system.
The classes students are required to take are often outdated with old curricular materials and obsolete ideas. It is time that we take our educational system and comprehensively reform it from the ground up. We must keep what works, improve the things that need work, and rid our schools of what doesn’t.


One of the many, but most significant, issues with our education system is resource allocation. The amount of money a school receives tends to largely depend on the amount of property tax dollars its district collects. For areas like Greenwich, this works in their favor. For areas like Hartford and Bridgeport, however, it does not.
In communities that have substantially lower average property values due to crime and poverty, this form of resource allocation does not work. Impoverished communities with large student bodies require more funding, but the amount of funds they receive are not conducive to the student bodies’ educational needs.
Cities and states need to do away with the current form of education funding where property values dictate the quality of a student’s education. The value of any student’s education should not be determined primarily by the property values of the communities they live in, but by the drive and potential of that very student.
When it comes to laws regarding education, it is time we replace the ones currently in the books with more contemporary ones designed to improve our schools and the value of education for schools everywhere.


For starters, the dropout age can be raised from 16 to 18 to prevent minors from making the adult—yet most often detrimental—decision of prematurely dropping out of school. It does not make sense to give a minor the power to make such an influential decision at such an early stage in their life.
Requiring adequate career centers in every high school would greatly improve the career prospects of students who will eventually pursue careers of their own. Requiring a certain amount of volunteer, internship or apprenticeship hours would also improve students’ understanding of the communities and industries related to their professions of interest.
Hiring additional teachers and limiting class sizes would help guarantee that students are given the proper tools and attention for their educational needs. Reforming school calendars and schedules to allow for student, teacher and parent flexibility would also dramatically improve the educational experiences within our schools.
Finally, our schools need to update and better incorporate technologies—both in and out of the classroom—in order to better accommodate the needs of their students.
Education reform is a bold idea. It requires much thought, much research, and perhaps most daunting—much debate. The need for reform, however, is undeniable.


As our students are falling through the cracks of the current education system, they are falling behind in so many ways—but through no fault of their own. While education reform may seem extreme or difficult, it is in fact necessary and essential.
The time for a discussion on how to improve our education system is now.  There will inevitably be heated debates between parents, teachers, administrators, union leaders and government officials. These debates must not be avoided and reform must not be delayed.
Education reform will require drastic changes and a lot of work, but the worst thing we could do to our students is do nothing at all. Education reform must come first, and it must come now.

Please Donate Today

Martin Luther King Jr. once said "Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. "

In the bible, Proverbs 22:9 states "He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor."

Buddha once said "Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little."

Gandhi once stated "Poverty is the worst form of violence."

The great Greek poet Aesop once said "No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."

And Finally, Mother Teresa once said "At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done."

We will be judged by 'I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you took me in.'

Hungry not only for bread -- but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing -- but naked for human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks -- but homeless because of rejection." 

I've realized these past months that all too often, people become preoccupied with their own sense of identity and uplifting, all while taking for granted the uplifting of others less fortunate. I, myself, have been guilty of this and realize now that as a person and as a Christian, It's time I carry out on engaging in deeds that make me a Christian, an American, and a Man. 

 We all have our obligations to carry out; regardless of faith, citizenship or affiliation. Before all else, we are all HUMAN. Please, I ask you all to please contribute whatever little you may have to the needy. Let us evaluate who we are and carry out our inherent tasks as people. Thank you.  

It's Time, 

David.

Hopelessness in Poverty

I was speaking with a colleague the other day on the issue of poverty and what can be done to curtail the devastating effects of it. Unfortunately, he like so many different groups of people believes that there can be nothing done for those in poverty because 'they' want to be like that. Upon hearing this, I was shocked to realize that there are people out there like this but kept my composure. I asked them what measures should be taken and they went on to say "there's nothing you can do; they want to be like that." Growing up in the environment they were referring to, I can genuinely say there is nothing desirable about that type of life.

Unfortunately, I feel that there are too many people in this society who not just condone the status quo, but in fact support and embrace policies which leave certain inequalities as they exist today. This needs to change and it's up to our generation to fulfill the dreams of our ancestors and past leaders in their attempts to rid society of poverty. If we tell ourselves we can't do it; nothing productive will get done and we'll forever turn a cold shoulder to those on the streets and the families living in poverty. We'll never progress our communities if we tell ourselves we can't.

We don't need giveaway programs. We need programs that help the impoverished fend for themselves and initiatives that get them back on their feet so they can stand for themselves. Billions of dollars are spent on costs associated with poverty every year; why doesn't it make sense to allocate these funds and expenses on programs that lift these families; some born into poverty, some not. Let's stop pointing fingers. Let's stop pretending the issue doesn't exist. Most importantly, let's stop telling ourselves in our communities that there's nothing we can do about it. There are far too many families without a voice depending on those of us privileged enough to do something about it.

Our Nation's Priorities

When we look all around ourselves in this country, we see groups of people and communities that we don't always belong to. That's the beauty of diversity. When we read and hear certain opinions of different people, we sometimes feel that we can never agree with the ideas they value. When we look to our friends, we wonder why they act the way they do and say things they do. That's the one thing about our society that makes it so unique; we have groups of people from all avenues of life, all levels of education and backgrounds. We are in the struggle of finding ourselves. We know who we are as individuals, we know who we are as racial groups... but do we know who we are as a people? One might say, "We're Americans". While that might be true, the struggle in our quest for a universal identity is that we have in our minds this idea that the label 'American' means one entity; we're not one single entity and we're not one united people with one uniform set of values and principles. To some, family is the overlying number one valuable thing in their lives; to others, it might be their educations or their careers. Each of these things encompasses its own set of things to maintain and with different people holding different priorities, there is much to be debated over. A $1,000,000 dollar grant to a poor rural town is not at the first thing many people think about. Likewise, violence in the urban communities isn't something many people would initially want to address head on. These issues which affect the most isolated groups of people are the ones which aren't thoroughly discussed in all areas of the nation. We seldomly read or hear the stories about the other side's struggle. In our country, we give too much power to the phrase 'Out of sight, out of mind'. We know that which we can see and that with which we're familiar. Who you know that starved today in America? Who do you know that got evicted today? in America? Who have you talked to today that has more than enough intelligence to succeed in college but can't because they can't afford it? These are injustices to those in society. Anytime you succeed, anytime you do well, anytime you achieve an aspiration; know that there is always someone who less fortunate than yourself. What if it was you?

The Start of Something Truly Remarkable

August 30^th, 2009; the start of something truly remarkable. I came to here to Washington D.C. with my girlfriend, two parents , youngest sister, niece and nephew. We drove in my mother’s Nissan Quest and even with that size, I’m sure my family thought it was pretty crammed in the back. Regardless, we were here and after about 6 and a half hours, we finally got into the city of politics. I remember the look on my mother’s face as we drove into the city and saw the poverty. Coming from civil-war era Nicaragua, I was surprised to see the reaction on her face and I knew in her head that the poverty really made an impression on her; negative as it may have been. “David, this is worse than Nicaragua” she said to me. I just laughed and shrugged it off believing in my head that she was just exaggerating and not yet able to come to terms with the fact that this city was where I’d spend the next 4 months of my life. After seeing the poverty stretch on and on, it hit me like I ran into a brick wall; all these agents of “advocacy” and “representatives” in this city of Washington D.C., and no one here to stand for the men in the cardboard boxes or the families in the rundown buildings. This city radiates opportunity and power and yet no one seems to mind the lack of opportunity or power among the communities we saw on our way up. And I thought MY poverty was bad growing up; these people truly were the ‘have-nots’ in this country. They had NOTHING but clothes on their backs and their families by their side.

I figured that we leave Thursday night so that we get to D.C. Friday morning and have plenty of time to sleep and tour the city come Friday night. My parents weren’t major fans of the city on Friday so they opted to just stay in the hotel and watch after the girls and my nephew in the hotel pool. It was a beautiful hotel, I must say; far more illustrious than what we’re used to. The area the hotel was in wasn’t bad; it was in downtown D.C. and one or two blocks from Chinatown so there was plenty to do and see. My girlfriend Jeanelle and I got dressed to go site see. Little did I know that this night would bring me motivation I’d never experienced and inspiration I’d never known. There was something glorious about everything I saw that night; the lights, the buildings, the Potomac, the statues, the memorials, the nightlife; everything gave off an aura that I had only vaguely imagined in the past. I was like a child in a toystore; I wanted to see everything. Everything was much more beautiful than in the textbooks. Photos didn’t do them justice.

Come Saturday morning, we were up and out. My parents had realized that this part of the city wasn’t all that bad; it was actually beautiful and exemplified a side of American culture that they had never known in Danbury, Connecticut. My nephew, Isaiah was a grumpy little one that day, he didn’t want to do ANY walking and had we brought a stroller, no doubt in my mind he would’ve been in it all day. We saw the Lincoln memorial which really made an impression on my mother and I. Those words written in stone had me thinking all day and reinforced the idea of liberty. I couldn’t make out an impression from my father; he tends to keep his thoughts to himself and as great of an impression he might have attained from the Lincoln memorial; he kept it all in his head and just decided to soak it in and keep it in. My sister Sheyla, even at 13, was too young to understand the significance of political figures like Abraham Lincoln and the significance of historical events like the civil war or slavery. Even today, I’m not sure what went through her head. She has an imagination all her own. My niece Natalya on the other hand, enjoyed it and marveled at just how big the Lincoln Memorial was.

From there, we went to the Vietnam Memorial. Of all memorials I had seen on this day, none came close to how much of an impact the Vietnam Memorial made on me. I got there and as we were walking up, it hadn’t looked very large in size but as we got closer, we saw how big this was becoming and what really blew my whole family away was how we worked our way from the outside in and realized how big the wall was and how small the names were. The small sized names bothered me; not because they were small but because even at its size, it needed a large space to get all the names of the men and women who died. These weren’t just names or casualties of war; these were real people with real lives and real families that they left behind; never to live or see again. An old teacher of mine that I kept in touch with had a roommate who passed away during the Vietnam war. He told me once that ever since he passed, he felt guilty over his death. I wasn’t sure if he had his closure but I wanted to do something for him since I was in the area and visiting the memorial myself. Jeanelle told me that the park rangers give out Vietnam Memorial letter-headed papers and graphite for visitors to sketch over the names of the fallen men. I found the man’s name on the wall. Thomas Carothers. I never knew the man; I’ve never even seen a picture of him or a story about him. I just know this man, Thomas Carothers, existed and people like Mr. Scalzo truly missed him and remember him to this day. I sketched the name and gave it to Jeanelle to give to Mr. Scalzo for me.

After the Vietnam Memorial, we all walked around the city for a little while just seeing what we came across. We eventually got to the Air and Space museum. Now my child-like fascination with the city on Friday night was nothing compared to my father’s fascination and admiration for what he saw there. This wasn’t a family event for him; he wasted no time and ran off without us to see all the planes, spaceships and machinery the museum had to offer. He didn’t want to take any pictures of us but he was quick to ask us to take a picture of him with the Apollo module or a spy plane behind him. What a nerd. When I told him I found out there were flight simulators in the museum, he ran like we didn’t have 2 hours before the museum closed. I decided I’d fly and he’d control the turrets. That day, I realized I have no business even thinking I could become a pilot. I flew horrible. It was fun until my dad kept going back and forth about how he would have done better. I stood my ground and told him I’d pay for us to do it again and we’d switch places. So we did and needless to say, he did worse than me. Of course he wouldn’t admit it though, we’re talking about my father here.

The night came to an end and before I knew it, Sunday morning was here and it was time that I finally moved into my apartment. It went by fast. Too fast. I didn’t get a chance to put my thoughts together and come to the realization that this was going to be home for 4 months. Regardless, as soon as everything was put into the apartment, that was that; we said our goodbyes, good lucks, see ya soon’s, and love you’s. That moment, although I had not known it at the time, was the moment I had waited for my whole life. I’d been waiting for this my whole life. My dreams had become my reality. The American Dream is alive; maybe not alive and well, but alive nonetheless and I am living testament to that. I’ve worked so hard to get here to have this opportunity. My parents have worked endlessly to grant me opportunity and I’ve worked tirelessly to make something of myself and get my foot in the door. Now that I had done just that, I thought to myself, “Now What?” August 30^th, 2009; The start of something truly remarkable.

Rose in the Concrete

Dwelling on my years past since my childhood, I've come to a point in the road we call life where I look back and reminisce. I look at what's become of me and I acknowledge the blessings I've never known were there. What makes this so interesting for me though, is that I'm one among many who share a similar story to mine; coincidentally, you may be one of them. My parents came from an impoverished nation amidst war and poverty. They came here for better lives not just for themselves but more importantly for their children. This is in fact, what they've given my four sisters and I. I was fortunate enough to be born in a country of opportunity and education. This does not mean though, that I did not get to see poverty on a day to day basis growing up. I did not live the most comfortable lifestyle yet I cannot hate the very poverty I felt I was in; for it made me humble and modest. Too many people my age have become obsessed with tangible possessions instead of what can belong to one's soul. We live to live comfortably; not to live in excess. I myself, sometimes forget what my parents did for me; they came here for my life to be better. This is why I appreciate my education; because it alone will take me places I've never thought possible. Education is something not many of my friends have the opportunity of possessing and everyday I wish they at least had the choice of having it. A quality education has become too difficult to attain for so many people and I cannot forget that those very people are some of my friends I've grown up with. I know the perils that come with living in poverty all too well and live to seize the day each morning I awake. I live for a happy life among all things and hope you do the same as well. In one month, I'll be in Washington D.C. taking part in what is to become the most significant step in my career since my first day of college. After that, I hope to go to the U.K. next summer to study abroad. These two events are but a few I hope to partake in before I attempt to become what I've always dreamed of becoming; a U.S. Senator for those who are curious. My life has taken me down many roads of which I knew nothing of; through paths I've never known. I've had my ups and I've had my downs; as I'm sure you have as well, but if I can say one thing, it's This: that you never forget where you come from. Remember that it is your roots that are the reason you stand.

- David Javier Solis