This country is currently focused primarily on the issues of health reform and economic reform, but aren’t we forgetting one? During President Obama’s campaign for the presidency, he promised change in education, too.

And though many say the health and economic issues are more important, education should not be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of politics. It is still early in Obama’s four-year term, so I am not here to say that he has failed to keep his promises, but the education issue does need more light shone on it.

During a time when the economy is in bad shape, we tend to opt for quick fixes or more standard attempts at correcting the problems, such as adding more jobs and stimulus packages. But, it is not an issue that can be fixed fast, and these solutions need to be thought in terms of the future.

The future of America is based on future generations, and the way they are shaped and molded as children, and even into adulthood, will have an impact on the economy. Great education is a long-term investment in the nation that will help the economy grow to be even stronger than before.

Education reform, reform to improve the nation’s education system from kindergarten through college, will not only create a smarter nation but will solve so many problems that we are facing today. These people will be able to stimulate the economy, continue finding cures for diseases, etc.

The education system we currently have is not completely broken, but programs like these need constant maintenance to grow along with the nation so that we aren’t experiencing the same things years down the road. I saw on the news the other day that 58 schools in Arkansas did not meet education performance requirements. That must be corrected.

The Bush Administration had a good attempt at fixing problems with the school systems with the No Child Left Behind Act. It encourages schools to help all students, not just students who are doing well.

It also provides funding to schools as incentives and measures success through standardized tests.

But, many students freak out with these tests and do poorly even though they do know the content that they are expected to know. Students only learn the bare minimum that they need to perform well on the test.

Also, standardized tests encourage schools to only teach what will be on the test and emphasize that content. But, they don’t always go into great detail on these topics if it won’t be necessary. The other problem with this is that many subjects are neglected far more than they should be. Who needs physical education when it isn’t even on the test?

If this subject in particular is ignored, it will have a bad effect on health because it will encourage more obesity in a nation that is already having an increasing problem in that area.

According to the Obama-Biden plan for education (created while Obama was trying to get elected), they “will focus federal funding on the most effective programs with a proven record of success.” They want to keep successful charter schools and close down underperforming ones, but they should work on improving them, not just give up on certain schools.

Closing down schools will create a larger student to teacher ratio, which is moving backwards from what the nation is getting better at: creating a smaller amount of students per classroom, which enhances the quality of education.

The United States used to rank first in the world in the number of people with a college/postsecondary degree, but now we are seventh. To fix this, Obama plans to better prepare high school students and increase the graduation rate, which sounds like a great idea.

One thing that can accomplish this is getting all schools technologically enhanced with computers. Not all schools have these resources, so federal funding may need to come into play, but if all schools had technology, students would have access to a lot more information than they do now, which would help them with their studies.

Another thing that needs to be fixed is the financial aid process for student loans. Colleges and universities are increasingly more expensive each year, and getting financial aid is a complicated process.

On the FAFSA, the expected family contribution can be a lot of money, but that does not mean they have that money to spend on college, which ultimately leaves the student with less money.