High Schools in North America
Posted on 21. Nov, 2011 by Brian R. in High School
The high school in the USA is part of North America’s single tiered primary and secondary education system. A student enters Kindergarten at approximately 5 years of age, continues on to elementary school (grades 1 – 6), junior high school (grades 7 – 8 ) and finally starts high school at around age 14 (grades 9 – 12). In the different states, the ages and grade levels for the different levels can vary slightly. Students in high school are called freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors according to their current grade level – the same as they will be called when attending a 4-year college or university.
Choice of classes
High school does not have a “one fits all” curriculum. Each student chooses his or her classes out of the subjects offered at her or his particular school. The offered subjects can range from vocational studies like home economics or car mechanic classes all the way up to college level science classes. To receive a certificate of completion – the high school diploma – at the end of the four years of attendance, a student must show a certain amount of credits earned, partially from attending compulsory classes and partially from the individually chosen subjects. According to American ideology, each child born and living in the United States is supposed to be given the same chances for success and prospering in life. Unfortunately, nothing can be further from the truth – particularly when it comes to the area of education.
Taxes for education
High school, as well as the whole public education system, is funded to a big part out of property taxes paid by home owners and business owners in each individual school district. The taxes are figured by the value of the homes and businesses. A school located in a rural or poor inner city area therefore is receiving a lot less financial support than a school situated in an upper-class, well-to-do area. Less funding limits the opportunities for the students: A student in a well-funded school district can expect a wide variety of offered classes and plenty of extra-curricular activities, while a student in a poor district might be offered only the bare minimum on subjects. The funding also affects the quality of teaching: teachers with the best teaching credentials often apply to school districts which are able to pay better wages. Even available course materials are subject to financial funding (or lack thereof).
An alternative: private schools
Some students never even attend a regular high school, but alternative high schools or private high schools. As the education offered in most private (expensive) schools is of very high quality, some alternative schools (and some public high schools) are barely able even to teach the minimally required classes. As a consequence, a student receiving the high school diploma might already have earned enough college credits to cut a year of college – or otherwise might barely be able to read and write.
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