In the Duval County Public school systems  in Jacksonville , Florida, I do not believe that the education standards are held high enough for the students. At some schools, the standards are higher than others causing some students to succeed and others to fail. If the school board realizes that the students need more from the administrators, faculty, and staff, then maybe improvements may occur at some point and time. In a typical county I would expect that one of the missions would be to provide a high quality education along with being committed to the success of the students in every way. Education in the Duval County public school system is not preparing students for working life and neither is it preparing them for higher education.

One reason why the students are struggling in advancing their education is because their test scores on the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) are so low. The FCAT is a state required test that measures student achievement of selected benchmarks in math, reading, science, and writing. The test is also designed to permit comparisons between the performance of Florida students and the performance of students throughout the country (www.dreamsbeginhere.org). All public school students are required to take the FCAT test up until the eleventh grade. It is mandatory to pass the test before you can graduate from any public school. If the student fails to pass the test he or she will receive a certificate of completion. A certificate of completion is a certificate that says that the student completed high school, but did not pass the FCAT. Because of the poor FCAT scores, many students from Duval County are unable to go to college to further their education.

There are many reasons why the students do not succeed, but one reason sticks out because it comes from my own personal experience. I do not think that I was properly prepared to take the test when I was going to school in Duval County . The teachers seemed concerned, but I could tell they were just teaching to earn a paycheck rather than teaching because they want the students to learn; and that is wrong. When I took the test in the ninth grade I did not have any confidence that I would pass the test, even though it did not count until I became a sophomore. That is what happens to numerous students in Duval County . The School Board has tried to implement plans to boost FCAT scores, but they do not seem to work. They have tried after school programs, extra tutorial sections, and even Saturday school that help the students in reading and math. I don’t think this plan has worked effectively because the scores for most of the schools are not where they should be. Some years, some schools do poorly and the next year they make a passing grade, then it is like a cycle over and over again. A big problem that Duval County has is they think just because the students do well on the test that they’re actually learning something .However, passing the FCAT is just one piece of the puzzle. 

Teachers in the school system are a big part of the student’s success. The teachers are supposed to be people who guide, mentor, and educate, but in some instances they are not. Some teachers that work in some of the inner city schools have low standards for the students. The reason why the teachers have such low standards is because they teach in the inner city. They think, since they teach in a less wealthy area, the students are not interested in learning or are not able to learn. I do not think that is true at all. Not all students can be put in one category, just like all teachers are not the same either. If the teachers had a choice, most of them would not want to teach the inner city kids because of all the problems that they face. If they had a job offer in the suburbs they would take it because it is going to pay them more money, they are going to have less crime, and in their minds they are going to have better students that are willing to lean and pay attention. In my short period at a Duval school, some teachers had low ethical standards. Teachers talked to the students in an unprofessional way, leaving the student feeling like they had to defend themselves in order to avoid embarrassment. I also knew of a teacher who got into a verbal altercation with a teacher, which then turned into a fight. When an event like that happens that is when you know the teachers don’t have control over the students and that is a huge problem. 

The teachers play a big role in order for the students to succeed, but the students have an important role also. While I was going to school in Jacksonville, the teachers faced many problems with many students. For example, some students that were attending my high school were not in their appropriate grade, causing them to fall behind and feel like an outcast. The students who were behind would disrupt the class, which would put more stress on the teacher because they would have to worry about the disruption and spent more time disciplining rowdy students and less time actually teaching. They would have to take class time to write a referral, which hinders everyone else’s ability to learn the material. Students also thought it was cool to skip class. They did not think that anyone cared about them, so they felt like they should not be around others who did want to learn. When I used to ask some of my friends why they skipped they just would say that class was boring, or they did not like their teacher. I believe the students that are in the Duval school systems have come accustomed to settling for less.  It is in some of the student’s culture to fail because that is what is expected from them.

In areas where the public schools are located, there are many issues that affect why the students might be struggling in school. Students find it hard to do well in school when they are living in neighborhoods that are below poverty. Living in poverty is associated with a lot crime in the areas. It is so easy for the same students that go through the doors of the school to be a part of crimes that happen in the same area. For example, one of my friends from the ninth grade was just sentenced to life for murder. I know he was not a criminal, but it was the type of environment that he was around that lead him down the wrong path. Admittedly, students need to take responsibility for their own actions, but when so many people follow the same path, one has to question whether it is the individual who has failed, or if the system has failed the individual. Students that have single- parent families are probably the hardest to deal with. In most of the single family homes, the father is missing. For a young man growing up in Jacksonville it is essential for the father to be a part of his life because there are only so many things a mother can tell her son. I think it is best if the father is involved and around. 

Facilities also play a key part in the student’s success. When a student is placed in a comfortable environment that they like, I think they perform better than if they are in a run down classroom. That is one of the problems in Jacksonville because the school board always talks about how they do not have the funds for certain things. The textbooks that are in the schools are older versions. When I attended school in Duval County I did not like my textbooks. They were old and everyone always complained about the books because everyone knew that something could be done to improve the situation.

In general, my experience in Duval County was not a good one and I wasn’t in a stable learning environment.  If I had remained there, I probably wouldn’t be at a top level university today.  I may not even be in college at all. Fortunately, my sophomore year, I went to high school at Nease, Just outside of Jacksonville.  I felt much more confident about everything. I went to class happy because their facilities were better, textbooks were brand new, and the teachers wanted you to learn and succeed.  Rather than developing the habit and culture of failure in Duval County , I moved to Nease in St. Johns country where I was encouraged to learn and succeed.  Not only was I encouraged to succeed, but I was expected to succeed by the teachers.  Because of this, I rose to meet that challenge, and as a result, I was able to graduate from high school and attend college.

There are many reasons why my experiences at Nease High School and Jackson High School were so different.  The Duval County schools perform poorly on the FCAT, which in itself is a large problem because students who fail can’t go on to college.  However, the bigger problem is that teachers now spend their time teaching to the test rather than just teaching students what they need to succeed at the next level.  In addition to the FCAT, there are problems with the teachers, the facilities, and even the students.  Some of these problems could probably be solved, however until the attitudes change, no progress can be made.  The students’ attitudes need to change, the parents’ attitudes need to change, but most importantly, the attitudes of the educators need to change.  From the policy makers on the school board, down to the teachers in the classroom: everyone’s attitudes need to change.