Essay Example on ESSA: Education Policies and Their Flaws in US

Introduction

Government policies are sets of legal rules and principles that serve as guides in decision making for the betterment of the lives of people in a particular state or country. Policies are a blueprint that runs a nation in spheres of education, health, social security, economy, and many more.

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Education Policies and Their Flaws

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

In the year 2015, President Barack Obama endorsed the act. ESSA policy calls for equity in the protection of America's students. The policy requires that every student in America gets a high standard of education to make them succeed in colleges and universities. The policy also seeks to control unexpected performance and accountability in efforts to change low-performing schools and those that are making no progress and cut down rates of graduation.

This act lays out that there should be equity in education improvement in instruction to make students succeed in their learning. This policy cannot be fulfilled since the USA schools have a challenge of resources. Technology is a challenge in schools, and this will make learning difficult because educators suggest that technology creates the potential for students to be more active and engaged in class (Hursh et al., 2003). With no adequate access to technology, students will find it harder to do assignments in class and homework tasks that require internet connectivity. Most students in the public school come from families with low income, and therefore affording laptops or smartphones is a problem. Therefore ESEA flexibility act cannot be a reality until the government provides resources for learners in public schools.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

The Department of Education in the USA calls for the state education agency to be Flexible on specific minimum requirements for Elementary and Secondary Education. The policy seeks to increase equity, Close achievement gaps, and improve instruction quality, Elementary and High School in the USA.

The mandate of every student succeeds act is to ensure that every learner gets the education and completes the system from kindergarten to college or university. This policy cannot be achieved since schools in the USA are overcrowded. In the American elementary schools, in the estimate, a class in Elementary has thirty students while in high school, they are thirty-seven on average. Such a population in a class hampers learning as students do not get individualized attention from teachers (Hursh et al., 2003). It is, therefore, impossible for every student to succeed because every learner has a different level of difficulty and needs specialized care, which is impossible when the ratio difference of a student to teacher is too high.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The legislation ensures that students who have disabilities get a free and appropriate public education, which is designed to cater to their specific needs. The act has six elements that are meant to help the students with disabilities that are individualized education programs, free and appropriate public education, appropriate evaluation, parent and teacher participation, and procedural safeguards. The elements have been put together to ensure that students that have disabilities get equal opportunities as those who have no disabilities. Individuals with Disabilities

Solutions for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Catering for the needs of students with disabilities is more challenging, given that the United States government has been unable to provide even enough necessities for the regular students. Students with disabilities need extra power and resources, such as specialized learning resources and facilities that would not make them feel intimidated. So far, the government has not been able to provide adequately for the needs of such minorities in public schools. The financial help that the government offers such students has also not been enough to facilitate their learning because such students need exceptional people to take care of them who have needs too. The government needs to go back to the drawing board and review this policy.

Social Security Policies

The social security act is meant to safeguard the well-being of the vulnerable population in America (Bonoli, 2019). The act also caters to the unemployed by providing for them unemployment benefits through grants. Also, the social security act puts into consideration the blind in society by providing benefits meant to help them live a more comfortable life. And lastly, through the social Security Act, the well-being of a child in America is catered for through child aid, which assists families that have dependent children and child welfare that give a block Grant for maternal and child care (Bonoli, 2019). Social Security is facilitated actual payroll social security benefits, federal Insurance contributions act, Medicare and Old Age and Survivors Insurance.

Social Security in America has failed in offering the services that it should, to the vulnerable in society. By the year 2010, the program already had a deficit of approximately 174 dollars in billions, while several obligations are yet to be funded. Social Security also has not been able to maintain the Promise of a maximum tax rate of 3% on employers and employees of around $3000. Social security has also not been able to provide a constant retirement age that is realistic-the age for receiving full retirement benefits used to be sixty-six (Bonoli, 2019). which later changed to seventy years. Life expectancy has gone up because of technology, and so the population comprises aged people. The government should increase their legal retirement age to seventy to help social security from over-stretching its finances because as of today ten people become eligible for retirement benefits in America daily

Solutions

Social security should be amended to provide a retirement age that is realistic according to the current lifespan expectancy.etiring at sixty-five burdens the government in maintaining someone as a resident. If the retirement age is increased to seventy years. The social security fund also has to be transparent in its operation and seek to pay retirees their benefits on time

Environmental Policies

There are several policies in place that govern the environment and its protection. Such policies include; endangered species policy, state environmental policy, and environmental terms, which aim to balance environmental protection and natural resource conservation (Kendy et al., 2017).

The safe drinking water policy aims to provide clean water to Americans. The minimum stands for the tap water have been put in place, a policy that requires operators to comply. The water systems include municipal water.

The municipal water system presents several flaws. The federal government has only been able to account for just a fraction of the water expenditure. The federal government does not engage fully in the operations of the municipal water system, which has led to poor infrastructure and management. Regionals actors seem to be overwhelmed by the responsibility, making the department inefficient and inequitable. Water rates have also skyrocketed in the recent past to an average bill in a residential rising to 48% (Kendy et al., 2017). The federal government should be fully engaged in the management of the municipal water project to ensure efficiency and accountability.

The Health Policies in America

The health policies in America mandate the provision of healthcare services by qualified professionals to Citizens without any Prejudice. The services include diagnosing, treating, and preventing both mental and physical illnesses. The National Conference of state legislatures has made laws that govern the health department in America in the provision of the mentioned services (Willison et al., 2019). However, it's good to note that some of these policies have not been working efficiently, as they should.

The cost of health care has risen tremendously and has become a constant to the Citizens of Texas and state budgets in the recent past; a visit to hospitals is minimal compared to what is being witnessed now. Healthcare insurance has become affordable for many citizens in Texas because insurance gives us, such as Medicaid and Medicare charges too high for their services (Willison et al., 2019). The government should provide subsidies so that the insurance providers can lessen the burden on their citizens of Texas.

The health system has failed in providing quality healthcare to the citizens. Even the insured citizen cannot afford the cost of Healthcare. Medicare and Medicaid should be tailored to meet the needs of the people instead of deducting someone's salary and ending up giving inferior services. Medicaid coverage in maternity is only covering for mothers up to only sixty days, while research shows that women die in the first two months after giving birth. Nursing homes also have issues where buy most homes are poorly stuffed, and complaints from the concerned are numerous, ranging from mediocre services and violations.

Possible Solutions for Health Policies

The Healthcare system has surely fallen apart, and rescue must be sought before things get more serious. The Federal Government has to intervene and find measures of straightening their Healthcare sector. Existing policies on health care such as Medicaid and Medicare insurance should be looked into, and appropriate changes made that are designed to help every individual in accessing health care services (Willison et al., 2019). The majority of the residents cannot afford insurance, and it should be reduced so that more people can access the services. The Medicaid policy on offering support for mothers in maternity for only sixty days should be looked into and extended to the first quarter when the mother has fully recovered from postmortem healthcare needs.

It is clear that social Security and health policies have so many shortcomings, and amendments are necessary. However, the primary concern is the representativeness in congress. I belong to Republican, which has a representation of 23 delegates against 36 ones who are Democrats. The probability that the bill sees the light of the day is low, and the only option left is to convince the Democrats to vote for the bills because the ideas discussed are pertinent.

The most current policy news I have read is on health. Due to the emergency of COVID-19, the government has come up with new policies to curb the spread of the pandemic The United States of America had to come up with a policy to prevent the spread of Coronavirus such policies include social distancing, which requires that people should not be gathered in groups of more than ten people, to avoid more spread of the virus. Stay Home policy also been enacted to control the spread of the Corona Virus.

I have learned a lot from my footprint's website. People have the potential to manage ecological resources if they are willing. We should give more to nature than we demand so that nature can give us even more in return. Ecological Foot Print sensitizes people about climate change and ways of reducing environmental degradation. I have learned how carbon emissions from the industries affect the food chain by competing with other resources on the planet. Through footprint, I have learned how the carbon in the atmosphere is measured within the total ecological context. On sustainable development, I have come to learn that we can be sustainable without destabilizing our planet. Through footprint biodiversity, I learned that the human population has increased consumption ratio, thus placing demands on the ecosystem that has to support not only people but animals...