Dear Next President, 

Education is, without a doubt, one of the most important topics in our country today. It is responsible for setting our students on a course of success for the rest of their lives. When this system is not functioning properly, its repercussions can be detrimental to our entire country. Our country used to be a leader in education, however we no longer can claim this title. 

According to a New York Times study, students in the United States typically score 25% less in math and 40% less in reading than students in the leading countries of Finland, Canada, and South Korea. This should be a top priority for our leaders today, however, it seems to get lost in bad bureaucracy. 

Our country should start by fixing the problems in the classroom. Problems that include failed teaching methods such as standard memorization of material students will likely never need to use after college. The standard classroom form of taking notes, memorization those notes, then being tested on them does indeed help students get a good score, but many students don't learn that material. An effective method for student learning includes interactive activities that students enjoy doing. If a student is active they are more likely to learn the material more thoroughly than just root memorization. 

I have seen the affects of changing the classroom style first hand in one of my classes. Instead of sitting in class everyday and taking notes, we take notes from videos made by our teacher and do the homework in class where we can seek immediate help on a topic from our teacher if needed. My grade in this particular class went up three letter grades in one year and I credit that to the changed style of the classroom. 

As you can see education is a critical issue in our country today and it paramount to the future success of our country. If changes are not made soon I fear that our country will continue to fall farther and farther behind the rest of the world in education. 

Sincerely, 

Christopher