Since time immemorial, Americans have believed that education is very important and taken it seriously at every level, ensuring that the best is imparted to all citizens. Currently, there is a general feeling that American students should lead the world in science and mathematics for the country to have prospects of an economically stable future. As a result, development of engineering and science is an urgent priority for education stakeholders in the United States and it forms a major part of the future education goals for the country. In his recent speech to students, president Obama reiterated that what they make in education will determine the future of the country. Most of the future goals for the United States education are largely developed from the national education goals. They include children starting school when they are ready to learn, increase of high school graduation rate to 90 percent, students leaving grades 4, 8, and 12 upon demonstration of competency, literate adults, drug free schools and partnership between schools and parents (National Education Goals, 2000). All these goals were purposed to be achieved by 2000 but most of them have not been achieved yet and so they widely remain the important education goals to focus on for the future.
In the future, the percentage of those graduating with science and engineering will most likely increase from the current low levels being experienced in United States Universities. The high school graduation rate will also show appreciable improvement, taking into consideration the current efforts being undertaken by the government to foster healthy learning at this level of education. This will then ensure that enough students join university to peruse the much needed fields of science and engineering, hence contribute to high percentages of graduation. The teaching profession will also be advanced for these goals to be realized. In order to inspire and motivate, those in the profession will be rewarded well for every valuable work achieved. Educational institutions will be well structured, rebuilt and robust in resources for students.
Teachers are entrusted with the noble task of imparting education to students who naturally look up to them for fundamental learning needs. To achieve this in entirety, it is prudent to conduct their roles responsibly by striking a balance between the moral standards and character and their freedom of expression. The exact balance between these two falls at the point where common logic is needed to discern how far freedom of expression can be enjoyed without undermining morals and character in a learning environment. Teachers are mentors for students and it is necessary that they take care not to display the wrong signals to students because this can shape their characters negatively. Whilst administration will make every effort to ensure that teachers are accorded every chance to express themselves freely on any issue of concern, it is also imperative that this balance is maintained at all times. By doing so, the relationship between the administration and the teachers will stand out mature in all aspects.
Understanding is crucial from the part of teachers when expressing themselves as they need to respect and use the channels of communication that the institution upholds. Often, instances may arise that will rightly compel teachers to go out of the normal and perhaps express themselves in ways that may go beyond the ordinary freedom. However, this can be effectively controlled if teachers take time to carefully analyze every situation to determine the pros and cons of their expression. Freedom of expression is definitely a fundamental right for everyone including teachers but it is also true that when stretched out of limits, it can become poison; capable of disrupting the effective running of a learning environment in addition to initiating friction among members of staff and administration. It is wise to consider the moral outcome of expression and implication on character. In striking this balance, they will preserve integrity, reliability and best standards of practice.
Reference
National Education Goals (2000). The National Education Goals. Web.