While thinking about what I should write for my final blog post, a story came on the news about pre-k in the Shelby County school system. Not to my surprise, the pre-k option for the school system did not get approved because people did not vote for it. For one, there was a low voter turn out rate. Only forty percent of registered voters went to the polls to vote. Secondly, out of that forty percent that did vote, they overwhelming voted no. I questioned why would people deny the children of the city the opportunity to get a jump start on their education and I came up with a few logical answers to these questions.

The first thing I could think about was who might have been apart of that forty percent who voted. Now I am not positive, but I assume that the people who voted not to have pre-k added in the school system were a part of the upper middle and upper class economic group. I say this because people who have money do not need to send their children to city funded pre-k programs. These people are able to send their children to private institutions or hire tutors to educate their children; therefore, they do not need a pre-k system in order to educate their children. This is a big issue in the South. Memphis in particular does not value a child’s education. Instead of providing a quality education to all children, the city of Memphis expects the parent to insure that their child is properly educated. TO a certain degree, I do believe it is the parents responsibility to make sure their child is receiving an education, but that only means making sure their child attends school and completes any homework while at home. The rest of the responsibility lies in the school system and they are not doing a very good job.

Another reason I believe pre-k was not voted for is because some people view it as a day care for their kids. In the south I always hear a lot of parents saying that they can’t wait till their child goes to school so they can have a break. This is a mindset that numerous parents have in the south. Instead of viewing school as a place their child can go to better themselves, they instead view it as somewhere they can send their child to get some type of relief for a few hours a day.  If parents do not step up and take a stand for their child’s education then who will?

The quality of education in the south is far inferior than the education children receive in the north. As a whole, the south tends to have a me first attitude and does not care about the education opportunities for the children. It is important to remember that children truly are our future and without them we will be lost. They are the future doctors, attorneys, and teachers so if we do not educate them properly where does that leave the south as a whole?