The First Place I decided to check for arguments was the Nytimes' Room for Debate, however they did not have an article that would allow me to have a look at both sides of the issue, this can mean that the question has simply never been bought up, or it alternatively is not good grounds for debate, which would mean that everyone, to a certain degree, would agree that the system of education is flawed in its current state. So, as a result, I resorted to surfing Google for alternatives for our current system, it was easy to find a plethora of articles as proponents to reform, however it was nearly impossible to find articles supporting our current state of education. However, I eventually found opposing arguments by searching keywords, such as: "The education system isn't failing", which shows a vast distance between proponents and opponents.
The first article I found was This Article from CNN. The system proposed is a level based system focusing on ability rather than grades, in which students would advance from level to level as they became ready, many times students would advance level multiple times a year. The system already proved to be extremely effective, as it was implemented by a non-profit organization known as the Re-inventing Schools Coalition in the past to great results to a small struggling school district in Alaska, which jumped from basically none of the students advancing to secondary education, to an astounding 90%! This system, while still experimental, shows great promise in educating our children effectively, as it is highly flexible and individual. A school in Colorado recently adopted this system, and while the long term results have yet to show, they have already seen a massive 76% decrease in Discipline issues around the school, which the school's principle Sarah Gould states is attributable to the fact that students are challenged exactly where they need to be.
My next query was related to other countries around the world that surpassed our position in the world in terms of overall average educational progress. Finland was notable as one of the best education systems available, being in third place, but is notable for a very different approach on the education system. This article from the Smithsonian Magazine's official website. Finland's schools are very much different from ours as they seem to stress a human aspect to the learning system, as opposed to a statistical approach to the learning system. Teachers are used to doing whatever it takes to ensure each and every student is prepared for life. Starting the article was a story focused on one foreign student who was resisting any attempt to learn, and the school was eventually forced to hold him back, something almost unheard of in Finland. The child then spent the following year being personally taught by the Principle, who refused to believe it was laziness. By the end of the year, the child not only mastered the Finnish language, but grew up to open his own car repair shop and cleaning company at age 20, and happily thanked his principles diligence for saving him. However, to the Finnish Teacher and Principle, he was merely doing his job. Overall, Finland pushes a massive lead in Education worldwide, despite spending 30% less on the average student than the United States.
After setting up points on the side of educational reform proponents, I went looking article that were opponents to the idea of reform, as stated earlier, t was much harder to find these. This article, by Daniel Greenfield was from a site known as FrontPageMag.com, this site is a conservative news site, proclaiming "Inside Every Liberal is a Totalitarian Screaming to get out!", which speaks greatly of the site's obviously open minded approach to delicate matters such as the education of children, however I digress. The article claims "it’s not the schools that are failing. It’s the students." as well as "Any student who makes it through twelve grades without achieving basic math and literacy skills hasn’t been failed by the school. He has made a choice not to learn." Which not only puts all the blame of a failed education system, and a poor support system on a child. Children cannot be blamed for failing themselves, for they are products of the world they live in, and when a child is not given the attention necessary to learn to learn, then a system designed to educate them to live in the world has failed. Interestingly, the writer immediately contradicts himself by stating "More often the choice has been made for him.", however I will leave that for you to decide. Outside of that message, the article states one's own volition, and family are what brings about child success, and states 19th and 20th century prodigies, such as Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, and the Wright Brothers as examples. However, I believe that a school should also nurture each student's natural thirst for knowledge, and those prodigies are simply individuals who have found a way to satisfy their search for knowledge on their own. This article, while it supports the education system as it currently stands, does not provide any direct support for the grading system, other than linking to another article.
That article is from AmericanThinker.com, another clearly conservative site, this article attempts to justify its point that America's education isn't failing by continuing to blame the students, but adds cutting America into little race based demographics to the mix, which makes America look much more favorable, considering the Average White or Asian student generally has access to much better education than the average African American or Hispanic student. Fortunately for them, the 2009 PISA results, which they refer to extensively, doesn't include that little fact. In fact, the whole article relies on statistics, not upon the reality of the situation. In fact, they say that IQ screening immigrants would help our education, how about making better schools so the Immigrants that enter get the education that they as living sentient beings deserve?
Overall, I am unmoved by the counter arguments, while they make good points that stand on a statistical basis, they don't touch upon reality very well, they don't acknowledge the educational differences, the focus on getting good grades over learning, nor do they treat the students who suffer from our broken system with respect. I agree that a strong support system is essential for a child to become motivated to learn, but that isn't saying a school can't provide that as well. We have too few teachers, and a system that favors numbers over critical thinking. That isn't to say a better system isn't in the works, the success behind Finland's schools and the experimental school in Colorado as well as its predecessor in Alaska were successful because they custom tailored the lessons to each and every child, they advanced at their own pace, and it shows. The problem isn't laziness, its the lack of motivation to learn in a system that doesn't value learning.