Education Reform The New York City education system is in a state of turmoil at this point. There are numerous teachers, many students fail and most parents have lost faith in our unqualified education system. This brings us to the question of who is responsible for the problems and how we can fix our education system through the use of school reform. According to Webster's Dictionary, the definition of the word school is a place of teaching and learning (218). There is a group of people devoted to similar principles. In other words, a school is where someone goes to learn and be taught. Schools begin to fail and fail when children don't learn and teachers don't convey the proper information. There are basically three types of institutions a child can attend: public, private or Catholic, and charter. A public school is a school that is open to all children in the city without additional costs, such as tuition. A child must attend the school designated by the district. This is the traditional form of education for the vast majority of children. There are many glaring problems with the public school system. There is overcrowding in classrooms where there are often thirty to forty children in one room. This makes the ability to learn and concentrate very difficult. Not always every child receives individual attention when needed. School buildings are often dilapidated and in an advanced state of decay. Paint is peeling off walls, floors have cracks, and sometimes there are traces of lead and asbestos contaminants inside buildings. The supplies the children receive are not all in good condition. Their textbooks are very old with torn and missing pages. I remember when I was in school during my elementary and middle school years that my textbooks were mostly in poor condition. The books were barely held together by tape. Many pages were missing and the books themselves were old. Classroom conditions weren't great either. The desks were very old and in need of repair. The teacher/pupil ratio is too high and this disturbs the learning environment and makes things difficult. The lighting in the rooms wasn't very bright and sometimes we weren't even in a designated classroom. This was a different room that was transformed in… half the paper… time. Unfortunately, many states have only put these practices on paper and have not taken any action. Few states are ready and willing to impose sanctions. Many educators believe that if schools receive more encouragement, resources, support, and information, they will be able to make changes and succeed. In my opinion, if a state or school district truly wanted to improve their schools, get more children admitted, and improve the quality of their teaching staff, then they would do whatever it took to see success become their reality. I believe that states receive sufficient monetary support that they can certainly use to make big changes. All states should commit to bringing about change and implementing all appropriate reform principles. At this point New York's education system is failing. The system is full of unqualified staff, administrators and officials. Children are the ones who end up paying the price for state and local incompetence. It's time for everyone to take responsibility for their positions and make the necessary changes. School reform is the first step in ensuring the success of our children..