Chase Harrison: The State of US Secondary Education from a Student’s Perspective

The US secondary education system is in a daunting period of overhaul, as America continues to fall in international education rankings. To combat this decline, the US federal government has used programs like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top to bolster failing schools and produce accountability for teachers. Concurrently, the highly controversial Common Core State Standards are being phased into classrooms, bringing new standardized tests in their wake. On top of all this, there are major pushes to increase STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs in schools. Local school districts, teachers, and students are struggling to comply with these programs in the face of shrinking budgets. Millburn Board of Education member Chase Harrison, who is the youngest elected official in New Jersey history and a recent high school graduate, will examine the state of US secondary education while presenting his experiences trying to help students adjust to these onerous reforms.
Chase Harrison currently serves on the Millburn Board of Education, a position he won last November. When elected, Chase was just 18, making him the youngest public elected official in New Jersey history. Chase has been on FOX Business, Eyewitness News, and in countless newspaper articles to discuss his election and education issues. Chase is also a champion debater and remains one of a handful of students to have appeared in the National Final Round multiple times. He is currently a freshman at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, where he is studying International Relations.