Dear Ms. Sippy, I have been jumping back and fourth between two topics for my inquiry project.

I originally proposed, How do extra curricular activities affect academic success? The second question that interested me was How does money affect the education system. When we did our Murray Cards activity in class I realized that my proposal about money and the education system trumped my original proposal. The reason being is that the money aspect has such a larger umbrella that I could search beneath. The reason that moneys influence on the education system interests me is because I attended private, public, and charter education systems. Many people have this stigma that private schools provide a better education, but is this a valid statement? Do private schools have better teachers because of the money? Or so public schools because teachers are more likely not persuaded by the money? Which teachers have more passion? And does money play any role in this attitude? Do Ivy League colleges have statistics showing more public or private school kids feeding in? Are public systems more or less productive because of the strict guidelines, due to state funding, rather than public? All of these pose questions about the efficiency of the education system based upon their funding. Another aspect of money on the education system could be the affects of the constantly increasing college prices. Are the pricey liberal arts colleges worth the money? Is the individualization proven to be more affective? And on what type of people? Are people choosing to go to public and community college because of the inclined liberal arts (private) prices? One of the articles we have read so far that pertains to my proposal in In the Basement of the Ivory Tower by Professor X. The reason this has some relevance for

my proposal is because he talks about how he works at both a community college and a small private college. Through out the article he talks about the different type of people that attend these different education systems. These comparisons could come in useful when I am analyzing the different attitudes and settings in college. Another article we read this semester that I could use is On The Uses of a Liberal Education by Mark Edmundson. The reason that I would include this in my inquiry project is because in the article he talks how Colleges dont have admissions offices anymore, they have marketing departments(Edmundson, 41). Colleges have swayed the education system to fit a more consumers happy education. Edmundson talks in detail about how the education system has been changed by money. He talks about how the education system feels an obligation to please the buyers (students) because they are paying for the education. A couple primary research techniques I might use for my inquiry project would be interviewing people who come strictly from a private or public background education. I will then also interview people who have attended both, as I did. I will ask them questions about their readiness for college and also about the teaching styles they received. I also plan on possibly getting a wider span of knowledge by taking a survey too. I have a lot of possible directions to go with this inquiry proposal. I hope to keep posing questions and taking new angles with this inquiry proposal.

Sincerely, Bryanna Sierra