Sunday, March 30, 2014
Public Education
I
do not believe all citizens receive the same education. In wealthy
neighborhoods schools often receive donations that are tax write offs
for citizens. Elementary and secondary schools receive a lot of their
funding from property taxes. This leads to inequality because of the
wealthier neighborhoods paying more into property taxes and thus the
poor neighborhoods with less funding. I have personally observed
classrooms in wealthy neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods. They did not
have the same resources. Also teachers often depend on parents to
donate things to the classroom, an easier task for wealthier families. Most
children’s education begins before public school with daycare or
preschools. The quality often depends on the price and daycare is
expensive. When it comes to college the playing field is even more
unfair. In wealthier neighborhoods going to college is a norm and your
parents probably have a college fund set aside. People with a higher SES
may have sent their children to prep schools or private schools and
prepped them to get into a good college. For young adults with parents
who are struggling financially your only option to go to college is
taking out loans or working full time while trying to maintain your GPA.
Often work takes priority over school when students don’t have the
opportunity of their parents helping them financially.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In my experience schools that are less wealthy not only lack the same funding for supplies but also the upkeep of the schools themselves. Having personally experienced a poorer and wealthier school growing up, there was a huge difference in how often something fell into disrepair fro the school with less funding and fixes to broken lights or mold in the ceilings were more temporary than they should have been. As mentioned with college, the same circle of "have more get more" is easily seen with the children of wealthy families. Because a family has greater wealth they can afford to put their child or children through college without the aid of student loans. For most students however, loans are necessary which only increases their debt and therefore decreases what little wealth they already had to begin with.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt is my opinion that education is the greatest tool you can give an individual. If we live in a society where any single social group's desire to be educated is marginalized, then we live in a society that will never break free from institutional racism and classism. Equality in education can probably do more socially and economically to free our society from the restraints we have put on ourselves. It is healthy to have a society that is open to sharing cultural values.
ReplyDeleteSo now what? How do we become instruments of change. It seems like an impossible task, but it is not.
I was sitting in the cafeteria on campus when an individual struck a conversation with me. At some point the individual turned the conversation to racism in America. The basic premise was that discrimination is so far diminished in America that the social responsibility for change solely falls on the shoulders of minorities. As he put it, "If blacks put more value on education they wouldn't be poor, they wouldn't be n the streets, and they wouldn't be in jails."
First off, I have to thank this class, for not just informing me of the state of racial and ethnic relations in America, but helping me to understand that frustrations and even anger about this situation can be channeled into something positive. Less than a semester ago, I would have blown this person off, and ended the conversation and moved on with my studies. Not anymore.
Now I was able to have an informed conversation, I allowed him to do most of the speaking. I realized that it did not take very much time for his opinions to become circular in their own logic. In the past I would not have been able sit with interrupting and interjecting my opinion. If knowledge is power, and if that knowledge leads to wisdom, then that wisdom can give you patience to apply said knowledge with surgical precision. Once this young man was ran out of explanations about why "black America doesn't value education", I was able to speak some truth.
I was able to share what I learned in my Race and Ethnic Relations class. Until now, I have never been able to cite studies that show African-American Ant-Intellectualism is a myth, or outline how the cycle of poverty, and educational disparity between non-whites and ethnic minorities is fueled by institutional racism and classism. I was able to speak of principals Steve Perry and James Baldwin, and the work they do, not informing their minority students the value of education, they already know this. These students are just being raised in a system that marginalizes their desire to better themselves with education, one that reinforces these attitudes. The teachers and principals in those videos are supporting their student's desire to be equally educated. They realize that if their students do value education, but they are living in a world that strongly influences them to not see their own potential. These individuals are not allowing that attitude to influence to invade their school. This is one aspect of how to breakdown the barriers that lead to equality in education.
It is amazing how many people believe that slavery ended with the Civil War, and racism ended with the election of an African-American president. I also realized that this individual's opinion is in and of itself a reflection of the effects institutional racism. He is a victim as well. His ignorance or naivety has been shaped by it. And perhaps, just perhaps a small conversation like this one can open the door to a new, healthier, informed perspective. It is my opinion, that open truthful conversations about this tough topic is the first step towards change in our community. It's not a huge leap, but it is a step in the right direction, and one step is better than none.