After the Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954 segregation in schools was suppose to be unconstitutional and nationally not allowed, but i would have to say it has not. Due to the fact I have seen segregation in schools based on economical status first hand. As i kid i moved a lot, lived in different types of income and always saw this difference. When i went to Vandegrift high school where most people are considered high class and a few middle-class families.It seemed to me as if the regular classes were almost as hard as my AP classes I would have to study everyday after school in order to maintain an A,B average. My senior year of school i moved and transferred to Anderson High this was a culture shock to me because it was, to me, a medium and low class school. The students were also held to much lower standards based on the fact they assumed students couldn't achieve most things if held to higher standards. I didn't study much at all and had all A's. Differences like this disappoint me because Anderson is suppose to be one of the better public schools in AISD and there were so many profound differences.
In Valerie Strauss article How, after 60 years, Brown v. Board of Education succeeded — and didn’t. she says "Schools for black children had enormous resource shortages in 1954. Inequalities still exist in some places, although they are much smaller. But resource equality itself is insufficient; disadvantaged students require much greater resources than middle-class white students to prepare for success in school." This is true our schools recorcess seem more and more to be given to the schools that have higher income families. Unfortunately it is the lower income families that need them the most. Many of the poor income students don't have the same education going into kindergarten because they couldn't affored a pre-k or there guardians don't give them the same type of learning before they enter schools as the higher income families give to their children; so when starting school they also have to start playing catch-up. There is also an issue with the quality of teachers in lower-income schools vs higher-income schools. Teachers are held to a lower standard because they are given lower standards when it comes to requirements their students have to reach. This is only making the problem worse they should have great quality teachers like the schools with more money because the kids that need to be helped the most are the ones that are behind.
To fix this i believe we should put a national system into place where all schools rich or poor get the same quality of learning, the same funding, and the same resources and we should have residential integration be more widely enforced so that not only white rich kids can go to a certain school but so that everyone from every class share the same school and education. If we start there we will help the future of our society by bringing the kids up not holding them back.
I personally have seen this division first hand as well, when I used to substitute as a bilingual teacher at Lake Travis Independent School District. Since LTISD is such a huge school and covers many neighborhoods each neighboorhood has its own schools, the lower class neighborhoods and the upper class neighborhoods which have different standards towards their students. Looking at the differences at school agendas from the low and high income it was apparent to me that the higher income neighborhoods had higher standards for their students performance, than the low income neighborhoods. For example, one of the high income schools had first grade students learning about SAT words, more after schools activities, and high tech electronics; where in the low income neighborhood school first grade students didn’t have this type of resources. I agree with the author, “It is true our schools resources seem more and more to be given to the schools with higher income families,” than with the low income families who also need this type of recourses to be successful in life.
ReplyDeleteThe article is well written and it targets the importance of education segregation in our communities. I agree with the ending paragraph, “We should put a national system into place where all schools rich and poor get the same quality of learning,” it is a fundamental tool for children of today to be successful in their future.
I really appreciated what Skye had to offer in her blog, Skye's Government Blog, about desegregating schools. Like Skye I moved around quite a bit throughout my K-12 education and I came across huge differences at each of the schools I attended and even dropped out of high school because of it. I even attended private schools for a spell and found it drastically different from the public schools I later had to attend. It wasn't hard to cope until I had to change high schools. I came from Copperas Cove high school where I was a whiz in my AP classes, but when I moved to Austin the AP classes were unforgiving and education standards were not so lenient.
ReplyDeleteHer blog subject creates no bounds in her audience. I feel that anyone can see differences in the school systems even in the same district. I really would have loved to hear a little more in the differences between private and home schooling compared to public schooling as well. She was very thorough with her presentation of facts and solutions. Her personal experience really resonated with me and drew me into the subject. Skye's message was very clear and to the point and an important subject.
I completely agree with you. I've been in the same boat as you. I went from a low income to a high income school and saw drastic differences in the education system. I can't say I was treated differently despite the fact I was not as "wealthy" as some of other students at that school. But I can say is that it isn't fair that low income schools and high income schools aren't getting the same education. Our education systems needs to realize that low income students can achieve the SAME standards a high income student can as long as they are both equally provided with quality teaching.
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