Children In America's Schools Analysis

While segregation is said the have been abolished, we can still see its effects through “second-generation discrimination” (Nieto, 2010). Nieto describes this as unequal access to learning through practices such as inflexible tracking and differentiated curriculum in different classroom and schools. When I first heard this term, it made me think about how neighborhood develop. In the cities I have traveled to I see how different areas of a town can lead to similar cultures and races forming together in specific areas. I feel this ties directly into the previous topic of funding. Every major city I have lived in had the affluent neighborhood and, on the flip side, the poor section of town. Since areas have different income levels, they will contribute to the school districts in different ways. This situation becomes exacerbated over the years as people select where to live with their families and the gap becomes wider and wider. As an Army recruiter, while not

“Hartford, Conn.- This is one of the wealthiest states in the union. But thousands of children here attend schools that are amongst the worst in the country.” (Samuels,1) The article focuses on the state of Connecticut but talks about the funding public schools get throughout the country on a federal level. Schools get equal amount of federal funding, but it doesn’t make a difference when local funding is a gap between cities. In the article, the author argues that due to economic differences between cities schools are not being equally funded, affecting the schools. She does this by informing the reader where the city funds come from, and how high poverty schools spend less on students than low poverty schools. Finally the author also includes

Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol explains the inequalities of school systems in different poor neighborhoods. Kozol was originally a teacher in a public school in Boston. This school didn’t have very many resources and was unable to keep teachers for very long. After pursuing other interests, Kozol took the time from 1988-1990 to meet with children and teachers in several different neighborhoods to better understand issues relating to the inequality and segregation in the school systems. Kozol writes from his own perspective as he visits six different cities and the poorest schools in those cities. These cities consist of East St. Louis in Illinois, the South Side of Chicago in Illinois, New York City, Camden in New Jersey, Washington

In chapter 5, Reforming America’s Schools, I learned many things that affect me as an educator. An important fact that interests me was that there are four goals that schools should follow. The first one is academic, including a broad array of knowledge and intellectual skills. The second one is vocational, aimed at readiness for the world of work and economic responsibilities. The third one is social and civic, including skills and behavior for participating in a complex democratic society. The fourth one is personal, including the development of individual talent and self-expression. This will affect me as an educator so that I can follow and do my best to complete these goals. Now I am aware of what should be done in a classroom.

Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools is an intense expose of unjust conditions in educating America’s children. Today’s society of living conditions, poverty, income, desegregation and political issues have forced inadequate education to many children across the country. Kozol discusses major reasons for discrepancies in schools: disparities of property taxes, racism and the conflict between state and local control. Kozol traveled to public schools researching conditions and the level of education in each school. He spoke with teachers, students, principals, superintendents and government officials to portray a clear picture of the

In this detailed and shocking book, Jonathan Kozol describes the horrific and unjust conditions in which many children in today’s society are forced to get their education. Kozol discusses three major reasons for the discrepancies in America’s schools today: disparities of property taxes, racism, and the conflict between state and local control. The first of these reasons is that of the differences of available property tax revenues. Kozol discusses the inconsistencies in property tax revenues and the problem that the poorer districts aren’t getting the same opportunities for education as the more affluent neighborhoods. He says the reason for this is that the

These practices help maintain the status quo, helping low-income families remain poor. Moreover, it requires these low-income families to depend on government assistance, such as low-income housing and welfare. The reliance on assistance programs groups the poorest people in the same housing projects and communities, overwhelming schools with low-income students. Not only do these real estate practices concentrate the poorest in an area together, they also drive the often whiter, more affluent families out. The majority of poor feel they have no opportunity to transcend class restrictions, and the property taxes that fund our schools do not alleviate their stress. Further, homogeneous collections of poor means that school populations are rarely as diverse as we believe.

The world we live in tends to put filters on what we see, it has always been that way. We will never know the whole story to our society and what is really going on. That is why we have to think for ourselves and not give in with what one person says or thinks. Therefore we need to stand for what we want, our beliefs, and our rights. In Kandice Sumner’s Ted Talk “How America’s Public Schools Keep Kids In Poverty” (November 2016) she argues that kids of color don’t get the same education or resources needed like the white kids do; that it’s not an equal system. Therefore her students don’t learn well. I agree with her completely because in order to have a good education money is needed for the students resources; money and education

While reading The State of America's Children, the short stories stood out to me the most. By reading about some of what people have to go through, I was able to develop a deeper understanding of how poverty impacts children and their families. The experiences discussed throughout the article, such as the event on page 7 stirred up some emotions about the topic.

Most people believe that students do better in well-funded schools and that public education should provide a level playing field for children. Nearly half of the funding for public schools in the United States, however, is provided through local taxes, generating large differences in funding between wealthy and impoverished communities (National Center for Education Statistics, 2000a). Efforts to reduce these disparities have provoked controversy and resistance. Public school funding the United States comes from federal, state, and local sources, but because nearly half of those funds come from local property taxes, the system generates large funding differences between wealthy and impoverished communities. Such differences exist among states, among school districts within each state, and even among schools within specific districts.

With the many diverse characteristics of the Unites States, perhaps the most troubling is the rising gap in the distribution of wealth. As the wealth gap in the United States rises exponentially, the gap in the quality of public schooling rises with it. For a country that prides itself in prestigious outlets of education, the system of public schooling seems to be miserably failing. Public education, a system that some fight to destroy while others fight to preserve, is perhaps the only source of academic opportunity for many individuals living in this country. The fact that someone can live in a certain area and receive a higher quality of public education than someone else living in a different area in the same country—even in the same state—is a problem that should not trouble a ‘progressive’ democratic society. Unfortunately, areas of lower socioeconomic status receive much less funding than areas of higher socioeconomic status, where property taxes account for 45% of funding in public school districts. Naturally, the impoverished residents of poor neighborhoods pay a harsh price in this situation, sending their children to an underfunded school with little to no resources, where sometimes teachers must supply the classroom from their own pocket. As Rogerson and Fernandez note, “a system that allows the accidents of geography and birth to determine the quality of education received by an individual is inimical to the idea of equal opportunity in the marketplace”

As we all know, education is the most important thing in life. A person without education is worth nothing! It is the way that build the human to be what he is. Nowadays, American culture is being spread all over the world. As American culture is growing worldwide. It is affecting schooling and students. For example, lately in my home country Kuwait our government is offering students scholarships to the United states, United Kingdom and other countries to get their bachelor and master degree with supporting them financially. Basically they are encouraging the students to get A’s and good grades by giving them the opportunity to move and study abroad which is for some people is like a dream come true. Nevertheless, people prefer to study at

Anon, I didn't realize that Maine towns like Bangor, Skowhegan, Bingham, and Augusta, was just another name of a town and the memory of a house that would be soon ripped away from us like a hurricane hitting all at once. Seemingly, not typical for moms to go away, neither know who dad was, however moving around as often as I did seemed normal. While I was getting older it didn't feel right anymore. These events in my life made it difficult for me to learn and read like the other students. Falling behind slowly, my paternal grandparents saw this and removed me from the living situation. Thankfully I received the help I needed correspondingly, placed in "title 1" where I was working with a teacher individually on reading, writing and math. To

Lastly, as stated in lecture and Huck’s Raft, as a result of conflicts with Russia, the Cold War, and Sputnik, schools began to raise standards of science, mathematics, and foreign-language instruction. The United States felt as though they were falling behind their competitor nations and that education needed to be taken more seriously in order to regain standing as a force in the world. Schools around the country were given funding to improve these subjects, however, my grandmother saw no changes. She had little recollection of any knowledge of anxiety over Russia, which was a highly-stressed topic in this course.

Children of illegal parents are entitled to a public education. This is the land of the free and where democracy resides. Where opportunity is abundant and a class of people should not be bullied or shown racism. Children have every right to education regardless of their parent’s status. By children being educated they will flourish and become responsible adults. As they become adults they will not rely on the government for existence. They will be able to support themselves and make positive contributions to society as well as the economy.