Growth And Diversity In Schools 1880-1960

In the “The Achievement of Desire” and “Para Teresa” Richard Rodriguez and Inez Avila describe the troubles of balancing life at home and at school. Rodriguez conveys the difficulties he had to face separating from his own culture to achieve academic success. His article portrays the cultural world and the educational world as separate institutions that cannot coexist in America. Throughout his text Rodriguez provides detailed experiences in order to explain his thought process. Inez Avila however presents her article as a letter dedicated to a school bully. In contrast to Rodriguez perspective Avila wrote her poem in English and Spanish to appeal to Mexican -American culture. She walks the reader through an argument between her and a fellow classmate as she was cornered in a bathroom. Her poem depicts how children who share the same culture discriminate within their own community. Both these articles are told from a Latino-American point of view yet they radically differ from each other.

Access to free public education was first addressed by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877. Hayes did not scrutinize based on a family’s economic standing. A child of a poor family benefitting from free stuff was not his concern, nor did he believe that the wealth of a the family should exclude a child from the program. Hayes simply believed, education was the basis for full political and economic participation, and full participation was the basis for a prosperous economy. Therefore, education should be free and available to everyone regardless of their background. Today, education is universal and free to all from kindergarten through twelfth grade. In the 1950’s, it was possible to graduate from high school and move straight into a decent-paying

Thomas Jefferson remains one of the first advocates for public education, which was later termed the Common School Movement. He recognized the inequality in education, for the wealthy stood the only ones capable of affording an education, thus the poor stayed poor and the rich stayed rich. Jefferson aspired to change the apparent injustices in the education system. He felt all children possessed the right to and education regardless of prosperity, heritage, and circumstances. Even though Jefferson remained not able to create the change he so desperately sought to make, he never stopped trying and since education stayed revolutionized, for his persistence in equality. James Conant, former president of Harvard University stated, “In short, as I view the American scene of the 1960’s, I am ready to declare without hesitation that Jefferson’s proposals have become incorporated in the pattern of our educational structure” (Mercer, 1993).

The first stage that is introduced by Allen and Turner, is cultural assimilation as they explain, “Both English language skills and formal education represent important aspects of cultural assimilation. At the same time, the learning of English and other cultural skills on the part of immigrants and their progeny leads to better jobs, resulting in higher income.” (141) These skills are pressured upon Sara’s transition into American culture. She’s instilled in her mind to archive a college degree as American standards required a higher education for a more successful lifestyle. Sara portrays this cultural assimilation when she’s found adhering to the culture of wealth and appearance to express her education through the image. Yezierska emphasizes the outcome of the achievement of the “American Dream” being an empowering moment for Sara. She asserts, “A triumphant sense of power filled me. Life was before me because my work was before me. I, Sara Smolinsky, had done what I set out to do. I was now a teacher in the public schools. And this was but my first step in the ladder of my new life. I was only at the beginning of things. The world outside was so big and vast. Now I’ll have my leisure and the quiet to go on and on, higher and higher.” (Yezierska

One of his major accomplishments he during this time was a War on Poverty. Johnson believed that the cure to poverty was education and therefore passed numerous acts providing federal aid for education. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was the first general federal-aid-to-education law in American history and gave over $1 billion to public and parochial schools for books, library supplies, and special-education courses. The Higher Education Act gave $650 million for scholarships and low-interest loans to poor college students and for funds for college libraries and research facilities. Also, through the Economic Opportunity Act Johnson started antipoverty programs such as the Job Corps, VISTA, Project Head Start, and the Community Action Program. However, these programs were designed by Johnson to be a ?hand up, not a hand out.?

Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in American History once said, “Until we get equality in education, we won’t have an equal society.” (1) Since it’s birth, our great nation has undergone positive change that shapes the world we live in today, and we have public education to thank for that. Many progressive movements began with our children and their educational rights, before branching out to the rest of America’s citizens. This can be seen throughout each century. During the 1700's, education was finally brought to the forefront of American states, creating a basic guideline of what every American should know and giving them a space to learn.

From the dawn of time, education has been the past's greatest utility in survival. Through learning, skills that have been passed down from the errors of others, communities were able to learn and grow with each other. Simple public education systems began to pop up to educate the youth and the curious, and ever since the first school systems began there has been room for improvement. The largest reforms of the educational system began at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

After entering office I was determined to follow through with the initiatives set forth by my predecessor JFK. They were trying times when I took office. Segregation seemed unsolvable, and poverty was abundant. I was determined to “build a Great Society. A society where no child will go unfed, and no youngster will go unschooled”(Johnson, 1964), I publicly announced these plans at a speech I gave at Ohio University May

modules gives many examples how strong cultural pasts lead to identity problems in a new society. Also, the module shows us that many Mexicans were not happy with the stereotype formed about their identity. In Between the Lines, we see how Mexicans in America suffer through harsh discrimination, while trying to stay close to their relatives and culture. The letters talk about how Whites did not have concerns with family values or cultural beliefs. Whites based many of their values off succeeding in the economy. Whites in general had no regard for Mexicans as people.

In the past, President Rutherford B. Hayes was the first president to address free public education in 1877 (Sanders A.23). Hayes simply believed education was the basis for full political and economic participation, and full participation was the basis for a prosperous economy. Therefore, education should be free and available to everyone regardless of their background (Sanders A.23). By the 1950’s, a family with only one breadwinner could graduate from high school and move straight into a decent-paying job with good benefits, buy a house, raise a family, and pay for their children’s education. Unfortunately, that American dream is not a possibility for most Americans today (Sanders A.23). To get to the middle class, the pathway is through a higher education; however, with the rising cost of a higher education and cost of living, it is becoming more and more

Lyndon B. Johnson swore in as the 36th president of the United States of America in 1965. He was the president with a new vision to build a “Great Society” for the American people. Johnson believed that freedom involved “the right to vote, to hold a job, to enter a public place, to go to school.” His visions were motivated, passionate, and included a tough fight on the war against poverty. One of Johnson’s new policies in his vision to “lift the poor into the social and economic mainstream. It provided Head Start”. His goal was to provide public education to disadvantaged families. Project Head Start would serve children ages four through six, allowing them to arrive at kindergarten ready to learn.

What Jessica’s discovers about her German-American immigrant ancestors is relevant to her growth as a teacher and a person, they expand her one-sided view on being white, and being a teacher to Mexican-American students. As Jessica became more comfortable with her ancestors she became to discuss them more in social aspects, “‘I was just struck by how easy it was for him to get so many acres from the government back then.” “Well it probably wasn’t easy,” she stammered. “I mean, he had to came all the way from Germany, […] “It was easier for him than it was for my people,” Vic said earnestly, unfazed by Jessica’s sudden discomfort, “without even going into a comparison of how your people and my people got across the Atlantic. You said your ancestors

To determine how we provide funding to our public schools is, very basic to the nation’s endeavors to ensure that all students gain access to excellent quality education that prepare them to obtain individual responsibilities for citizenship that will help them to succeed in the nation’s economy. It is very difficult to

Healthy relationships amongst families, communities and the government being vital to the success of the nation. Housing and educational expenses were covered by the government leaving the citizens only having to cover personal expenses. Free education provided everyone the opportunity to better themselves and with that society. Children attended school as normal but were placed into specialty schools as they grew helping them narrow down possibilities for future education. Adults who wished to return to school were given the opportunity and were paid to better their education and college age students were kept motivated by having all their expenses covered for the four year period in which they were attending a university.

One of the narratives explains how their father faced racism and mistreatment because of his lower social position, his race/ethnicity, and his limited English language proficiency. Another finding in the study saw that Mexican American parents have a view of “there are no borders for you”. The education in Mexico is limited, but in America the options are endless. Many narratives focused on escaping the working life. Parents would threaten their children by saying if they didn’t pursue an education they would end up like them. On the other hand, some parents showed resistance when it came to education because if their child had a greater education that would mean a loss of respect for the parent. Moreover, sometimes children were on their own. With parents working long hours, children had to become responsible for their education so every “A” they earned was all because of hard work. Many parents feared moving out of their set class. They had a set social status to serve people and do the jobs that no one wanted; not even a college degree can change that. These narratives show a side of the Mexican American story that people don’t really see. Parents influence us in every way through their own experiences and the life lessons they teach