I Don 't Believe There

It has become common today to dismiss the lack of education coming from our impoverished public schools. Jonathan Kozol an award winning social injustice writer, trying to bring to light how our school system talks to their students. In his essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal," Kozol visits many public high schools as well as public elementary schools across the country, realizing the outrageous truth about segregating in our public education system. Kozol, cross-examining children describing their feelings as being put away where no one desires your presence. Children feeling diminished for being a minority; attending a school that does not take into consideration at the least the child’s well being. Showing clear signs of segregation in the education system.

While listing to Melanie talk about how walking around the grounds of the school and how it made her feel unworthy of being able to achieve her dreams really took me by surprise. When they were writing back and forth to the students at Fieldston, I believe that the teachers purpose was to show the students that yes you are worthy and you are just as smart as these other students that do go to this $43,000/year school. The culture of these two schools had

In Lynda Barry's essay “The Sanctuary of School” the author addresses the ongoing issue of funding for public schools in America. She is trying to persuade her American audience, such as the school board, and parents, that we need to keep the public schools. Barry is the perfect person to argue the importance of public schools and art and the children who attend them because she was one of those children. She is now a famous cartoonist and author, and she thanks her public school experience for her success. Her essay was intended for the people who believe they aren't important, people who work for school boards, maybe some parents, and the United States Department of Education. In “The Sanctuary of School,” Lynda Barry uses a sense of

At Hazelwood High School, they do things differently than at my school. At Hazelwood, most of the people worry about themselves and nobody else. Most of the school doesn’t get good grades and the school does not do anything about it. One day in English class Andy walked out when they were reading Macbeth because it was too emotional for Andy to handle. His friends were concerned and told the school counselor. They said, “But… but… it seems like… like… he needs help or somethin’.” Then the counselor said, “Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you boys this, but he is getting some outside counseling… So you boys can relax and be assured that he is getting whatever help he needs”(100). At Harrisburg High School, if someone had an issue like that, the counselors and teachers would be concerned, even if the person was getting outside help. Another thing about education that is different than mine is the school. In Ronda’s English homework, she wrote, “Our school building must have been built about a million years ago, because it was brown and tall and raggedy-looking, but it fit right in with the rest of the day”(16). At my high school, we are very fortunate to have a very new building to learn inside of. At Hazelwood High, they were not fortunate enough to have a new high school be built. Culture and education are very important pieces of people’s

This demonstrates that if Sam’s school had got more funding then Sam may have received a proper education, and would have learned the intellectual skills that could help him to obtain a high paying job. Unlike many other people in richer parts of America who are able to achieve a lot in life due to their education, Sam’s lack of wealth ruins his future. Another example is one that hits closer to home- in terms of educational funding, the Illinois system is corrupt, and one of the districts that suffers most is that of Chicago Public Schools. In an interview with Ryan Young from CNN and an anonymous Chicago Public School teacher over the recent strike over budget cuts and the overall lack in school funding, the teacher states, “We care about the students. We want funding for our schools so our children can have supplies… gym, art, and PE., just like the kids in the suburbs do.” This is a direct representation of what is occurring in the Chicago Public School system today as a consequence of budget cuts and unequal funding. In general, the lack of school funding gives poorer children disadvantages when it comes to supplies that can help them to thrive. Also, budget cuts weaken the capacity of schools’ to develop the intelligence and creativity of the next generation of workers. In fact,, funding cuts lessen the ability of the schools to help prepare children better for their future, such as improving teacher

This shows that the girl’s mother is determined to get her daughter into this specific school only, however, she gets denied since they live out of the boundary. Despite the fact that she did not get her daughter to go to the school that she wanted, the mother does not give up and heads to Walker-Jones. She is given forms to fill out, except she is illiterate and cannot fill it out herself. Nonetheless, the mother doesn’t let this stop her and instead, asks a volunteer at the registration desk to help her. She says: “‘I can’t read it. I don’t know how to read or write, and I’m askin’ you to help me’” (60). This also proves that just because she is uneducated, she will still get her daughter an education, even if it means having to be admit her illiteracy in front of her daughter.

For my entire life of schooling, both my parents and I would agree that I constantly complained about the educational systems in which I was enrolled. But when I actually take the time to think about everything I have been through, I realize that I have indeed had an excellent education. My schooling was full of opportunities and experiences, all of which contributed to the person I am today; adequate education has been an indispensable facet of my being. Sadly, not everyone has had this same privilege. And now as a college student, I am becoming even more aware of this sad fact. Looking around me in such a diverse city as Chicago, I find myself being more and more grateful. When I read Jonathan Kozol's Fremont High School, this these

Kozol recalls how these people would have been vilified during the social movements of the 60s, but when he was writing this book, in the early 1990s, these attitudes seemed commonplace. Even the youth in the wealthier schools had lots of excuses to explain why they deserved better schools than kids sometimes living within a few miles.

The education system in Bayonne was also far from ideal, and Gaines shows the injustices Black children face versus their white peers. The students are forced to get down on their knees to use the benches as desks or do their work in their laps (36). The students are so incredibly disadvantaged that they do not even have desks to write on to do their work, whereas the White children presumably have a well furnished school. This clear distinction between children’s’ learning environments shows just how bad the racism in Bayonne truly was. They are merely innocent children and they are already treated differently from their white peers. Gaines describes Grant’s class to show readers the circumstances of the Black community in comparison to the White school district. Additionally, the school year, according to Grant is only,” five months, and when the children are not needed in the field” (36). Even though slavery had been abolished almost a century prior, the Black children were still deprived of a proper education due to the field work that they were forced to complete. Grant also has to attempt to ration his supplies, because the school board does not give him an adequate amount for the year and at one point tells a

In the week's reading it offered a unique perspective education of segregated school by the percentage of black and hispanic students. The arguments that can be mafe about the myth of educations and empowerment in the reading "Still Separate, Still Unequal" by Jonathan Kozol, is still being affected by funds. The author speaks about statistics present the overpopulated schools are filled with minorities. "Whether the issue is inequity alone or deepening resegregation or the labyrinthine intertwining of the two, it is well past the time for us to start the work that it will take to change this." "We do not have the things you have," Alliyah told me when she wrote to ask if I would come and visit her school in the South Bronx. "Can you help us?"

At Tom’s school, Chicago Grammar School, the Negro children were often separated from the white children, the only exception being in smaller classes where there were only five to ten students. Tom could never understand why the two types of children were separated. When he talked to them during recess he realised that they were just normal people. They may not have had the exquisite items that Tom had but they were people - people who could afford to send their children to the prestigious school of Chicago Grammar.

Kozol highlighted how against the popular belief and expectations, a trend of re-segregation has been growing inside the urban public schools in US. Kozol’s purpose of writing is more than just highlighting the issues at Fremont High school. The high school is just a small representation of the bigger apartheid. Kozol has drawn a picture of the mismanagement and the hopelessness growing among the students due to it. This becomes overwhelmingly evident when Kozol wrote about the time he was speaking with an African American girl “’Dear Mr. Kozol,’ wrote the eight-year-old, ‘we do not have the things you have. You have Clean things. We do not have. You have a clean bathroom. We do not have that. You have Parks and we do not have Parks. You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing. ‘Can you help us?’ (Kozol, 410)”. First off, it needs to be pointed out that Kozol frequently leaves out names of personal interviewers in his article, which leaves room to doubt if what he is saying is true. But giving the benefit of the doubt (considering Kozol’s credibility), the statement with the eight-year-old itself is eye opening to say the

Something I have learned about equal educational opportunities for citizens in America is that there have never been equal educational opportunities in America. Rather, in the education system, people seem to pick and choose which equality’s they wish to have. The film states that often with charter schools, there are more applications than spaces and so lottery and random selection is used to give every student applying a 'fair chance'. Looking at just that part, it does seem fair to do that because then things like favoritism, discrimination, or such do not occur when deciding which applicants will be allowed into the school. Yet, when we look at the broader picture we can see just how unfair this whole system actually is. The only way a child even has a chance of going to a charter school for a good education is if their parents are aware of how bad public schools can be, but often times most parents are not aware because they put trust in our

In the article entitled, A Tale of Two Schools: How Poor Children Are Lost to the World, by Jonathan Kozol, the writer is comparing the differences between New Trier High School, a school in Illinois that’s nestled in an affluent neighborhood against Du Sable High School, a school situated in an impoverished neighborhood that has 100% African American student in attendance. The article sadden and confirms things that myself and many others are already aware of, but has not been able to change. Schools located within the poor communities are

Public school systems need to be more sensitive to their students. Parents play the major role in determining a child’s academic outcome, but the school system needs to notice children who don’t necessarily acknowledge their gift. These children need guidance -- I believe it is the schools’ responsibility to provide it to them. I have been through a situation that makes me feel strongly about the subject. My example is an indisputable case in point.