Magnet Schools History

The book, Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, Resources, and Suburban Schooling, tells us about the problems that inner-city students face in schools across America. There is an apparent problem with discrimination towards black and poorer families within some suburban districts. The effect of this is a vicious cycle of limited/ scare resources of educational opportunities for students. Author, Lewis-McCoy examines a suburban area in which a “promised land” of educational opportunities and beneficial resources has failed to live up to it’s name. America’s suburbs are seeing an increase in diverse families, yet there is still a challenge of giving equal and high quality educational opportunities to them.

America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s

Even with the steps taken in the 1960s with Magnet Programs such as bussing, which would transfer children from one district to different school district for interrogation proposes, racial inequality was ever present –sustainably in the case of the intercity school districts of Seattle and St. Louis. The Magnet Programs purpose were to take intercity schools and interrogate

Attending a magnet school which based its education in the arts I never realized how drastically different my curriculum was than that of other middles schools. The difference went beyond middle schools in my district or state, but affected me closer to home—at my high school. In middle school, education more frequently came from collaborative coursework rather than ‘traditional’ lesson plans. The transition to high school was difficult because it seemed that students focused on social status and school administration focused on standardized testing scores. When looking at my education compared to course readings, I have found that despite my two schools being in the same school district and city, they each proposed different notions as to how schools should be ran and what makes education valuable.

Labaree states, that the purpose of all three has played a major role for a certain time in the history of education in the United States. Sometimes, one of these purposes supports and other times oppose each other. However, courtesy of these three, social mobility has a good chance to serve schooling’s goals, and satisfy all stakeholders as well. It has all the features and elements, which

The mission of Robert A. Cross Middle Magnet School is to educate students in a safe and active learning environment where all students will become responsible, achieving citizens. The faculty and staff of Robert A. Cross believe that educating students for responsible citizenship is necessary for preserving democracy. We believe that in a democratic society, a person must value his country and what it stands for, understand what it means to be a responsible citizen, and have the fundamental skills necessary to participate in the society. We also believe that all students are capable of learning what is needed to be productive United States citizens. We recognize that students have individual differences and unique needs which must be

Though mandatory busing ended, school districts continue to encourage the multicultural movement by providing magnet programs for families who would like their child to attend another school. The concept is the same as busing; however, participation is voluntary. Economically, the gap is narrowing, balancing our communities. Forty percent of African Americans consider themselves to be middle class, seventy five percent own their own homes, and two parent households earn just thirteen percent less than Caucasian parents (Thernstrom, 1998). There are improvements to be made as the economy continues to control and group together families within the same income bracket. Many times, this binds families to certain schools with no other options available. Statistics show that from 1993 to 2003, there was a similar outcome regarding the schools middle class families attended. Out of a study of one

The American education system is failing the generations of the future. Society neglects the children born into impoverished areas, while mainly white upper class children participate in superior educational activities. Low-income neighborhoods often produce schools with low scoring students. Therefore the government transitions these schools into impersonal factories. The phrase diversity masquerades the reality of re-segregation of schools. Many schools across the country are utilizing the phrase diversity, yet the statistics reveal that over ninety percent of the students are black or Hispanic. Creating successful environments is extremely difficult and subsequently results in serious consequences for the American education system.

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

“As the demographics of schools shift, the need for multistranded partnerships is underscored by issues of poverty, transience, an aging population, and cultural diversity ” (Cocker, 2009, p.333).

Another reason magnet schools may be so popular could be due, in part, to the different teaching styles that some of the schools have adopted. For example, University

Newburgh Free Academy, NFA, located in the center of Newburgh, New York, a small city with a crime rate four times higher than the national average, exhibits an unequal distribution of the district’s budget across their various programs. NFA houses approximately 4,000 students and holds a wide variety of classes, athletic programs, and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. However, according to the district’s “Draft Budget Report for Fiscal Year 2017,” these programs do not all receive equal funding. There appears to be a large portion of available funds going towards the athletic program, while fine arts, language, and co-curricular programs receive little to no funding. The majority of public high schools across America, especially those located in overcrowded urban communities, experience a similar inequality. By dividing funds unevenly an inequality of opportunity is created, which leaves students who wish to join certain postsecondary school programs severely underprepared. Dr. Vivian W. Ikpa of Temple University sees this inequality quite often; she claims that, “inadequate funding made them [the students] ‘resource’ disadvantaged” (Ikpa, 467). When a school’s budget is being formulated, generally the last programs to receive funding are the arts, language, and co-curricular programs. The lack of funding in these programs leaves students unprepared to handle further education and prevents them from gaining valuable life skills. Thus, unequal distribution of

Yesterday the players were joined at practice by the fifth grade students from Williams Magnet School. The student had a chance to watch practice and then they were able to get on the ice and skate with a few of the players. The field trip was a reward for everyone's cooperation during their state testing this year. The RoadRunners wish everyone at Williams Magnet School good luck with the rest of their testing!

There is one thing that a lot of public schools do very well is make them magnet schools for arts, drama and science but they never come

As I learn more about the realities of education, there was one issue that sparked my interest and passion – segregation. Though it is difficult to see first-hand, I can definitely see remnants of segregation through comparison of resources available at schools I’ve worked at. My belief that education serves as an accessible tool for social mobility led me to explore the issue of segregation with the perspective of a future educator. Over 50 years ago in the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court deemed that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. With this in mind, I was under the impression that schools were not segregated (at least to a far lesser extent). However, I was shocked to learn that segregation in schools