The general building of Daniel E. Morgan was much like what I expected upon entering based off of both prior knowledge and the Goldstein article read in class. Students are required to go through a metal detector daily, an officer is always on call, the SES is very low, and the majority of the population is African American. My perception of Urban Schooling however, changed within the classroom. Upon this trip, I expected the classroom experience to be much similar to the third grade classroom that I am currently in at Northwestern, only with a different population of students. My insight was quickly altered. In the first classroom I observed I witnessed a few students playing games on the carpet square, some completing a learning activity on the computer, and others focusing on spelling at a circular table with their teacher. The teacher of the room had a strong accent, which made the word “busy” sound like “boo-zee”. She was screaming at the kids when they spelled the word incorrectly, which seemed to be due to the fact that the word they were hearing the incorrect pronunciation. Instead of explaining to the group of students that the word was being spelled incorrectly, she continued yelling “that’s wrong, fix it”, over and over again. Over time, these students became frustrated and shut down. At this point the teacher walked around the classroom and checked in on the other groups of students, rather than assisting her group at the table, almost as if she had given up on
In the article “Fremont high school”, Jonathan Kozol describes how the inability to provide the needed funding and address the necessities of minority children is preventing students from functioning properly at school. He talks to Meriya, a student who expresses her disgust on the unequal consideration given to urban and suburban schools. She and her classmates undergo physical and personal embarrassments. Kozol states that the average ninth grade student reads at fourth or fifth grade level while a third read at third grade level or below. Although academic problems are the main factor for low grades, students deal with other factors every day. For example, School bathrooms are unsanitary, air condition does not work, classrooms have limited
In the writing Fremont High School by Jonathan Kozol he discusses the reality of urban schools and how they are unable to obtain the proper education. At Fremont High School children are not always able to eat during their lunch period, the proper education needed for college is not obtained, the school reflects institutional discrimination, and the building is overcrowded limiting course offerings for children.
The schools we are at, are not necessarily inner-city schools, but they have their pitfalls. It is easy to relate to what Michie says in his book regarding classroom management and dealing with the rise of a multicultural classroom. It is exactly what we discuss
Kozol doesn’t focus too much on the lifestyle or issues that take place in New York City because he claims that people have a general idea of what New York City consists of. Instead, he immediately discusses issues with the public school system in this city. Kozol visits a Public School 261, which is located next to a funeral home. This school is overpopulated, with the capacity being 900 students and their actual population of students being 1,300. The building itself has no windows, which Kozol claims makes the atmosphere uncomfortable and isolated. There are many issues with the building itself, such as the heating and cooling system. However, there are also issues with faculty being understaffed and students being over-populated. Kozol states that each student only gets 10 minutes a year with the one guidance counselor at this school. This limits student’s opportunities when it comes to furthering their education, finding a career, or even caring about their school. Students aren’t going to care about going to school if they know their school won’t notice if they are
In Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol documents the devastating inequalities in American schools, focusing on public education’s “savage inequalities” between affluent districts and poor districts. From 1988 till 1990, Kozol visited schools in over thirty neighborhoods, including East St. Louis, the Bronx, Chicago, Harlem, Jersey City, and San Antonio. Kozol describes horrifying conditions in these schools. He spends a chapter on each area, and provides a description of the city and a historical basis for the impoverished state of its school. These schools, usually in high crime areas, lack the most basic needs. Kozol creates a scene of rooms without heat, few supplies or text, labs with no
In his essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s Educational Apartheid,” Jonathan Kozol brings our attention to the apparent growing trend of racial segregation within America’s urban and inner-city schools (309-310). Kozol provides several supporting factors to his claim stemming from his research and observations of different school environments, its teachers and students, and personal conversations with those teachers and students.
However, Wacquant brings the term “inner city” to light, breaking down its meaning: “black and poor.” Living in Chicago gives one an exemplary example of the term “inner city” meaning “poor, black ghettos.” The references to “inner city” schools being synonymous with “poor quality” and “mostly African American” are damaging to urban terminology and creating a predetermined perspective of those who call the “inner city” home. The “hypersegregation” of the city of Chicago is a topic within itself, but the institution of segregation is, without question, existent here. In addition, “inner city” is becoming a label which implies unavoidable incarceration.
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
Samuel Adams was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a well-known American patriot, which was a leader of the resistance to British policy before the American Revolution, throughout the colonies. Later, he became an active in Boston political circles. Consequently, in 1765, he was elected to the legislative body of Massachusetts, where he assumed leadership of the movement in Massachusetts that advocated independence from Great Britain. In 1767, measures were passed by the British Parliament, which was called the Townshend Acts. The first measure demanded for the suspension of the New York Assembly, thus penalizing it for not complying with a law. Then the second measure, which was called the Revenue Act, imposed
Pedro Noguera, a phenomenal urban sociologist and a professor at New York University confronts the problems which exist in our nation’s education system in his book, City Schools and the American Dream: Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education. Noguera describes what he views to be the main problems facing urban education and suggests strategies for improvement. From years of experience as a teacher and school board member, he reflects on what he believes to be the real problems. Noguera blames the school’s failures on students, parents, and teachers which leads to blame local government officials or policymakers. Noguera states in City Schools and the American Dream, “The central argument of this book is that until there is a genuine commitment to address the social context of schooling — to confront the urban condition — it will be impossible to bring about significant and sustainable improvements in urban public schools” (pg.6). Noguera believes that we must address the central problem to make any type of solutions for improvement.
When people talk about J.P. Morgan, they often refer to one man. The J.P. Morgan dynasty was in fact a combined effort of three generations of Morgans. In 1838, American businessman George Peabody opened the London merchant banking firm that would establish the roots of the House of Morgan. In 1854, Junius S. Morgan became the partner of George Peabody and eventually took over the firm in 1864, renaming it J.S. Morgan & Co. At the age of twenty four, J. Pierpont Morgan inherited his father’s business, renamed the business to J.P. Morgan & Co., and made a point to consolidate the firm’s American and European interests. Under Pierpont’s authority, J.P. Morgan
Epstein, K. K. (2006). A different view of urban schools: Civil rights, critical race theory,
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works established him as one of the most unique authors of the 19th century. With works such as The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne not only entertained his audience, he made them look at their own life and compare it to 17th century Puritan New England. He also brought readers to the realization of how harsh and difficult the period of American History was. Hawthorne’s unique style of writing and his ability to probe deep into the human conscience made him one of Early America’s most greatly admired authors.
When Mr. Clark originally taught at Eastside High School, the culture seemed very competitive and full of high standards. The students seemed very eager to learn and at a pretty high level for their age. Twenty years later, the culture flips dramatically. The school quickly goes from pristine to a graffiti-infested playground. The teachers are the prey and the students (mainly the ‘hoodlums’) pretty much do as they please. Education is a small goal for any of the students, and the students that do want to do well fear those “hoodlums.” Mr. Clark identifies this immediately when returning to Eastside High. During his first assembly, Mr. Clark let the entire school know that he was the HNIC. He gathered up all the trouble makers and sent them home, expelling them from school. Most were drug dealers, 5th year students, or drug abusers that were dulling the spark of the other students.
Most inner city schools are not challenging their students and not allowing them to be creative. Yet, challenging students is their normal practice in the better school. On the other hand, all inner city schools should give their students with the same amount of education as private schools in order to better their education. There are different methods of teaching between these schools, especially when it comes to economics and geography. “Scholars in political economy and the sociology of knowledge have recently argued that public schools in complex industrial societies like our own make available different types of educational experience and curriculum knowledge to students in different social classes” (Anyon, 1980). Even though years after Brown versus Board of Education, where the Supreme Court declared segregation to be unconstitutional, Caucasian, African and Hispanic Americans continue to learn in different worlds. As long as each race has low incomes, there will always be unequal education.