Traditional Public Schools

“When we can predict how well students will do in school by looking at their zip code, we know we have a serious systemic problem” (Gloria Ladson-Billings 20). When we are able to forecast how a child will perform by where the child resides, then how can we say that every child is receiving quality education. The unsuccessful educational system infused into the United States is affecting the majority of minorities. In the United States students due to their race and social class, suffer from underfunded public schools, inexperienced teachers, and housing segregation, which in turn inhibit their opportunity to succeed through education. These difficulties plaque students from the very beginning of their public school experience and follow them throughout their academic life. There are a few solutions to these issues but they have to be implemented and enforced with a slow integration.

When it comes time for high school students to enroll in classes, many of them decide against taking an Advanced Placement class as a result of false assumptions. Why do false assumptions about AP courses exist when the concept was to help students further their education? While it is true that many students take advantage of these courses, the idea of taking an AP course originated as a beneficial route for students. Arguments that were previously stated in articles can easily be rebutted by analyzing the benefits of taking an Advanced Placement course. High school students may benefit by taking AP courses by developing college-level skills, saving money and time, and impressing college admission officers.

A study shows that race severely impacts the classes students are allocated to. The study compares White, Black and Latino students and in all the results provided, White students are far more likely than the others to be allocated a a class with a higher advantage- including teacher skills and resources. Clear results show in studies that race does determine membership to the most disadvantaged classes. Black students are more likely than White students to be assigned classes with more disadvantages than to classes with higher advantages. Latino students were also more likely than White students to be assigned to disadvantaged classes. The

In fear of the deteriorating value of education materials to support the appropriate grade levels, white families flee the public school system to magnet or private school for higher enrichment. Meanwhile, suburban legislators and Governor Thompson agree that “we can’t keep throwing money into a black hole” (Kozol, 1988, p. 53). Ultimately, the education at public schools were thrown aside at the cost of enriching the lives of students in affluent schools. Within the two districts I researched, Dallas ISD and Highland Park ISD, I found that the gathered median income from Highland Park is four times that of Dallas ISD. Because of this, Dallas ISD students are forced to rely on the limited sources of educational materials which are reflected by the substantially different median income compared to Highland ISD. Additionally, racial divide amongst the two ISD’s is astonishing. In Dallas ISD’s only 5.1% of the student body is identified as white but Highland Park is 85.8%. Meanwhile, the other ethnicities for the two school districts have the percentages swapped. Having Highland ISD’s black, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, or Pacific ethnicities just below the 15% margin and Dallas ISD’s non-white ethnicities soaring above 94%, the clear distinction of racial inequality among these two districts are evident. Comparing these percentages aligns to Kozol’s evaluation of white overpopulation in affluent schools within different districts such as Highland ISD.

In Miami-Dade County, most public schools reflect a school named American Senior High, where the composition is 28 percent Black, 65 percent Hispanic, and a small percentage of White non-Hispanics (McGrory). She adds that the public school population reflects the results of repeated waves of immigration. Based on these figures, one can understand the rationale behind demographers declaring South Florida schools a sign of the nation’s future.

The at-risk population is growing at a far more rapid rate than the rest of the U.S. population. The actual number of at-risk students varies depending on what proxies we use as indicators. One growth estimate is based on the increase in the size of the U.S. minority population. From 1970 to 1980, the U.S. public school population from the preprimary level to the 12th grade declined from 46 million to 41 million, and during that same period the minority student enrollment increased from 9.5 million to 11 million. In the subsequent 2 decades, the minority proportion of public school enrollment has increased even more, with schools in central city areas experiencing the most

The child achievement gap has been an important issue for the United States school system. According to the NEA, child achievement gaps are, “differences in academic performance between students of groups with different backgrounds”. Now with the topic of charter schools and the belief that charter schools are more likely to accept students who are easier to teach and suspend students who are a nuisance to teach, the reason why achievement gaps exists has just gotten broader. Many critics, such as Marcus A. Winters, claims that charter schools are proving that, “education reform can work with even the hardest-to educate students: students with disabilities and students learning English are more likely to remain in charters than in traditional

Applying this reactionary philosophy of organizational change to post-secondary public school systems is the exact jumpstart that this environment truly needs. Indeed, this particular approach is especially applicable to post-secondary public school systems because it places a strong focus on the change aspect of organizational change, taking steps to improve with every failure. This is useful because this environment is one of "live and learn." That is, post-secondary public school systems oftentimes rely on management theories that must be tweaked and changed as weaknesses or flaws emerge in them. On the other hand, this particular organizational change theory would essentially anticipate these failures, and pre-construct varying concepts and theories around these failures, essentially preparing for them before they even occur (Weick & Quinn, 1999).

School assignment by socioeconomic status is not without its problems. When students are assigned to schools dependent upon the location and value of their neighborhood, it may not always be accurate. Some families rent homes, live in apartments, have two or more families within the home, or may even be homeless. Creating schools with students of different economic status creates an environment of the “haves” and “have nots.” In Milwaukee, seventy percent of students were from low-income households, making economic integration difficult in that school district (Bartels and Donato, 2009). In this situation, creating schools of economic diversity would be almost impossible. Some students, due to their location of residence, spend much more time being transported to their school by bus, causing

Charter schools enroll larger proportions of minority and low‐income students and smaller proportions of White students than traditional district public schools statewide: African American students make up 33% of the students in Texas’ open‐enrollment charter schools compared to 14% in Texas public schools, overall. Hispanic students make up 48% of the students enrolled in open‐enrollment charter schools, compared to the state average of 46%. Open‐enrollment charter schools have a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students (70%) than the state average (56%), a lower percentage of students classified as limited‐English proficient (14%) than the state average (16%), and a lower percentage of students served in special education (10%) than the state average (11%).

There clearly is a problem right now in American schools. The gap in educational outcomes between students of different races and ethnicities is fairly substantial. Although there could be numerous explanations of why this inconsistency exists, I have chosen to focus on one issue stemming from an economic obstacle.

There are many challenges in the American education system. Not all American students are learning the same, and many are not having the opportunity to go to an accredited school. Urban schools are at the head of these challenges.7.1 million students are enrolled at an urban school across the United States. Hispanics make up 39%, African American 31%, White 19%, and other 9%; with 68% of those students needing free and reduced lunches (Council of the Great City Schools). The challenges include, but are not limited to: being over populated, race, ethnicity and structural challenges. The students attending these schools are not only having to subsist with the school issues, but they have separate challenges of their own to deal with; students are in poverty, from single family homes and have to deal with violence outside of the school. While not all urban schools are struggling, a majority of the schools is lacking resources, funding and fraught with high turn over’s with expert teachers.

America was founded on the premise of equal opportunities for all. Despite this aspiration, American children coming from various racial, cultural, and ethnic groups experience educational disparity. According to the American Psychological Foundation (2012), these educational disparities are reflected among ethnic and racial groups in a child’s ability to get adequate health care and formative early childhood services. Additionally, students from minority groups have lower test scores on high-stakes tests, a higher likelihood of repeating a grade, and an increased rate of student drop-outs. (p.5). Many of the students who choose to attend Agora Cyber Charter school have experienced some or all of the disparities above. As a result, the

At the school level table2 shows, inner city and rural schools offer more free lunch than suburban schools do. Suburban schools consist of higher rate of white students than inner city schools. Also, authors suggest future research to focus on the proportion of available funds for educational expenditure. They mention

Traditional and alternative high schools are just two of the many ways a student can earn a high school diploma. Both options are public and usually consist of the same requirements for graduation. An alternative high school is defined by dictionary.com as “A school with an educational setting designed to accommodate educational, behavioral, and/or medical needs of children and adolescents that cannot be adequately addressed in a traditional school environment.” When a student is choosing a high school there are many factors they might consider; one should first create their own ideals for a high school experience before choosing. While traditional and alternative high schools have some similarities, differences are more evident based on three main categories: education style, student populace, and possible opportunities.