Urban Public Schools

In his article, “Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s Educational Apartheid”, Jonathan Kozol points out, whether we are aware or not, how American public schools are segregated. Schools that were segregated twenty-five to thirty years ago are still segregated, and schools that had been integrated are now re-segregating. The achievement gap between black and white students, after narrowing for a few decades, started to widen once again in the early 1990s when federal courts got rid of the mandates of the Brown decision and schools were no longer required to integrate.

In the mid 1800s, the question of whether slavery was ethical or not was a particularly contentious matter. Slaves struggled to withstand the harsh treatments from their master’s, along with getting an education, until 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment formally abolished slavery. Although slavery was no longer tolerated, the racial bigotry did not end. Fast forward to the 1950s, and racial inequality is still prevalent in society. Segregation existed in almost every aspect of life ranging from miniscule topics such as where one can sit on the bus, to more serious topics such as quality of education one child receives. This discrimination was fought through protests in the civil rights movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s. As an American high school student in a country still plagued with racial discrimination today, it is imperative to remember the true value of a quality education. While James Baldwin’s “A Talk to Teachers” and Frederick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write” both emphasize the need for racial equality in education, Baldwin’s forceful and angry tone ultimately make his speech the more rhetorically effective of the two.

Systematic racism within education Institutions, such as the lack of adequate funding as well as subtle discrimination, continues to be the root of the problem that plagues this nation. Even though segregation was abolished in 1964, the lingering effects that remain are significant and cannot be passively mended. Although it is tempting to think that this prejudice is caused by a select few and not the many, it is clear that this problem holds more depth. Recent studies conducted by the National Education Studies (NEA) have proven that even in school’s African American students are often times targeted and punished at a significantly higher rate when compared to their white peers. The study states “Black students make up almost 40 percent of all school expulsions [in the] nation, and more than two thirds of students referred to police from schools are either black or Hispanic” (Blacks: Education Issues). This study conducted by the Department of Education, cabinet-level department of the United States

Since last spring, Philadelphia school district leaders have been sounding the alarm about this year’s fiscal budget. Even after months of discussions and headlines, schools have opened with fewer resources than last year. On March 28th the School Reform Commission approved a lump sum budget which showed a need for an additional $220 million in revenue in order to provide schools with same resources as the “wholly insufficient” 2013-14 school year (McCorry). There will be many inadequate funding impacts on the quality of the education. Classroom resources would be stripped to untenable levels. The district would reduce as much as $2.2 million funding to the districts’ multiple pathways to graduation program which affects estimated 300 students. Another $1.5 million could be reduced from the elimination of preparation and professional development time for teachers at the district’s high needs promise academies. The district’s building maintenance budget could have reduction in amount of $9.6 million. Schools will be cleaned less frequently as a result. Building maintenance will also be curtailed as a result. District’s school police budget could also have reduction in amount of $2.4 million. School police officer vacancies will be unfilled, leaving an additional 27 elementary schools to share an officer.

This chapter elaborates on how racism has a negative impact on African American education, in which has been happening for many decades and is currently taking place. Furthermore, it speaks about segregation and how it currently exists in different ways. Additionally, it speaks on how segregation not only exist in one school, but it likewise exists across the school districts. It speaks on how segregation in these schools has a negative impact on students’ academic success and future success.

For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that

Much of America’s past is a controversial subject that many Americans would like to remain an untold history. Americans like to believe that damaging events like slavery and state-sponsored oppression took place lifetimes ago, and that we have proudly moved on together as a nation. However, the belief that these events are exclusively in the past and that we are a new, more open-minded society is seeing history through a white racial lens. It is easy for a white in the United States to say that the past should be left in the past. Yet, for minority racial groups, specifically African Americans, the past still has staggering effects on their people today. One formal system where white Americans greatly exceed African Americans is in the quality of education. Both in the past and now, whites have enjoyed a much higher education standard than African Americans. Whites seem to have greater funding, more dedicated teachers, higher qualities of materials, better infrastructure, and much more. This issue must be better addressed. With the current system, the United States is losing the potential opportunity for its African American citizens to excel. My hope is that you will discover through the information I provide that our education system still is unequal. Mrs. DeVos, you can use your power to help African Americans through funding, fighting discrimination, and collecting unbiased, truthful data.

Throughout the history of America issues around race have brought great debate and augments. Being a nation birthed from ideals of freedom and undeniable human rights, America has failed in being truthful to its founding. The treatment of African-American is an atrocity that stains the history of our nation’s past. Steps have been made to heal the injustice, but they are just steps. In this essay, I will be discussing school desegregation focusing on the landmark and controversial Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education and the effect is had on the nation and even the world. Many people ignore the fact school segregation has not been fixed. The Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education is just something people learn in their social studies class. Most think this case was the end of the story and schools were desegregated and everything was happily ever after, but this is sadly not the reality. The reality is Brown has failed us. The effects can be seen in the schools of today in many American cities but in this essay, I will use the case of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to illustrate the massive shortcomings of this ruling today.

The schools’ curriculum tends to omit the value and richness of the heritage of African Americans’ culture and traditions at all times. Education is power, information is valuable, but it is very unfortunate that African Americans have been indoctrinated or falsely program to create a mentality of meritocracy in comparison to other

Similar to his claim, students who live in low income areas struggle to receive a high quality education. According to Benjamin L. Page, a professor of political science at Northwestern University, “Although public education is one of the triumphs of American democracy, the segregation of schools along lines of social class and race has led to inferior education for poor students,” (paragraph 1). This evidence explains how a student’s address and financial situation determines the quality of education that they receive, a very unfair reality of the american public school system. School systems used to be segregated by race because the laws in the united states made it nearly impossible for black students to acquire a higher education. Now, the laws have changed on paper, but in reality students in urban areas are still facing the same unjust situation as black slaves were during frederick douglass’ time.

Oklahoma as of today is ranked 49th nationally in per-pupil expenditures and ranked 48th in teacher pay (Klein 2). Putting Oklahoma as one of the worst states to be educated in the United States. “Oklahoma is consistently ranked near the bottom for education funding and teacher pay” (“Investing In Education Is Key For Growth And Job Creation” 3). When there are state cuts that need to be made, the departments of education are one of the first that usually tend to suffer. Since the 2008 economic crisis, Oklahoma has continued to cut the budget for education; even though the economy has since then gotten better (Perry). Budget cuts in education affect all parts of the education process for the students. “Some school districts have ordered teacher layoffs and shorter sessions” (“Oklahoma Makes the Poor Poorer” par 4).Schools are now struggling to keep their heads above water. Each year from the budget cutting, schools have had to lay off teachers, cut entire programs, and have limited resources used to educate the students. Even the teachers’ retirement system is suffering, being one of the top poorly funded pension programs nationally (Ash par 3). Seeing as that the schools have to cut down classes and programs, administration has had no other choice than to increase class size, overwhelming teachers tremendously. “Oklahoma has 1,500 fewer classroom teachers and 40,000 more students since 2008-2009” (“Investing In Education Is Key For Growth

Words are extremely powerful. In America today, we have the First Amendment that protects our freedom of speech but, just because you are able to say something doesn 't mean that you should. The majority of people have heard the saying, “think twice before you speak.” This saying is important because you never know when your words will offend someone even if you had no intentions to do so. Two simple words have created a controversy in public schools all over America. These words are, “Merry Christmas.” Many of us might not even think twice about saying these words to others during the holiday season but, it has been a debate in public schools on whether it is right or wrong because it promotes a specific religion and negates other religions.

Budget cuts in schools cause turmoil and stress among the students and faculty. Drastic changes in the budgets have caused schools to negatively impact the people around them. With the lack of funding, schools are facing difficult decisions on what to do to stay within their budget. Supervision is facing much scrutiny on how to handle the lack of funding in their school districts. A solution needs to be made to improve the distribution of funding to our schools in order to keep them operating and thriving for our children to obtain their education. Budget cuts in schools have shown negative effects on employee positions, supplies, extracurricular activities.

In today’s economic environment even the wealthiest states and districts are having to cut funding for education, while districts which were already teetering on the edge are now in an even worse position. In some schools children have to face not having enough books, paper for copies, severe overcrowding,

In addition, insufficient funding of schools along with quality teachers that are retiring are some of the problems we encounter in the education system. In some parts of the United States, there is a lack of adequate access to materials for reading and writing due to budget constraints. In Allen D. Kanner’s article, “Today’s Class Brought to You By…” he mentioned that with the baby boomers retiring, and a high turnover among new teachers, who are asked to teach subjects they are not properly trained for, are causing difficult classroom situations (280). Similarly, Governor Jerry Brown’s statement last January 11 pointed out that K-12 education has ‘borne the brunt’ of the state’s budget cuts with more than $18 billion in cuts over the last three years. This resulted in larger class sizes, programs are cut, and over 30,000 educators laid off. These teachers are very valuable in our society because they provide our youth with the knowledge and social experiences that they will use to better their future and the future of the entire world. As a student, I have suffered the consequences of triple digit fee increases and the lack of available classes offered. The high cost of education has put the burden not only on the students, and many of their parents, but educators, as