Segregation v. Desegregation in our public schools

Throughout Wednesday's discussion there were so many things I wanted to say although it's hard not to offend anyone. I know we shouldn't care but at the same time we've been conditioned throughout the years to "watch what we say." The first thing I want to say is that although I find it important and beneficial for different ethnicities and races to be immersed in the same educational system together, however I believe that's unrealistic. Never in any realistic social setting are you with an Asian, a black person and a Jewish person. I'm not saying this is right but that's just how things are, and as mentioned in class I'm not sure it's just about students physically sitting next to each other in class, but learning about one another's culture and history that's important. For example in our class all the black kids sit together and all the white, which obviously shows that people are uncomfortable with one another. I mean I understand people being friends with one another but how are we supposed to get to know each other if we automatically seclude ourselves to what's comfortable? I tell my friends this when they're dealing with boys but I think it applies here; you have to put yourself in a little bit of an uncomfortable situation in order to potentially get what you want. Obviously our public school system is still very much segregated but that has something to do with where people live and who they are comfortable living with not necessarily the fact that schools and their districts are doing it on purpose.

Here's a news broadcast on the anniversary of Little Rock 9 discussing how things really haven't changed...http://youtube.com/watch?v=sxSsxwKZxCI

In relation to solutions to this problem, I find it sad that we would even need to make an amendment saying that education is a fundamental right. If it needs to be in our constitution in order for us to take it seriously and to start making reforms then I think there's an even bigger problem with our society as a whole, and this is what we truly need to be considering.

Solutions to No Child Left Behind

During class we discussed many possible solutions to the No Child Left Behind Act that we've concluded isn't really working. However, before we begin to discuss solutions we must figure out the problems we're trying to solve. I thought it was interesting the different spectrum of views regarding race, class and education inequality. Personally, I think that although class does play a huge role as an unequal resource it is unfortunately the case that race and minority ethnicities are often the ones in a lower class. I think we need to ask ourselves what the bigger picture is and, why is this?

We also, towards the end, began talking about charter schools as a possible solution to No Child Left Behind. I think that charter schools are a good way to experiment however I feel like they could also create their own problems. What if a school's method of teaching really isn't working? It's not fair to those students that attended these schools, and what does it mean for their future? I do, however, believe that student, parent and teacher involvement is crucial to the success of a student's education. As I've said numerous times I think education goes behind the classroom, and is even more important at home. I was interested to find how how many charter schools there are in Albany where I live, because to be honest I had never heard of any. I found a KIPP school, the kind we had discussed towards the end of class. I'm curious to find out whether my parents have ever heard of them and why we never discussed the possibility of me going to one. Was is because the information wasn't out there? Was is because I wasn't having problems in my school? Or could it be because going to a public school in the suburban area where I live was the "normal" thing to do? I wonder if other people in our class ever had that discussion with their parents, was a charter school ever an option?

I understand why there haven't been many political reforms regarding education; it's incredibly difficult to think of solutions, however this doesn't mean that we can't keep trying.

http://www.newyorkcharters.org/proKIPPTechValley.htm

The Power in Education

Many things that were brought up in class were relative to power. First off, we discussed the idea of educators choosing what they want us to know. Although sad, but true, the educational system decides for us what is important to know and understand. They (educators, administrators) choose our textbooks, supplement materials, and homework assignments all reinforcing the same concepts and ideas. For example, in class I was shocked to hear about the real reason behind affirmative action, as I believe were many of my classmates. This just goes to show how things are kept from us to reinforce certain ways of thinking. This idea relates to something I thought a lot about in class, "money is power", although this concept seems obvious when it comes to our discussion about unequal education and resources it seems even more prominent. Whoever has the money has the power to decide curriculum, the policies, the resources and probably more. This is just another example of our capitalist society working at its "best."

Another power relationship in education is between the students and teacher. Teachers must gain respect from their students in order to effectively teach the class. Personally I believe that teachers should be "judged" based on their style of teaching, not necessarily on experience nor credentials. What I mean by this is how well the teachers engage and make the students comfortable in their learning environment. Teachers could have gone to the most prestigious school and still come out horrible teachers based on their personality and teaching methods. Throughout this class I have thought of one of my favorite movies of all time, Freedom Writers; although its the exception it shows how amazing some teachers are and the determination and passion they have for helping others can truly change the lives of the students. Here is the trailer from the movie http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809280899/video/973710/20061013/150/973710-700-wmv-s.29179774-173810,973710-100-wmv-s.29179467-173810,973710-1000-wmv-s.29179642-173810,973710-300-wmv-s.29179553-173810,973710-56.6-wmv-s.29179465-173810 .

I was shocked to hear that some teachers change the answers/scores of some students' tests. Although it seems they have the power to do this undetected, do they think they are really helping the students? If anything, they're only making the system more unequal and putting the students at risk for academic failure later on. I know a girl whose parents were told she wouldn't get into SOM based on her grades and SAT scores. Miraculously after her parents discussed with the School of Management that they both worked for the SUNY system, she got in. It's all about networking and it's all about power.

The roots of our unequal educational system comes down to a few things; money, our attitudes and our unwillingness to change and open ourselves to new ideas. It's even apparent in our class that on a smaller scale these are the things keeping our unequal educational system right where it is.