The System of Education April 15 2014 Since the 1970s there has been not much progress in the desegregation of schools In fact we tend to be less likely at least in elementary schools to be in classes with people of different races and classes School district lines are drawn according to neighborhoods almost everywhere and neighborhoods are very segregated Therefore you tend to go to school where you live In 2000 almost 100 of Blacks and Hispanics went to schools that were made up all Blacks and Hispanics 50 of Whites went to schools that were almost all White Minorities are much more likely to attend schools that have high poverty levels than Whites are Even middle class Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to go to bad and poor schools than poor Whites because of where these families live Poor White families tend to live in rural areas and so are districted in with richer middle class suburban kids Middle class Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to live closer to the city and so are districted in with the poorer and more inner city kids Regardless of their own socioeconomic backgrounds Blacks and Hispanics are much more likely to go to poor schools than Whites are regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds Segregation of school populations falls along the basis of race as much as if not more than it falls along the basis of class Currently about half of all Black and Hispanic kids go to schools where 75 or more of kids qualify for free or reduced lunch programs Only about 5 of all White kids go to schools where 75 or more of kids quality for free or reduced lunch programs This shows that it is not the middle class Black and Hispanic kids themselves that qualify for the free or reduced lunch programs but that they are districted in with others who do qualify Conversely the White kids are the ones who are qualifying at their schools but they go to schools where the majority of kids do not qualify hence the low percentage Educational outcomes vary on the basis of race Funding Jonathon Kozol article Lots of challenges o In regards to the teachers poor physical conditions of the places types of people who are teachers not all of them are like this but the teachers are often those who are inexperienced straight out of school or those who are not good or who have been fired from other jobs lack of playgrounds outdoor space lack of ability to have electives like gym library art music o Now with all the emphasis on testing and students passing the tests there is even less fun in the curriculum than there already was teachers are teaching only toward the test o Shifts in how teachers are teaching and what is required of teachers are much more pronounced in poorer school districts Kids are reading pamphlets designed by the test people instead of reading real books Some teachers are timed down to the exact minute for how much time they must spend on each subject and are given scripts for what to say teach o Kinds of classes offered no extracurricular classes The poor kids were much less likely to have access to advanced AP other higher level classes these advantages help kids who do have access to the AP classes get admitted to colleges more easily gain more knowledge pass out of easy college requirement classes pay less for college be able to finish college more quickly because they began with more credits o Different dynamics in poorer schools kids have fewer opportunities feel less motivated and less able to succeed They might not apply to Ivy League schools because people are not expecting them to apply to these schools while kids in richer schools might apply even if they aren t accepted because it is not a big surprise for them to apply for a school like that Even different dynamics within schools minorities are often tracked and labeled especially as having learning disabilities much more and much more consistently than White students Minority kids especially young Black boys are often labeled as being problematic and having trouble making personalities while it is often assumed that White kids are just having situational difficulties some problems at home they are sick having a bad day etc o How does funding work why are there poorer schools and wealthier schools Aside from official funding that schools get wealthier areas are able to raise a lot more additional funds and donate more They also have access to more resources more connections etc This is particularly important in times of recession or economic distress the parents can make up the money that the schools are falling short on The vast majority of money for schools comes from local property taxes The federal government and state governments contribute only minimal funds This means that wealthy areas are simply going to generate more money If the taxes are the same everywhere properties that are worth more are going to allow more money to be raised which then benefits the children of people living in those wealthier areas Any programs that have been proposed to redistribute funds back in ways that are not local have been widely protested against People often say that equality is desirable but once they realize that their kids may lose specific concentrated resources they currently have if money is more evenly divided they are not for the redistribution anymore There is about a 25 000 per elementary school classroom difference on average across the United States between poorer and richer schools I e the richer schools have an average of 25 000 more per classroom than the poorer schools do and in areas with bigger separations between rich and poor schools the difference per classroom may be as great at 50 000 Informational e mail from Dr Tillman One of the reading questions for the Kozol article asked how the federal government sometimes actually reinforces funding inequalities between poorer and wealthier schools Some of you seemed to struggle to find an answer to this one The vast majority of funds for a school district come from local property taxes This basically ensures that communities with higher property values will be able to gather more funds for their schools than areas with lower property values In fact poorer districts often set the RATE of their taxes at a higher level than wealthier districts say 3 4 versus 2 trying to raise as much money as possible it is not that they don t value education Yet they still can t raise as much money as the wealthier districts State governments do chip in some funds to