As a teacher, especially as a teacher of minority children, I just wanted to comment on your last paragraph.
First, part of me wholeheartedly agrees with you. Money is a big part of the problem, and NCLB only makes it worse, by further rewarding schools that are "working" and punishing schools that are "not working". The schools that are given a pass are generally filled with white kids who have educated and privileged parents who can give their kids a solid educational background before they even start school, and have the resources to give their children tutors or enrichment classes or other things to help them succeed. Ones that are failing, such as the ones I've always worked at, in general are filled with minority children, whose parents are often under educated, work twice as many hours as the other kid's parents, and do not have the resources to give their children extra help should they need it. If the money was spread out more evenly, and the poorer students given the same textbooks, a newer school that they are proud to go to, where they have room to breathe and aren't crammed in at twice capacity, library books they actually want to read and not ones their grandparents found boring, and a million other things, I think we'd see some improvement.
However, and I may be blasted for saying this but I've spent the last 10 years teaching poor and mostly minority children, and this is what I believe: Any progress we may see by having more evenly spread aroun financial support for education would be limited until the African-American and Latino communities as a whole begin to value education, and especially higher education. In the Bronx I taught mostly Black children, with about 30% Latino kids mixed in. Here in New Brunswick, it's the opposite ratio. The attitude, not as much from the children as their parents, is that what we do in school is useless, and that going to college is impossible and pointless anyway. And that is more of an issue from where us teachers stand. Books and new schools only go so far. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You can give a kid a new book, but you can't make him read it. But that is a deeper and harder to solve issue. I know I have no clue what to do about it, but it is something that is not talked about because no one wants to sound racist by suggesting Black and Latino parents don't care about their kids education. Which isn't really what I'm saying, but I'm sure that's how it comes across. Instead, we focus on the easier to solve (but still no one is doing it) financial solution. Throwing money at the problem isn't going to solve it. It will help, sure, and should be done, but it's not the core of the problem, and Robin Hooding won't end the cycle of poverty.
This may not be as eloquent or as well organized as I'd hope for, but it's late and I'm tired. I hope it makes sense. (You may or may not agree with the point but I hope you at least get what my point is.)
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Date: 2007-08-15 02:41 am (UTC)First, part of me wholeheartedly agrees with you. Money is a big part of the problem, and NCLB only makes it worse, by further rewarding schools that are "working" and punishing schools that are "not working". The schools that are given a pass are generally filled with white kids who have educated and privileged parents who can give their kids a solid educational background before they even start school, and have the resources to give their children tutors or enrichment classes or other things to help them succeed. Ones that are failing, such as the ones I've always worked at, in general are filled with minority children, whose parents are often under educated, work twice as many hours as the other kid's parents, and do not have the resources to give their children extra help should they need it. If the money was spread out more evenly, and the poorer students given the same textbooks, a newer school that they are proud to go to, where they have room to breathe and aren't crammed in at twice capacity, library books they actually want to read and not ones their grandparents found boring, and a million other things, I think we'd see some improvement.
However, and I may be blasted for saying this but I've spent the last 10 years teaching poor and mostly minority children, and this is what I believe: Any progress we may see by having more evenly spread aroun financial support for education would be limited until the African-American and Latino communities as a whole begin to value education, and especially higher education. In the Bronx I taught mostly Black children, with about 30% Latino kids mixed in. Here in New Brunswick, it's the opposite ratio. The attitude, not as much from the children as their parents, is that what we do in school is useless, and that going to college is impossible and pointless anyway. And that is more of an issue from where us teachers stand. Books and new schools only go so far. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You can give a kid a new book, but you can't make him read it. But that is a deeper and harder to solve issue. I know I have no clue what to do about it, but it is something that is not talked about because no one wants to sound racist by suggesting Black and Latino parents don't care about their kids education. Which isn't really what I'm saying, but I'm sure that's how it comes across. Instead, we focus on the easier to solve (but still no one is doing it) financial solution. Throwing money at the problem isn't going to solve it. It will help, sure, and should be done, but it's not the core of the problem, and Robin Hooding won't end the cycle of poverty.
This may not be as eloquent or as well organized as I'd hope for, but it's late and I'm tired. I hope it makes sense. (You may or may not agree with the point but I hope you at least get what my point is.)