class 5 readings

1.       “Some go further and fake an address in an upscale catchment area that has an excellent zoned school” (Kozol, ch 6, pg 137)

It is obvious from this quote, parents want their children in a good school, and will go to extreme measures to achieve it. But in my opinion parents should not have to resort to this. Why can’t cities and towns make their zoning restrictions different? If cities and towns widened their zoning districts, it would give many less-privileged students an opportunity of a lifetime. It could give them an opportunity to finally experience a good education. Some parents have to be careful though because they risk the chance of actually putting the daughter/son into a bad school. Just because the school has great test scores and good facilities does not mean it has good educators and curriculum. Therefore parents really have to do their homework and check out the future schools they want to send their children to.  I just don’t get why we do not give all children an equal chance of going to good schools. Now states have lotteries for children to see if they can get a better education. Really? All they have to do is open up the zoning districts. This way you will have much more mixed schools and you will be giving much more opportunities for children of race.

2.       Twenty six years ago, in 1979, black students represented nearly 13 percent of Stuyvesant’s enrollment; today they represented only a meager 2.7 percent. (Kozol, ch 6, pg 140)

Hard to think that schools back in the 70s had more black students than they do today. It is obvious when I read Kozols book, racism and segregation are still very much alive. We supposedly ended racism almost 40 years ago, but if you look at schools in the city, many of them are segregated. Why is it the percentages of black students in schools have lowered and not gone higher? That’s a question that may have many answers, but I can tell you one reason is that cities have schools in lower income area; therefore most of the students that would go to that school would be different ethnicities. The states are only hurting their education by keeping these lower level schools in business. They really should join schools around the area so all students of color have the same opportunities as one another. This segregation is not helping the students because there is no diversity in the schools and the all black schools do not seem to be focused on the good of the child. It is pretty ironic that education in cities is more segregated than it was back in the 1970s.

3.       “Seventy percent of the students at the school were Level Ones; this is usually the last chance for these children.” (Kozol, ch 6, pg 142)

First of all, who are these teachers to categorize students into different levels? When reading Kozols book I found that teachers and schools classify students into levels 1-4; Level four being the best and Level one being the worst. Our education has gotten to the point of grouping the children in our school systems; doesn’t this seem a little wrong? Yes, some students need guidance once they reach middle and high school, but to call them level ones is demeaning, especially coming from people in education. By grouping students into levels like this, they are basically telling the parents and educators which students are good and which students have no chance to succeed. This goes against everything that a teacher is about. Teachers are supposed to be people who find the good in students, and help them improve in school throughout their educational years. When I read this quote, all I hear is a teacher that has given up on “level one” students. What kind of impression does that give to the students? Educators need to be the back bone of the students, because you never know what type of family life they have or what kind of childhood they went through. School needs to be the students escape from these types of tragedies, and when reading this I feel as if the students do not have an escape, instead they have teachers grouping them and disregarding them.

4.       If other choices did exist, she said, they were not mentioned.  Nobody had told her that the problems here were every bit as grave as those from which she thought she had rescued him. (Kozol, ch 6, pg 144)

It seems to me people in education leave out the important facts when dealing with parents. When a parent wants to do best for his/her child they expect to get the best information on the schools at hand, but are parents being left in the dark? From reading this quote, I gathered that educators leave many points in the dark when talking to parents about new schools. This is why parents cannot trust anybody when it comes to schools for their children. Parents need to do their research before sending their child to a school. It is important that they are not left out in the dark because it can lead to a bad choice. Word of mouth is not always the best way to go about things, because you cannot always trust what you hear. If parents want to make the right choice they need to ask question and do their own homework on the schools at hand. From reading this quote it is obvious you cannot trust anyone in the education field when it comes to schools, so parents need to take things into their own hands. This parent was obviously left in the dark and sent her child to a school that had just as many problems as the other one she was trying to get her child away from. So when it comes to placing your own flesh in blood in a school, trust no one.

5.       I had the sense instead that they did not know how to voice their feelings on a matter fraught with so much anger without using words like these. That hard edge softened somewhat when I turned to one, and then another, and addressed them individually. (Kozol, ch 6, 146)

When talking to students that have come up in an awful education system it is clearly hard for them to voice their opinion without any anger. They have dealt with so much when it comes to education. These kids do not have the resources, the facilities, or the teachers; you expect them to be very angry. And when someone comes into their school asking questions of course they are going to have attitude.  These kids have been screwed over so much in their education; they do not trust anyone, especially a white person. People have taken them for granted and gave up on them at an early age of their lives. They do not know any better than to react with such hate towards the school system, they feel mistreated.  But when Kozol talked to these students individually, the kids felt at ease to open up to him and tell them how they feel. Kozol showed real interest in the students, he showed that he cared and actually listened to them. The students at the school have probably never had someone do that for them. They might not have someone that cares enough to listen to them. It is obvious these students just wanted to be heard and understood; Kozol was able to give the students that opportunity.

6.       The Bronx High School of Science, I discovered when I took a walk around the neighborhood, is only two long blocks from Walton High. It might as well be in another country. (Kozol, ch 6, 150)

Honestly, two blocks away from each other, but two totally different schools. The Bronx High School of Science has great facilities and a great reputation when it comes to teachers and curriculum. Only a mere two blocks away there is Walton High, awful facilities, teachers who have given up on the students and a school that is very segregated. So if The Bronx High School of Science just put up new facilities and is a great school for students to attend, why doesn’t the state of New York change their zoning district, so students from a driven down Walton High, have the chance to attend a beautiful Bronx High School of Science. Is it really that hard to make this happen? Education is a huge topic of conversation these days, especially in the cities, but I don’t feel as if they are doing everything possible to improve it. Instead of having a lottery for student to attend a good high school, allow students to join other schools, especially if that school has the facilities to make it happen. Our education in urban setting can be improved drastically by making one change, but it can also improve students well being as well.