The education system in the inner city has been declining since the wealth gap has been increasing, but who should we blame for this? Fingers could be pointed at a lot of people or reasons for that matter in this societal failure. I have chosen to focus only a few root causes I believe that can attribute to the failing school systems in America. To look at this problem I figured smaller sample would be better so my true focus will just be on Philadelphia’s schools. This shouldn’t be a problem since I personally attended schools and also grew in Philadelphia’s inner city section.
First I would like to blame the parents in the inner city for allowing this travesty to continue while knowing it is wrong. I love when I hear people complain because after listening to their bickering I like to ask this question, “So what are you going to do about it?”. I always get mixed answers if I get one at all. The response I really hate though is, “I‘m going to send my child to another school”. The reason why I hate that response so much is because I feel that parents are running away from the problem instead of addressing it. Nothing is simple to accomplish alone , I know that, but as a group things are so much easier. So with me saying that I also ask these questions:
How many parents know there children’s teacher outside of their last name?
How many parents know the mother and fathers of their children’s classmates?
How many parents actually help their kids out with the homework given from the schools?
and regarding conditions and lack of supplies in schools:
How many parents complain to the school district instead of their friends about changes that need to be made?
Small things like petitions, protests, and volunteer work can help schools get on the right track. I know the difference parents can make first hand by going to both black and white schools in my lifetime, its priceless.
Second, I would like to turn my attention to the people we expect to have our best interest in mind at all times, politicians. We vote and vote and vote for them every election, but can we really say that do for our educational system? I understand we need police to protect our streets, firemen to put out the fires, doctors, and nurses to heal us. While looking for people to fill those jobs did they forget that we also need teachers to educate us? With more education its proven that there will be less crime and with health always being an ongoing concern I know we could use more people in the healthcare field than in law enforcement. I personally have never confronted someone in office about the current state of inner city schools but I can bet you that if I did happen their response would be something like: “We don’t have enough tax dollars”. Ok, maybe so because it is true that Philadelphia’s population has been in a decline. But, there is always a but, money can always be diverted from somewhere. People in power such as mayors, senators, state reps, council members, and superintendents can always take pay cuts. Its not like they buy their own cars, pay for gas, and have the time they don’t pay their utilities anyway. Plus Arlene Ackerman, School District of Philadelphia’s Superintendent, salary of $500,000 is higher than both the city mayor and the state governor. So a big finger, not the middle, gets pointed at the people in power for allowing our city schools to continue to rot like garbage.
Finally, I have to point my finger at the wealthy people in the Philadelphia area not the rich but the wealthy. Just to make sure we all understand the difference in the finance levels; William Smith (the Fresh Prince) is rich and, William Gates (Microsoft co-founder) is wealthy. To clear the air just in case it’s a little foggy Bill Gates gets a pass in the city of Philadelphia thanks to the school he helped build in a very poor section of city nicknamed “the bottom”. The man is worth upwards of $90 billion dollars and gave up some of his hard earned money to help fund a $61 million dollar The School of the Future in West Philadelphia. So Bill Gates thanks, we cool! Now the people I do have issues with are Mary Alice Dorrance-Malone and Brian L. Roberts to name a few. Mrs. Malone is worth 2 billion dollars plus which was inherited from her grandfather who ran the Campbell Soup company from 1914 until his death. So besides the luck of being born into wealth she would probably be just as normal as you and I. She spends her current days as a chair member of the Campbell Soup company and raising horses. I’m not hating but it just would be nice for a little help to be given to the city you live in. Then there is Mr. Roberts who inherited the Comcast Cable company from his father Ralph J. Roberts who founded it. Roberts is worth 650 million dollars and his company continues to grow into many field outside of cable. His company owns the Philadelphia Flyers hockey club, the Philadelphia 76ers(sold this past June), the Wells Fargo Center, and AT&T just to give you an idea of how wealthy he is. These people and other wealthy people from Philadelphia can afford to help with our schools like Bill Gates a non-Philadelphian did.
I’m pretty sure they’re plenty of other reasons of why the education problem is a mess in Philadelphia but those few gives you, the reader, an idea of where the problem lies. Another issue I have to mention before I finish is regarding parents is the single parents homes which does effect the children in immeasurable ways. The majority of that blame is the dead beat dads we have walking around today like they don’t have any kids at all. They put too much pressure on mothers to do everything for their children. For me to write all of this I know someone might ask me the question of, “What are you going to do to help the situation?”. Now I’m not wealthy let alone rich enough to donate money to the cause, but I do intend to aid the situation in my lifetime. So my honest reply to that question would be, “become a middle school teacher”.
First I would like to blame the parents in the inner city for allowing this travesty to continue while knowing it is wrong. I love when I hear people complain because after listening to their bickering I like to ask this question, “So what are you going to do about it?”. I always get mixed answers if I get one at all. The response I really hate though is, “I‘m going to send my child to another school”. The reason why I hate that response so much is because I feel that parents are running away from the problem instead of addressing it. Nothing is simple to accomplish alone , I know that, but as a group things are so much easier. So with me saying that I also ask these questions:
How many parents know there children’s teacher outside of their last name?
How many parents know the mother and fathers of their children’s classmates?
How many parents actually help their kids out with the homework given from the schools?
and regarding conditions and lack of supplies in schools:
How many parents complain to the school district instead of their friends about changes that need to be made?
Small things like petitions, protests, and volunteer work can help schools get on the right track. I know the difference parents can make first hand by going to both black and white schools in my lifetime, its priceless.
Second, I would like to turn my attention to the people we expect to have our best interest in mind at all times, politicians. We vote and vote and vote for them every election, but can we really say that do for our educational system? I understand we need police to protect our streets, firemen to put out the fires, doctors, and nurses to heal us. While looking for people to fill those jobs did they forget that we also need teachers to educate us? With more education its proven that there will be less crime and with health always being an ongoing concern I know we could use more people in the healthcare field than in law enforcement. I personally have never confronted someone in office about the current state of inner city schools but I can bet you that if I did happen their response would be something like: “We don’t have enough tax dollars”. Ok, maybe so because it is true that Philadelphia’s population has been in a decline. But, there is always a but, money can always be diverted from somewhere. People in power such as mayors, senators, state reps, council members, and superintendents can always take pay cuts. Its not like they buy their own cars, pay for gas, and have the time they don’t pay their utilities anyway. Plus Arlene Ackerman, School District of Philadelphia’s Superintendent, salary of $500,000 is higher than both the city mayor and the state governor. So a big finger, not the middle, gets pointed at the people in power for allowing our city schools to continue to rot like garbage.
Finally, I have to point my finger at the wealthy people in the Philadelphia area not the rich but the wealthy. Just to make sure we all understand the difference in the finance levels; William Smith (the Fresh Prince) is rich and, William Gates (Microsoft co-founder) is wealthy. To clear the air just in case it’s a little foggy Bill Gates gets a pass in the city of Philadelphia thanks to the school he helped build in a very poor section of city nicknamed “the bottom”. The man is worth upwards of $90 billion dollars and gave up some of his hard earned money to help fund a $61 million dollar The School of the Future in West Philadelphia. So Bill Gates thanks, we cool! Now the people I do have issues with are Mary Alice Dorrance-Malone and Brian L. Roberts to name a few. Mrs. Malone is worth 2 billion dollars plus which was inherited from her grandfather who ran the Campbell Soup company from 1914 until his death. So besides the luck of being born into wealth she would probably be just as normal as you and I. She spends her current days as a chair member of the Campbell Soup company and raising horses. I’m not hating but it just would be nice for a little help to be given to the city you live in. Then there is Mr. Roberts who inherited the Comcast Cable company from his father Ralph J. Roberts who founded it. Roberts is worth 650 million dollars and his company continues to grow into many field outside of cable. His company owns the Philadelphia Flyers hockey club, the Philadelphia 76ers(sold this past June), the Wells Fargo Center, and AT&T just to give you an idea of how wealthy he is. These people and other wealthy people from Philadelphia can afford to help with our schools like Bill Gates a non-Philadelphian did.
I’m pretty sure they’re plenty of other reasons of why the education problem is a mess in Philadelphia but those few gives you, the reader, an idea of where the problem lies. Another issue I have to mention before I finish is regarding parents is the single parents homes which does effect the children in immeasurable ways. The majority of that blame is the dead beat dads we have walking around today like they don’t have any kids at all. They put too much pressure on mothers to do everything for their children. For me to write all of this I know someone might ask me the question of, “What are you going to do to help the situation?”. Now I’m not wealthy let alone rich enough to donate money to the cause, but I do intend to aid the situation in my lifetime. So my honest reply to that question would be, “become a middle school teacher”.
I really like what you say about these multimillions dollar company owners not donating money to our school system. Considering how rich these people are, I think it is really greedy of them not to help out our community, which keeps making them richer. By giving money to our schools, just like bill gates did, they can make a big different in our community. This is why our society is so “mess up”, because most of the rich people don’t really care about the poor. The rich have the power to make a different, yet most prefer not to.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that we have to consider the education system in which our youths are faced with. Sad to say but its a shame a city can afford to pay athletes millions of dollars to play a sport and not one of the single owners contributes to the city that they work out of. Ultimately, that wealth that is obtain can help a struggling district rise educationally and truly make a difference. Kudos to Bill Gates for his support, but outside of that it just appears that is not one enough. A school shouldn't have to do a fundraiser to raise money for books and supplies, that should already given while attending. As much as people complain and ramble on about how the educational system is bad, I'd figure that people would take the initiative to speak up about this issue because it truly is a big concern for the youths. But i say here in thought that if i were a owner of a sports franchise i would include in each players contract that you donate a one million dollars per player that would contribute to every district throughout the United States.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, to further state the concerns, a parent has to do their part in raising there child not all the time rely upon school, although the child spends an ample amount of time at school, its the schools responsibility and its the responsibility of that child's parent to see to that that child gets educated. Ultimately, everyone plays a part in how we all want the outcome to be, so with the support from the people that truly care about our children's education can make a difference.