Equal Education: Fact or Fiction

                               
 By Joshua Lynch
                                       Equal Education: Fact or Fiction?

    The lesser more detached minds would argue that "the level of education that a child receives is solely their responsibility." As ridiculous as that statement is in and of itself, they would justify this argument with an all too familiar defense, "it's all about equal opportunity, not equal results. Well, there are many things clearly wrong with these two arguments. One being that how could we expect a child to grasp the responsibility of its future, when their brains aren't even mentally developed enough to do all of their times tables! The second rebuttal requires a more in-depth look, "Is education really equal?  " The answer to that is "NO".

There are many factors that a little too conveniently cause some children to receive a lesser quality education. One of the biggest factors are that we rely on property tax to fund our schools. Well, if property tax varies from location to location, and property tax funds school(which means funding varies), well how exactly can educations be equal? It can't, because the amount of funding a school receives directly determines the amount of resources available to these children. so if a school can't afford up to date books and students are required to learn from books that are no longer relevant, which ultimately means that that the sum of their knowledge is not relevant. Thus increasing the gap between them and their competition. One of the major and most important resources that these inner city, low funded schools often lack is access to good teachers. The job of a teacher requires that they enjoy their job. Because if a teacher is interested in these children and their education then that allows the kids to feel a sense of worth. And if a teacher isn't being paid enough,and is struggling to make ends meet, then how on earth can they enjoy their job. And if they can't provide that caring intimacy between teacher and student, then that deprives the child of feeling self worth. And I know from personal experience, that when a teacher shows that they care, it can push even the most lost child to do better for themselves. So not only does a lack of money effect the material resources of a child, but it also deprives them of important emotional resources that are a major part of the educational process.

Another factor that comes into play when having the conversation of equal education is a child's home environment. It's hard for a child to go to school and concentrate if he hasn't eaten a meal last night, or the morning of. Also looking at the system of values that often come with living in an impoverished inner city neighborhood. Due to the lack of return from a poor education, people often cling to the material. Because that is more immediate, it can be touched, so it's hard for a kid who is being picked with to worry about school when his peers are telling him he just needs to be fly. This can cause a young, pressured mind to stop school and resort to other means to make money.

There are so many socio-economic factors that come into play when talking about educational inequality. The argument equal opportunity not equal results is complete nonsense and is just the lazy way out of dealing with our problems as a nation. The problem is that we as a nation are so fixated on race that we see education as a competition. We see it as a means of affirming which race is more intelligent the the next. But, the sad thing is that as we deprive others, in the end we deprive ourselves because we're a nation first. Our country is like a centipede, we're all legs, if one fails, then the others have to pick up the slack. So it's mutually beneficial if we made an effort to educate EVERYONE. If we continue down the path that we're headed, then we will continue to fall behind as a nation globally

Education is an expensive future

by: Loren Hall

Education is the key to creating a future. American citizens who earn a college degree make a much more considerable amount of money than those who don’t have one. There was once a time where people could get by with a sixth grade education. Those times have LONG passed. Then there was the era where simply having a high school diploma would suffice, but those days are gone as well. In today’s society, it is almost impossible to find a job to live and thrive off of without already possessing a degree. However, for us African Americans, it’s not that simple.

We are stuck in a viscous cycle that is keeping us down. We want to go to college to get an education and get ahead in the world, but we can’t advance because of one simple problem. We can’t get into the colleges. In general, White Americans have a better education than we do because they can get into the prestigious schools, like Yale, Harvard and Princeton. African Americans make less money, live in poorer neighborhoods, and live in conditions that do not allow them to make the money necessary to achieve. I can use myself as an example. Straight out of high school, I was accepted to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida. I went there for one semester, and was already in debt. Coming from a low income family, we didn’t have the money to pay for the school. People on the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum would argue that FAFSA is there to help us,. In my situation, they gave me as much aid as they were willing to give us and there was still a $5000 balance left that my family was unable to pay.

Because of the pressure put on society, we were unable to get any loans to pay it off so I had to leave. I am now at Community College of Philadelphia, the one place I did not want to end up. Community colleges are designed to be much cheaper, with a perceived poorer education than one of the high end schools, and there for the majority of minorities end up at these schools. Hundreds of African Americans are in the same predicament as I am. At Community College of Philadelphia, 73% of its population is non-white. However, at Temple, a more prestigious Philadelphia school, 60% of its population is white in contrast to its only 14% African American population.

We don’t have money because we don’t have education, and we don’t have education because we don’t have money. It’s an impregnable cycle that needs to be addressed.

By: Ashleigh Niemiec

Home schooling - Pros & Cons

Home schooling is also known as home education usually taught by the parents. This forms of education has been growing in the past few years from seven to 15 percent. It was common before in the past when schools were far away and children were taught at home. But home schooling has many pros and cons that effects both the students and the parents. The success of the students lies with the proper instruction, the student themselves being motivated when it comes to studies and the parents who is teaching the courses.

The pros for homeschooling would include educational freedom meaning learning at their own pace, no peer pressure or bullying to disrupt the learning process. Many believe home schooling allows both the students and parents religious freedom. It is easier to take the students to museum and other cultural events that would support and stimulate the learning process. But the most important accepts are closer family relationships and more one on one learning. The students do not have to deal with other disrupted kids that takes time away from the learning process. Students are not subjected to drugs, alcohol or other bad behaviors. Less time is lost each and everyday commuting to and from school.

Home schooling also have many cons to the education process. Many students miss out on the socialization process that they would get if they were in a school. Another worry among parents that wish to home school their kids if their own ability to teach correctly. Many home school students are shocked when they graduate and move onto college and have to deal with the large amount of students in the school and in each classroom. They are used to a one on one learning in a quiet setting.

If you weight the pros and cons of home schooling, you will find that home schooling is a good choice for both the students and parents if they have the time, energy and motivation. Some students even take home school courses online.  Every parents must weight the pros and cons for their own children to see if it the best situation for everyone. Statistics shows that home schooled students are at least 4 grade levels ahead from the 8th grade on over the students who go to a regular school.

     

Are we shooting down the future?

Submitted by: Gregory Fowler

The Occupy Wall Street movement has had one consistent message: there is a severely large economic gap between the top one percent of Americans and the rest of the country.  This gap is so severe, that nothing like it in America has been seen since the Great Depression.  To make matters worse for the next generation, college tuition has been increasing steadily since the mid seventies.  These two things when combined make the chance of parents providing an education for their children almost impossible.  A traditional four year college education now seems more like a fantasy than something remotely attainable in the American Dream.

In addition to this, federal funding for college tuition falls short of providing relief for the majority of American students.  Funding for Pell Grants, money set aside by the federal government to assist students in college tuition, has been remarkably unable to keep up with rising college tuition costs.

Since the government is not funding higher education for the next generation, where is funding going?  Below is a chart provided by ThinkProgress.org that simplifies the 2012 federal budget.  If you had direct control of budget spending, what would you do differently? Or, what kinds of values do you think the government has by looking at this chart?

Education/Incarceration what is more important?

Isaiah Gay-Beal                                                                                  December 2, 2011

Education/Incarceration what is more important? 

What is more important than a child taking their first steps into a world full of knowledge? A world, in which, a child is able to explore the wonders of their young imaginary minds. With that said, what can be more important than a child’s education? Well, someone may say nothing is more important than a child’s education; however, another person may say education is only as good as the funding behind it. Furthermore, shouldn’t education in schools be where most of government funding should go? Yet, when we take a look at the criminal justice system, we see exactly how much money is placed into it and not in our schools.

The criminal justice system today has too much money placed into it. For example, according to The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander, “Hundreds of millions of dollars are invested in incarcerating people”, this is money that could easily be spent on purchasing up to date text books, up to date technology (lap tops, computers), and extracurricular programs. More importantly, it seems as though America’s young youth are being left out. Why would or should these kids be left out of the equation? There’s no reason or explanation at all to explain this. Take my high school experience for example; when I was in high school, I often noticed teachers leaving left and right. I now know the cause of teachers leaving had to do with lack of funding. The ironic thing about that is the teachers that were being cut weren’t the history teachers or theology teachers; it was the art teachers, and language teachers. So, not only are children being hurt by lack of government funding, but so are teachers. Without teachers, how are children suppose to get a proper education? In addition to that, in Houston, according to The New Jim Crow, “ In the 2009-2010 academic year, State budget cuts forced the Houston Independent School District to manage a projected 10 million shortfall.”, ten million dollars is a lot of money to fall of short. So, where could all of this money have gone to? It is obviously not going to this school in Houston. Yet, in the same time frame 175 million was the amount of money that the state of Texas paid to lock up people in their community, according to Michelle Alexander. The fact that were even considering putting out that much money into a system that has been flawed for many of years is bewildering to me. It just doesn’t make sense.

           Education is important for our young youth. This is what prepares them to go out in the real world to

lead a way for the future. Also, teachers are necessary for a child’s learning. If there is lack of teachers how

is this youth movement suppose to ever amount to anything. In my personal opinion, I feel as though too

much money is spent into incarceration. Yes, it is great to keep criminals of the streets; however, it is also

great to help these schools out as much as possible. We shouldn’t be too concerned with filling up our jail

cells to maximum capacity, when most are already over crowed as we speak. So, why not take the initiative

to use the money that was spending for these people to stay in jail, and actually use it on our schools? In

conclusion, education is important and in order for our youth to have a great one, we must consider less

spending on incarceration. 



This is the headline that should be mailed to Washington today.

The Importance of Education In America's Society today.

Submitted By:  Dekontee Wah

              

             America’s workforce is competing with other countries like China, India, Europe, and etc.  As the years go by, America’s workforce is becoming more demanding.  Today’s workforce is different from the workforce many years back and it will be more challenging in the nearest future.  The economy is changing and it’s becoming very demanding, in order for society to compete with other countries, America needs to be creative. And if America does not compete, there might be problems; there will be insufficient jobs available, low education rate, and increase in poverty.  Some of the strategies that need to be used in order to make America’s workforce a viable source of competition are: higher education, companies, and teamwork skills.  The Higher the education the more money, more companies more job availabilities, and teamwork is important because a group prospective is better than an individual.  America needs to get out of their comfort zone and approach the workforce with a new competitive attitude.

   

                   This video anaysis the important of education, and how Americans should take education seriously if they want to compete.  Education is one of the strategies that will make America’s workforce competitive in the future. America has some of the best Universities and Colleges in the world that Americans need to take advantage of.   A high school diploma is not enough if Americans want to compete with other countries.  A majority of the new jobs in the market today require college degree or some skills.  Most manual labor jobs are vanishing and are being sent to other countries where those jobs are pay for less money.   The United States used to be manufacturing-based economy many years ago, but it has change to an economy based on knowledge.   Education gives people better options and more opportunities. If majority of the people living in America have a higher or some college education, the poverty rates will lower. If America’s workers do not educate themselves or continuously educating themselves, it will be a problem for them because they won’t be able to compete with other countries and this will cause a problem.

          In addition, companies are another strategy America’s workforce needs in order to make it a variable source of competition.  Companies should train up coming workers by hiring them as an intern before graduation.  Companies need effective managers who will make good decision towards the growth of the company.  Companies need to hire those who are critical thinking and problem solving to maintain the company from falling during crises or recession.  American’s companies workers who are willing to adapt to changes without being thrown of the edge. Companies should be able to create new jobs or come up with some ideas of how to make jobs more available for workers.  If companies create new job, that means more opportunities for workers, and workers will be able to support their families. 

          Furthermore, America’s workforce needs teamwork skills.  Doesn’t matter your race or skin color, but your skills and how creative one can be.  Everyone in the workforce should be able to work outside their comfort zone and be able to work with others.  Office workers need to collaborate.  They need to work together as one team.  Individuals have limited perspectives or opinions on problems, but when people are joined together to work as team, there’s a larger set of ideas, wisdom and judgments that can pooled together.  Team work should not only be applied at workplace, but also at home and school. 

 

          In conclusion, the economy is changing as well as the workforce. America has to make some adjustments in order to not get left behind.  Some of the strategies that are needed to be used in order to make America’s workforce a viable source of competition are higher education, companies, and teamwork skills. The Higher the education the more money, more companies more job availabilities, and teamwork is important because a group prospective is better than an individual.  America needs to get out of their comfort zone and approaches the workforce with a new competitive attitude.  If education is not taken seriously, the poverty rates will keep going up, and America’s society will face problems and find it difficult to compete. 

    

Today's education and the incarceration system

Jose Ortiz

Today I will be talking about the so called importance of our education and our country's incarceration system.Many say that the American dream is basically to sum it up and make it long story short is to be successful and have an equal opportunity at at a somewhat perfect life like everyone else but they is far from what the reality is. The system is designed to keep the rich rich, and the poor poor. Which brings me to my upcoming concern about this self contradicting situation of how it is explained to us how important ones education mainly because of the inflation of the cost of everyday living. First, what is education? Education is a formal process of learning in which some people consciously teach while others adopt the social role of a learner. Even though education happens to be one of the major industries of the United States, it also coincidently is the social institution that socializes members today of our society. With that in mind if you didnt at least graduate from high school to make the least. But, again since cost of living has inflated dramatically but not the minimum wage which I personally think should have risen up a bit more with the cost of living obtaining a high school diploma is not enough if you want to so called live the great american dream. Here is a graph explaining the yearly earning depending on a individuals educational level.  Here is a link to get a better view of the picture of the Annual Median Earnings by Educational Level ->Annual Median Earnings by Education Level

As you can see from the graph above that the better education a person receives the more anticipated of making a year. However, if the United States is so called "obsessed" with making sure everybody especially particular the youth of today has an equal shot at education so they can be successful then why is our government spending much more money on incarcerating our youth then spending it on schools that actually need the money.Hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested in locking up hundreds to thousands of young blacks and latinos these days in many cities or areas that are predominantly minorities. Sixty six percent of the lowest performing high schools are put together very near the neighborhoods that also happens to have the highest rates of incarceration, where some of the biggest taxpayers investment in imprisonments is being made up until this day. From reading a couple pages from the  book entitled "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander it has opened my eyes and taught me much more on how the government so calls cares about today's american citizens. All the government cares about is money and thats one of the main reasons why taxes were created. Our government goes and spends BILLIONS of dollars like its pocket change and taxes all of us for everything we got in order to gain some money back that it spent. I am personally surprised we aren't even taxed or charged for breathing everyday smh. Quoting from a text from the book "What we learn from Los Angeles, Houston, and Philadelphia is that our national priorities are misplaced, and with devastating consequences." What she was referring to was that not just those specific places but many other cities filled with many different neighborhoods send more teens to jail than to college which is reflecting how much money is invested into prisons. In a number of neighborhoods the large investment into the penile system that overthrows or overshadows the investment on education correlates with the lowest performing schools. Quoting from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger noting in his 2010 State of the State address: "Spending 45 percent more on prisons than universities is no way to proceed into the future. I also like how Michelle Alexander labels her book the "The New Jim Crow" simply because today's penile system is seen as a legal way to keep non white races or ethnicities at or at least below the poverty line. People do have to remember that back in the early to mid 20th century there was the Jim Crow laws which segregated every other race from whites especially African Americans. Any school outside of a white school was horrible, with few teachers, and very old and if any textbooks, and also a very poor possibly worn down school buildings. Blacks were capable of voting but were forced to first answer questions that were back in those days nearly impossible to answer in order to be capable of voting. So to make it long story short non-whites have had a chance at obtaining a good education but were given the short end of the stick which made it truly difficult to become successful and live the made up american dream. Now they have the penile system which legally makes ex cons and people with criminal to not being able to vote and its not that whites don't ever get incarcerated but the majority of the races that do are blacks and latinos. So in my opinion even though many blacks and latinos do become successful there is still a bigger percentage that don't and those that don't are either in the poverty line or below it working very low paying jobs or are in prison. I see it as somewhat like a system that is set up to now legally keep blacks and latinos or any other non whites on the bottom and the whites who they see as their selves as the superior race, on the top.

Homeschooling, Good or Bad?

By: Youn Hee Lee


According to NCES, there are 1.5 million homeschooled students in 2007 in the United States. In 1999, there were precisely 1,096,000 home schooled students nationally. Statistics proves that eighty four percent of home schooled students are taught at home. The increase of numbers from homeschooled students between 1999 and 2007 has gone up by seventy four percent. More parents are choosing homeschooling because to offer religion, morals and avoiding negative effects by the school's environment such as pressure on drugs and safety. 

This video shows different views of government school and home school parents. The video relates to socialization because how children grow up in different schooling systems and how different they can be from each other. It relates to one of the agents of socialization which is family and how parents can raise their child and show them morals and their culture. It is the parent's primary role to raise their child appropriately in society. Although, home school and school systems may have some differences, children are still learning some things in these institutions.

My thoughts of homeschooling is great how children can avoid the pressure or influence of drugs and alcohol and how flexible their schedule can be in learning. I personally think there is no difference between public schools and homeschooling because children are developing the same social and learning skills. As long as a child is receiving good education, I do not think it matters at all. Homeschooling biggest disadvantage is the family loss of income, at least one parent must teach their child full time or part time which can make income difficult to get through one parent. Depending on who and how the child is raised from, any schooling all depends on their parent's views of education. 

Who's fault is it, really?

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”.

The lack of education in america

Submitted by: Hansel Frias
    

  

  Education plays a major role in our society since its one of the main components of succeeding in life. Someone’s success can sometimes be determined by the quality of their education. The better the quality of someone’s education, the higher the chance they would have to succeed in life. Therefore, the quality of someone’s education can affect the performance of the students .In fact, students who attend school in the suburbs scored higher on tests compared to those students in urban city public schools. This difference in scores can sometimes be partially due to the lack of resource in these public schools, which directly affects student’s achievements as well as their learning. Therefore, the students who go to suburb schools will most likely have a better success in life then the student from public school due to the difference in the quality of their education.

     This following video illustrates the result of poor education and how it drastically affects not only kids, but also our society. Students who do not receive a proper education in school are more likely to Drop out since they have no motivation and feel as if continuing school is useless. These students then end up taking a wrong path in their life and end up in jail or even pregnant.

     As you just saw in the video, the lack of education can cause many bad outcomes to come out from it since a lot of the people who become either pregnant or early criminals usually are drop outs.  These drop outs can be managed by making each school district more equally funded. This will provide students rich and poor an equal education system nationwide. I believe that if we give each school the same amount of money that it is needed to properly function, poor students will have a less chance of dropping out and a higher chance of being successful in life, because the quality of their education will improve.