The Rotten Apple

Why largest school system in the nation is failing.

The Washington Post, Valerie Strauss asks why education inequality still occurs in this country. New York City, which is the focus of her analysis, is still failing primarily Black and Hispanic students. She simply points out that the poorest neighborhoods, which are predominately Black and Hispanic, have the fewest resources and least experienced teachers. In contrast the best resources, opportunities and teachers are in the more affluent parts of New York City. This continues the cycle of the blame being placed on the student, teachers and parents who were essentially dealt a losing hand.

Opposition might say, and Valerie Strauss agrees, that there are some schools in these poor areas that are doing well and providing quality education. Strauss counters this argument by point out the obvious, that it is still only a few, leaving the majority in poorly performing schools. Strauss uses a simple but effective analogy to further her point. She says to imagine testing a child on their ability to swim and placing them in a pool with no water. This comparison is effective in that it illustrates how unfair the test, the results, and the blame are for those students forced to deal with the situation.

With a system entrenched with bad policies, it is amazing that any children are succeeding at all. New York, like many school districts still employs a failed distribution of school resources ensuring the poor get nothing and the rich get everything. This sounds exactly like the point James Paul Gee is making concerning literacy and deeper social problems. Strauss again reminds her readers that despite the obstacles in the road, there are students that “swim up stream” and are still finding success. She concludes by saying that these old policies must make way for new reforms that will ensure that every child has the same equitable opportunities.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-education-inequality-persists--and-how-to-fix-it/2012/05/15/gIQAXEIeSU_blog.html