Blog Posts 1 + 2

Nicole Stern
Blog Post #1

Q: What topic in educational equity do you consider to be the most important?

       I believe that the most important aspect of educational equity is how the students are treated. Based on where a student lives their education can make them want to educate others or it can make them feel so confused and unintelligent that they do not complete it. Schools in more wealthy neighborhoods get the funds to give their students inspired teachers, high quality materials, and clean facilities. Overall they make school and enjoyable place to be. In lower socioeconomic neighborhoods where schools are overly cramped, under staffed, and underfunded, school can feel like a horrible chore. Students who struggle do not get the help they need. Help that they would receive if their zipcode were different. Students are not being treated fairly. They cannot choose where they are born or their parents' income or what district they are in. Districts should not be so radically different that they can determine the course of your life. Education should be enjoyable, and in our educated society you would think that we would realize the most important job our government has is to fix our educational system so that our future governments are more educated and open minded than the previous ones.
      The first thing to fix in how we treat students is to find is to slowly shift the amount of money each school gets based on how many students it has and how many of those students have special needs, not by district. This way all students will eventually be receiving a relatively "equal" education. This is highly unlikely since schools who currently are used to running with ample funds will not appreciate when some of their funds are distributed to other districts. The biggest mistake legislation has made so far is splitting up funds based on achievement, this creates a system where the rich are always on top the the bottom cannot control how poor their children's education is.


Blog Post #2

Q: In what ways has Brown vs. Board of Ed achieved its goals of educational equity? And in which ways has it not?

       Brown vs. Board of Ed addressed the ruling of public racial segregation from the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson. The Brown case declared that the previous ruling was inherently unconstitutional. This meant that there could no longer be separate white and African American schools as there had been through 1954. A large part of the issue was not just that the schools were segregated, it is that they were unequal. The white schools would have small class sizes, clean facilities, well educated and trained teachers, enrichment classes, and up to date materials. The black schools would be over crowded, dirty, with sub-par teachers, and textbooks that were so old that they were hard to read and had incorrect information. Integrating schools was supposed to fix the issue of equality in education, not equity. However all the pieces of a puzzle will not put themselves together after you find the right place for one. Racial tensions, socioeconomic issues, and other barriers made it so that sixty one years after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, we still do not have educational equity.

     While schools have become more concerned with diversity in the student body over the past few years most of the top schools are primarily Caucasian and Asian. These schools have many of the qualities that 1954 White schools had: clean facilities, small class sizes, well trained teachers, etc. Many of the public schools in districts that are mostly populated by people of color mirror the black schools in 1954: dirty facilities, large student to teacher ratios, little to no extra help for special needs students, few enrichment classes, and not acceptable materials. Affirmative action and other processes are supposed to help shrink the achievement gap however these mostly target high school and college. The source of the problem is districting especially in elementary and junior high. These years form the base for a student's education and are arguably the most important. The district lines can so easily discriminate against minorities, virtually re-segregating schools. While some progress has been made since 1954, it is clearly not enough to prevent socioeconomics and race to determine the quality of a student's education.

Blog 1

What topic in educational equity do you consider to be the most important?

The topic in educational equity that I consider to be most important is the legislative aspect of the issue. I believe that, although it is the hardest to access, the government is the only key to bringing about educational equity in the public school system. The government, with the country's current system of education, is in charge of funding public schools and at the end of the day, the most essential tool in rebuilding the public school system is money. If state government's top priority was education, then maybe there would be a change of bringing about educational equity. However, because government money comes from tax payer dollars, it is slightly naive to think that money is a quick and easy fix. I think that the first thing that the New York Board of Ed can realistically change is the system of dividing up public school funding. Right now, the funds are divided up based on attendance, SAT scores, and grades: the schools with the highest numbers in those categories receive the most funding. This current system rewards success, which is a good thing, but it also prohibits any mobility. The schools that do not have sufficient investment have no way up. Funding should really be needs based: schools that struggle the most should receive the most funding so that the public schools can be on the same level regardless of location.

Educational Equity

Destiny Ciliberti
July 11,2015

In what ways has Brown vs. Board of Ed achieved its goal of ensuring educational equity? And in what ways has it not?

     Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka is a supreme court case decision that took place on May 17, 1954. The case overturned the previous ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896), which had stated that separate but equal public facilities for whites and blacks were okay. Brown vs. Board of Ed ruled that separate but equal is inherently untrue. Some background information on the case is that Brown's young African- American daughter named Linda was forced to travel very unsafe and dangerous terrains to get to her school which was 1.6 miles away from her home, while there was a white school much closer. The case led to the integration of public schools and now almost 65 years later, we can go to school with white people without anyone batting an eyelash.

     Now the supreme court decision of Brown vs. Board of Ed has ceased racial segregation in public schools but not completely. In order to stop the spreading of integration in public schools, many private schools were founded. Admittance into private schools largely depends on your income and because of that not many minorities get into private school because they simply can not afford it. Now I'm not saying that minorities aren't allowed to get into private schools, it's just that not many even apply for private schools because they know that it isn't an option for them. Also now because of the ruling made in Brown vs. Board of Ed, our society has referred to socioeconomic standings to segregate students. If you are in the lower class you are expected to go to public schools, while the middle class has a chance to attend either depending on scholarships, and the upper class citizens are expected to be enrolled in private institutions. 

    Brown vs. Board of Ed has ensured that regardless of race, everyone can attend school together but there is always a way around the law. And so now society separates us by how much money our family makes yearly and indirectly separates minorities from whites. 

Leadership & Community

Destiny Ciliberti
July 11, 2015

What topic in educational equity do you consider to be most important?

       The year is 2015, gay marriage is legal, blacks and whites can be friends while no one bats an eyelash, but our educational system is severely lacking. Students are losing interest in schools and drop out rates are increasing, thanks to new state standards called Common Core. As a young teenager girl who attends a relatively underfunded high school, I can see why more and more people are becoming fed up with school, especially in my community. It seems like our educational system preps students to memorize information only to forget it after we finish taking standardize tests.

        

        What heavily influences how well students do on these standardize tests, is how much money these schools are receiving for new materials, experienced teachers, and safer school facilities. Under funding is a serious problem in terms of educational inequities, and it affects the ways in which a school can teach its students. Reducing the amount of money a school receives not only affects the students that go there but also the community. The lack of students going to school encourages the younger generations that it's okay to follow in the same steps because "school is unfair and won't benefit us."

Ashley Arango

7/5/2015

Blog Post #1

What topic in educational equity do you consider to be the most important?

            Educational equity, as I understand it, is giving support and opportunities to students according to their needs. Students that have high socioeconomic status would receive less government aid then students with lower socioeconomic status, learning disability, and more need for aid. Under educational equity, the playing field for all students is level and no student has an advantage over another because of the family they were born into meaning that no child is left behind. Educational equality is when all students are given the same amount of support which means that some children are left behind.

            I consider the topic of the economic gap or poverty in educational equity the most important, because economic status creates the first widest gap in education. If a person goes to a public school for elementary school in New York, the student is usually placed in a school in their community. If the child comes from a low-income family, they probably live in a low-income community, therefore, the schools in that community get less funds than a rich community with higher taxes. Families with more money can afford to send their children to private schools and to register them for enrichment opportunities. Higher income families can afford to pay tutors for their children and to give them many opportunities. In contrast, a low-income family cannot afford tutors, enrichment activities, and other opportunities. Also the zoned school they are entitled to is of less quality than that of a higher income family so the playing field is nowhere close to equal.

            If a student from a low-income family excels and works hard, they might be able to get into a better high school and college that the students of higher income families get into. However, more students of the higher income families get in and it is easier for them since their families can afford more of the tuition. Lower income families have the possibility of sending their children to these schools but it requires much more effort and is uncertain. This economic gap is the most important because a person is born into it and the fact is that a person with more money can get a better education. This problem with money and funding is what causes a big part of educational inequity in the first place.

            How would this problem be solved? A big first step would be to have schools funded so that schools from poorer communities get equal or more funds to the schools in richer neighborhoods. The government should also fund several projects in low-income communities to provide access to libraries, computer centers, educational enrichment places, and other opportunities that higher income families have access to since they can afford it. Better education in a community is also linked to the total well-being of the community. Decreasing crime and violence in these communities along with government funding for better public facilities betters the community and will therefore have an indirect positive influence on the schools of the community.

Ashley Arango

7/5/2015

Blog Post #2

In what ways has Brown vs. Board of Education achieved its goal of ensuring educational equity? And in what ways has it not?

            The ruling over Brown vs. Board of Education made segregation in public schools unconstitutional. This was a definite step towards educational equality but what about educational equity? Equity is giving each person the proper support they need while equality is giving everyone the same support. Segregation in schools meant that the majority of African Americans and other minorities were in schools that had less funding, teachers, and supplies than the white schools. Brown vs. Board of Education meant that schools were no longer allowed to turn down students simply for their race.

 The Supreme Court ruling is more of a step towards educational equality than equity because non-whites now have potential access to white schools which are better quality and have more funding. However, if you were to look at the educational system in New York City as an example, because the public school a student is placed in is usually by zone for elementary school and sometimes even middle school, where you live reflects your access to a good school. Also, schools do not get the same amount of funding. Communities where there are higher taxes and where there is higher rent get more funding for their schools than other neighborhoods. As a result, low-income families who can only afford to live in a low-income neighborhood can only send their children to a school with less funding and less opportunities even though the family will most likely be unable to provide needed materials and other opportunities to make up for this gap since they are a low-income family.

The ruling was definitely an important move towards both educational equality and equity but it was only a first step. There are still schools that do not get enough funding and are of low quality. These schools are in low-income communities that usually have a larger “minority” population. When thinking about these conditions, it can be said that there is still a barrier between schools. Brown vs. Board of Education was to stop segregation in education to make sure that schools would be equal in quality. Racial segregation in education is unconstitutional but there is still a gap between different socioeconomic statuses and the education they receive and can afford. Students from low-income families have to work harder with less resources than students from high income families for the same opportunities.

Board vs. Board of Education was a very important ruling where segregation in schools was ruled unconstitutional. This was a big first step towards educational economic allowing for “minorities” to have a chance at the same schools as whites. However, there is still educational iniquity because of the economic gap. To close this gap, the government will have to give more funding to schools in poorer neighborhoods and to provide government funded education opportunities and facilities for students in these neighborhoods so that they will be able to have the same or similar opportunities as the students from high-income families.