No one is intentially segregating our schools...at least not that they would admit to. Our children are being severely discriminated, both racially and economically. My school is old, built in the 60's. On most days, the hallways smell like urine or dirty mop water. The walls are dingy and dirty, the paint is peeling off the walls and doors. Up until last year, we still had asbestos in our ceiling and floor tiles.
Now I can't tell you we don't have books or computers. Fortunately, because we are a low-income school, we do receive Title 1 funds that purchase reading materials, learning resources, and technology. However, I think the facility that we offer our children is just as important as the learning materials inside. Would you feel motivated to attend school if your school looked like a dungeon? And my school is not the worst in our county.
I can't escape the feeling that my children are being disadvantaged by their own school system, when I look across town at the "better schools" with a whiter population (you can't tell me I'm being racist, I AM white), higher test scores, and parents with more money.
I've felt this for awhile, but recently, I visited my friend's school and it literally made me sick. She used to teach with me, but her husband being in the military, they relocated a year ago. She now lives near a tourist area for the ritzy, yuppy people. This is the place you go when you want to visit the beach, but you are too good for "normal" beaches for common people. We made a stop at her new school. I wish I had taken pictures, because I don't know if I can desribe it in words. Let's just say, it's the Taj Mahal of elementary schools. The floors, the fixtures, the furniture, the lighting, the LIBRARY...if you can imagine what an elite law firm office building might look like, I'd say that would be a good comparison. And the playground - things like that may not seem important to you as far as education is concerned, but think about the eyes of a child. Would YOU want to go to a school like THAT? Oh yeah, that's what I thought.
I looked around and was amazed. I wanted to be so happy for my close friend who had this wonderful opportunity in this school. But I confessed to her, "I am so glad that you are here. This is an absolutely beautiful school. But I am sick to my stomach because this is disgusting." And she used to teach at my school so she knows exactly where I'm coming from. I couldn't say much if this were a private school...but it wasn't. Another public elementary school paid with American's tax dollars. The teachers don't get paid any more or any less to teach there. How could two PUBLIC schools be SO different?
In a child's mind, they don't think "Oh look at all those books, I wish I could go to THAT school." No, if they took one look at the inside of that school and the awesome playground, their parents wouldn't have to fight with them to go to school.
So, my point is, I am responsible for teaching a group of children who already have the cards stacked against them: multi-family homes, low-income, parents who are never home because they work multiple jobs, parents who don't help with school-work because either they don't want to, don't know how to, don't have the time, or all of the above. These are children that live adult lives in a child's body. What motivates them to come to school, much less do well in school? There's only so much a teacher can do. If you were one of my kids, would you be motivated to come to school and be your best in the dirty, dingy school? Maybe you would in the Taj Mahal school?
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