Before reading Archbald's article I had never heard of magnet schools and I wasn't even aware of the school choice option. I think this shows one issue with school choice. People are not aware of their options. Parents need to be aware of the possibilities and opportunities available to their children. The idea of school choice needs to be brought to the foreground. I think that schools should send home pamphlets in order to advertise school choice. Another issue that we discussed was the effect of school choice on segregation. We talked about how school choice just shuffles bodies around from school to school without having a greater impact. I think there are two issues we need to look at; one being the issue of segregation and the other being the issue of unequal education (based on curriculum, conditions etc). In order to improve the quality of education for disadvantaged students, charter schools (a form of schools choice) came into play. These schools help students by providing them with a higher quality education than they would have received in other public schools. But, now there is an issue of segregation. It's almost as if, once we try to improve one aspect of education, more problems are created. I'm not saying that segregation within the school system was caused only by charter schools but rather the use of them just perpetuated the problem. So do we eliminate charter schools and school choice in order to decrease segregation even though they can be beneficial? In my opinion, although I hate to say it, I feel that segregation within schools will be around for a very long time. Private schools will continue to educate mostly rich upper class white children. While the urban public schools will continue to educate mostly minorities. In some sense, we segregate ourselves based on location. In my opinion we tend to live in areas where people are similar to ourselves. This causes a lack of diversity not only within the school district but within the community as a whole. I think programs should be initiated in which schools from different districts or areas bring their students together for certain activities in which they have the opportunity to learn about a wider range of cultures and experience more diversity.
We also discussed the issue of school conditions. After reading Kozol's chapter and watching the youtube video presented in class, I was shocked at the horrible conditions these schools were in. I couldn't believe that these schools were were still open and parents were sending their children to them. Kozol talks about one school in which there was asbestos and lead based paint which was chipping from the walls. From the description Kozol gave of one school it seemed like a prison. I wonder how students are able to learn in such conditions. Students need a warm, friendly, clean place in which they can learn. These conditions cannot foster a proper learning environment for the students. This article talks about the poor conditions found in many schools across the country and the effects they have on the teachers and students.
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I'm sure the parents do not want to send their children to rat infested schools, but unfortunately those schools are the only option available to many of the families at the time. I think the parents want their child to have an education, which is why they send their children. They probably view that sending their children is better than not attempting to provide their child with an education. No education is better than none at all. And as you stated, the school choice option is not accessible to all families so they continue to resort to the schools provided to them.
What do you think about the LIberation Model? Would you believe that in some schools, the principals and staff members restrict food in order to avoid having rodents? Instead of getting the place cleaned up and the facilities restored, the children pay the price.
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