Test Essay:

The Shame of the Nation:

President Obama

In Jonathan Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation , he focused a lot on improving and questioning the quality of education for all children. Not matter their race, or social standing. He states early on in his book that “Racial isolation and the concentrated poverty of children in a public school go hand in hand, moreover, as the Harvard project notes. A segregated inner-city school is almost six times as likely to be a school of concentrated poverty as in a school that has an overwhelming white population” (Kozol page 20). I agree with Kozol when he admits that the more a school is in poverty the more likely it will be segregated. Now this is not something that has happened in a flash, but also is not something that has been flashing colors either. The separation of race, social standings, and recourses has happened over time whether we choose to realize it or not. Something needs to change.

I believe that one of the largest reasons behind residential and school segregation was because of “white flight”. You will have those people who refuse to believe that this still takes place today, but be honest if a huge group of projects with lots of crime moved into or right next to your safe neighborhood would you feel any inclination to move? I don’t believe that it still happens because of a race issue, I believe it happens because people don’t like change, that is if you are perfectly happy with your life before the change. People these days tend to not deal with the issue of poverty or equal education because they remove themselves away from the situation. “Very few people who are not involved with inner-city schools have any idea of the extremes to which the mercantile distortion of the purposes and character of education have been taken or how unabashedly proponents of these practices are willing to defend them.” (Kozol 97) If something is out of sight then it is out of mind. “Distance makes it easier” (Kozol 69). The more the schools segregate the more the Matthew Effect will come into play, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

We as people know that not all schools are the same, why do you think parents will pay extra money to send their child to a top private school to get the best education. “ Most parents recognize that certain things that matter in a child’s education do require hard work and well-organized sequential processes for learning and expect their children’s teachers to provide the framework in which this is possible.” I strongly believe people do not separate the schools by race anymore, but that doesn’t mean it has gotten better. People now a days are separating by social class, which in their mind is fine. Most people who are in the wealthier schools and neighborhoods have the mind set that they worked hard for their money and the right to pay extra to give their child the best education and the best recourses. They are not saying their child is more worthy of this privilege, but it’s benefit of their hard work. To improve the equality of education throughout this country I believe it must start inside every person. The wealthy need to be more understanding that not all people will get the opportunity to succeed as they did and to find a way to share their wealth. Maybe not giving them as much government funding if their taxes could support them support their school just fine. If all the lower, poverty schools had adequate teachers who were able to keep those students on the same path as the ones in the higher testing schools, then the gap would slowly start to shrink. It would have to be the government’s job to make sure all the teachers are getting paid the same amount no matter what school district. Most teachers would like to teach where the pay is best, but if all were the same then all students would get the same high quality of education. We as a nation need to remember segregation has not disappeared; it has just changed its face.

Joy,

Kelly Harris