The Civil Rights Act of 1964 brought an end to segregation in America, but economic segregation is stronger than ever today. Economic status coupled with some discrimination generally leads to separate neighborhoods for people of color and separate schools for their children. For many children of color, lifelong poverty is a fait accompli before they reach adulthood. By that time, they have dropped so far behind more economically advantaged white children to make it virtually impossible for many to compete for college admissions, let alone afford it. Their financial future is nearly preordained to be no better than their parents.
You can point the finger of blame anywhere you want, but the bottom line is that children have no say in their fate and are innocent victims of an educational system that usually fails to afford them the tools and resources to compete academically. By and large, schools in poor communities, especially urban areas, are far below the standards of predominantly white, suburban schools. Many good teachers and administrators naturally gravitate to the highest paying school districts.
Combine inferior schools with a child’s home environment and the disparity widens even further. Household items that advantaged children take for granted like computers are not so prevalent in poorer homes. Because of the cycle of poverty, parents or guardians are far more likely to be poorly educated and therefore unequipped to help their children with school work. Children of color are far more likely to be growing up in dysfunctional households. Many are being raised by grandparents. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services almost two-thirds of the children in foster care are African-American, American Indian, or Hispanic.
Trying to quickly change the home environment of poor, minority children would be a daunting task, but making their schools better is clearly within our societal capacity to do.
We can apply some of the same methods used to keep our military at near-peak readiness. The United States maintains five federally funded military academies: The United States Military Academy, the Naval Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, the Air Force Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy. The guiding principal behind these institutions is to create a steady infusion of talented officers to help keep the military at its best. Student cadets attend these military colleges tuition-free with room and board in exchange for several years of military or military-related service.
Why not create five federal teaching academies where our nation’s best teacher and administrator candidates could receive a free education in exchange for five years of service in poorer K-12 schools throughout the country? Each academy could be focused on a particular field of study from arts and humanities to science and engineering. Within five years we could have 25,000 or more talented educators working in schools they would otherwise not consider. The whole educational makeup of underfunded schools in poor communities would be transformed and energized.
The military and its related military academies protect our economic and strategic interests worldwide. These teaching academies would protect these same interests here at home by creating more and better educated high school graduates who would go on to college and beyond. In today’s global economy, the demand for talented individuals is more essential than ever if a nation is to remain strong. We have already seen the emerging power of countries like China, Brazil, and India largely due to their large, well educated workforces.
Furthermore, by better educating the poor we could begin to break the cycle of poverty that has plagued our nation for over a century, thereby reducing the cost of social programs like welfare. A study by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services agency found that “families living in poverty were the least likely to have resources available to them” and “the more compromised these families are, the more likely it is that they eventually will come into contact with the child welfare or some other social system.”
A study conducted by the State University of New York - Binghamton found that three decades ago the U.S. prison population was about one-eighth its current size and that people of color today account for more than 70 per cent of our prison population. Poverty breeds crime and creating better schools in poor neighborhoods will offer young adults viable and lucrative career paths other than crime. This, in turn, will reduce the cost of running the largest prison system in the entire world.
Any child given a good education and a fair chance to compete will acquire two essential ingredients for success: hope and self-esteem. Who can argue with a more equitable approach to education that helps children in need, reduces the cost of social services and prisons, and creates a more vibrant and powerful economy?
Jeff Gewert Sandy Hook, CT © Copyright 2012, Jeff Gewert
You can point the finger of blame anywhere you want, but the bottom line is that children have no say in their fate and are innocent victims of an educational system that usually fails to afford them the tools and resources to compete academically. By and large, schools in poor communities, especially urban areas, are far below the standards of predominantly white, suburban schools. Many good teachers and administrators naturally gravitate to the highest paying school districts.
Combine inferior schools with a child’s home environment and the disparity widens even further. Household items that advantaged children take for granted like computers are not so prevalent in poorer homes. Because of the cycle of poverty, parents or guardians are far more likely to be poorly educated and therefore unequipped to help their children with school work. Children of color are far more likely to be growing up in dysfunctional households. Many are being raised by grandparents. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services almost two-thirds of the children in foster care are African-American, American Indian, or Hispanic.
Trying to quickly change the home environment of poor, minority children would be a daunting task, but making their schools better is clearly within our societal capacity to do.
We can apply some of the same methods used to keep our military at near-peak readiness. The United States maintains five federally funded military academies: The United States Military Academy, the Naval Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, the Air Force Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy. The guiding principal behind these institutions is to create a steady infusion of talented officers to help keep the military at its best. Student cadets attend these military colleges tuition-free with room and board in exchange for several years of military or military-related service.
Why not create five federal teaching academies where our nation’s best teacher and administrator candidates could receive a free education in exchange for five years of service in poorer K-12 schools throughout the country? Each academy could be focused on a particular field of study from arts and humanities to science and engineering. Within five years we could have 25,000 or more talented educators working in schools they would otherwise not consider. The whole educational makeup of underfunded schools in poor communities would be transformed and energized.
The military and its related military academies protect our economic and strategic interests worldwide. These teaching academies would protect these same interests here at home by creating more and better educated high school graduates who would go on to college and beyond. In today’s global economy, the demand for talented individuals is more essential than ever if a nation is to remain strong. We have already seen the emerging power of countries like China, Brazil, and India largely due to their large, well educated workforces.
Furthermore, by better educating the poor we could begin to break the cycle of poverty that has plagued our nation for over a century, thereby reducing the cost of social programs like welfare. A study by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services agency found that “families living in poverty were the least likely to have resources available to them” and “the more compromised these families are, the more likely it is that they eventually will come into contact with the child welfare or some other social system.”
A study conducted by the State University of New York - Binghamton found that three decades ago the U.S. prison population was about one-eighth its current size and that people of color today account for more than 70 per cent of our prison population. Poverty breeds crime and creating better schools in poor neighborhoods will offer young adults viable and lucrative career paths other than crime. This, in turn, will reduce the cost of running the largest prison system in the entire world.
Any child given a good education and a fair chance to compete will acquire two essential ingredients for success: hope and self-esteem. Who can argue with a more equitable approach to education that helps children in need, reduces the cost of social services and prisons, and creates a more vibrant and powerful economy?
Jeff Gewert Sandy Hook, CT © Copyright 2012, Jeff Gewert
