The solution for failing schools? Fire all the teachers.

What should be done about urban schools that continue to perform poorly? Who, or what, is to blame? CPS has a controversial new strategy, detailed in this story from today's Chicago Tribune. See what you think.

Nice White Lady

O. K., so the problems with educating urban kids is deeper than the heroe scenario of all they need is a nice white lady. I, however take exception that as a nice white lady educator like myself am somehow now discounted from any future success by the prejudicial critique of these films. Reverse discrimination? Why do we constantly judge one another and thwart each others efforts to help. I say don't look at anything as the whole picture, yet if it uplifts and encourages people to get in there and try to affect a positive effect then don't through the baby out with the bathwater, promote more support. What I also think is the flip side to critique's of these films is for other ethnicicities to stand up and say,"Yeah, I need to get educated and get in there and show how I've made it work for myself and I can show others the path. Well o.k. whatever will work then but, I don't care for the slam on me either.

Apartheid education

Following up our discussion of the excerpt from Kozol's Shame of the Nation last week, here are a few questions which were discussed by one or more of the small groups but that we didn't have time to address in much depth as a whole group. Feel free to weigh in on any or all.

1) Kozol attempts to make the case that we have allowed a dual system of education to continue in the U.S., and that many schools that serve high-poverty urban children are in desperate need of improvement. One urban principal, surveying his school's deteriorating condition, told Kozol, "This would not happen to white children." The implication, of course, is that, to mainstream America, some children are worth more than others. Do you agree? If more white and/or middle-class children attended urban schools, would things be different?

2) In the final section of the excerpt we read, Kozol speaks with a several Los Angeles high school students about the physical condition of their school and the courses they are offered. When one student bitterly objects to the lack of college prep courses at her school (and being steered instead to a sewing class), another student says, sarcastically, "You're ghetto, so we send you to the factory....You're ghetto. So sew!" What does this exchange say about how these students perceive their schooling experience and, more importantly, what they see as the school's purpose for their education?

3) It is difficult to talk about equity in urban schools without addressing the issue of funding. Because of the way schools are funded in Illinois (relying heavily on property taxes), many suburban schools are funded at much higher levels than city and rural schools. How should schools be funded? What is fair? Should taxpayers "share the wealth" with others in the state, or should communities primarily fund their own schools, as is currently the case? Should all schools be funded with the same amount of dollars per child, or, as Ashanti suggested, does fair mean that "Everybody gets what they need?" -- in other words, schools in the most need would get the most funding?

Hollywood and the Urban Teacher-Hero

We didn't really get a chance to discuss the "Nice White Lady" skit from MadTV last week in class, so I thought that might be a good way to kick off the blog. What did you think? As a parody of urban teacher films, was it on target? And more broadly, how do such films contribute to the conception of city schools and city kids in the public imagination? (This question is discussed in the intro to City Kids, City Schools, which you'll be reading for this week's class.)
When the "average American" thinks about urban schools, what does she/he envision? Or better yet, what do you envision? Where do these ideas come from? And how anchored do you think they are in reality?