The "Meredith" Decision in the Supreme Court

[yummy411]

Have you guys heard about this?

I'm so torn. Here's the deal: Due to Brown v. Board of Education and integration, children in a Louisville, KY school district have to fulfill 'racial' quotas to maintain integration and quality education, even if that means driving 45 minutes across town to a school totally out of the way.

A caucasian mom thought that her son being assigned to a school across town was unneccesary and applied for a transfer, but was denied based on race and the reason being to fulfill the quotas of the schools. The mom thought this was unconstitutional and hired a lawyer. Now her case has gone to the Supreme Court. wow!

Some black families are in the same predicament with children boarding a school bus very early in the morning to travel across town for a better school. One of the families shown on the news segment was the family of a civil rights pioneer in her own right. She was an civil rights activist and her own children endured the hardship of helping to institute brown v. BOE. While she helped to work hard for rights like free choice of schools (integration), she is in favor of Meredith and not having to travel across town to attend school.

There problem lies here....if the decision goes through in favor of Meredith, segregation will rise and the already horrible (historically and presently) schools in the black neighborhoods will be more likely to worsen... and the white families will be able to attend the good schools in their neighborhoods.

Me: It's always a plus to have convenient great education, but all of the citizens don't have access to that. I think that the current law should be upheld, while the black neighborhoods with bad schools as well as the other citizens should work to improve the schools in all districts and make sure that they are equal. Once that happens they should void the current law to uphold quotas.

My sentiments are on so many levels with this situation. I hope this isn't too deep, even for the deep thoughts forum of 'chatter' I'm really sad that a basic right such as quality education is denied to many based on the fact that a country and its people are still suffering some of the effects and strongholds that an institution like slavery can have. While people NEED to recover from this, the ills of economic hardship and poverty sheild those on a downward spiral even further, lost in economic war which in itself, often times, stems from improper education. It takes a strong people to overcome this all and I know black folks can do it... but but but but....

..lets be like NIKE and just do it (c/o the 90's).. motivate, educate and activate.... be like Dr. MLK and rally around the country for equal and promising education

I get so frustrated sometimes..... it hurts in the pit of my stomach

Where do I start on this journey....maybe in my own neighborhood

 

[Tash]

Instead of shipping white kids to bad schools and african american kids to good schools, wouldn't it make more sense to use the money they're spending on all that gas to help raise the education in the bad schools? Why not try to make ALL schools good schools instead of widening the gap between the two even more.

 

[lara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tash Instead of shipping white kids to bad schools and african american kids to good schools, wouldn't it make more sense to use the money they're spending on all that gas to help raise the education in the bad schools? Why not try to make ALL schools good schools instead of widening the gap between the two even more.

...what is this Earth logic you speak of?

 

[user79]

Yeah that thought is really illogical, I mean even if some black kids make it to the "good white schools" or whatever, the fact will remain that the schools in the poorer communities will continue to suck. They should just improve those schools and maybe invest in them more...filling quotas won't solve the problem at all, there will still be inequality.

 

[giz2000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tash Instead of shipping white kids to bad schools and african american kids to good schools, wouldn't it make more sense to use the money they're spending on all that gas to help raise the education in the bad schools? Why not try to make ALL schools good schools instead of widening the gap between the two even more.

While that idea would work in the ideal world, this is the real world, and money & politics rule. That translates into: poor neighborhoods, less money for everything (because lower income people pay lower taxes). Social services, education - you name it, it is of much more poorer quality in the low-income neighborhoods.

Then you also have apathy set in (the "why should I care if no one else cares" attitude) and that doesn't help anyone at all.

 

[Shimmer]

Giz, is the 'Robin Hood' concept not used in other states?

I remember my mom griping about property taxes in Texas and how 'Robin Hood' took money from rich school districts to give to poor schools, and therefore our taxes went up.

 

[Beauty Mark]

It didn't in my hometown in PA when I went to school. The education you could receive at the more affluent schools was incredible compared to the one I received.

I'm torn. I frankly like the idea of applying to public schools (I'd start with middle school), sort of like how they do it in NYC. You won't be denied an education but if you wanted to get a better education or you knew a school specialized in something (like a magnet school), you could apply to certain schools.

 

[Shimmer]

but race, ANY race, shouldn't come into play on that application.
Turning away a white kid because he's white is just as racist as turning away a black kid because he's black.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Exactly. I meant like (at least according to my friends who grew up in NYC; I never saw an application) it's based upon academic achievement and test scores. I know some people of all races who were turned down because they just didn't make the cut.

If we'd gravitate towards a college application style process (and if you choose not to participate in it, you get sent to a generic high school in the neighborhood). I know it won't be a perfect system (nepotism will always exist), but it'll be closer.

Personally, I think what kind of life you grew up with should factor in. If you grew up in the ghetto, went to a failing school, and managed to do okay on tests (not phenomenal but phenomenal for that kind of environment), you should be counted as strong of a candidate as someone who grew up in a great environment and aced those tests. That would be regardless of race and yet help those who need it.

 

[TRUEFASHIONISTA]

giz2000 hit the nail on the head. Communities are the foundation of any school.

So really segregation still exists; it is just between the haves and the have nots. This is very prevalent in metropolitan American cities as well as the more suburbian cities.

 

[Shimmer]

it's not only in American cities.

 

[aziajs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by giz2000 While that idea would work in the ideal world, this is the real world, and money & politics rule. That translates into: poor neighborhoods, less money for everything (because lower income people pay lower taxes). Social services, education - you name it, it is of much more poorer quality in the low-income neighborhoods. Then you also have apathy set in (the "why should I care if no one else cares" attitude) and that doesn't help anyone at all.

You are absolutely right. Schools are going to become more segregated and money is not going to be poured into the schools in poorer neighborhoods to improve them.

This really scares me because of the impact it will, potentially, have on higher education.

I feel like this country is moving backwards. My mother has been saying that for the last 5 years and I can't believe that I can see it happening before my very eyes.

Like Justice Stephen Breyer said, "This is a decision that the court and the nation will come to regret."

 

[Tash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by giz2000 While that idea would work in the ideal world, this is the real world, and money & politics rule. That translates into: poor neighborhoods, less money for everything (because lower income people pay lower taxes). Social services, education - you name it, it is of much more poorer quality in the low-income neighborhoods. Then you also have apathy set in (the "why should I care if no one else cares" attitude) and that doesn't help anyone at all.

How about instead of people saying it's never going to happen and it's illogical, people do something to CHANGE it. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on gas shipping kids to different schools, they put that money into the schools that aren't doing so well. Bad schools exist because people outside of the community don't realize how bad they are. Educating people is the first step to change. Segregation isn't going to make anything better, it's just going to breed more resentment on both sides of the fence.

 

[yummy411]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aziajs You are absolutely right. Schools are going to become more segregated and money is not going to be poured into the schools in poorer neighborhoods to improve them. This really scares me because of the impact it will, potentially, have on higher education. I feel like this country is moving backwards. My mother has been saying that for the last 5 years and I can't believe that I can see it happening before my very eyes. Like Justice Stephen Breyer said, "This is a decision that the court and the nation will come to regret."

thank you! my sentiments exactly..... *wish i had a thank you button*

 

[yummy411]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tash Educating people is the first step to change. Segregation isn't going to make anything better, it's just going to breed more resentment on both sides of the fence.

right, which is why i want to do something and my motto is educate, motivate and activate... teach, plan and JUST DO IT! **uhh wish i had a thank you button for Tash**

 

[TIERAsta]

You know, I saw this on the news last night. It was really quite disturbing. The right answer seems so obvious, make ALL the schools of a higher and equal quality so all of our country's children can have the best education possible.

 

[Tash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yummy411 right, which is why i want to do something and my motto is educate, motivate and activate... teach, plan and JUST DO IT! **uhh wish i had a thank you button for Tash**

I've never understood why people complain about things, but then do nothing to change them. I can understand if you actually physically can't do anything to change a situation, but when you can, that's what frustrates me. I'm glad that you're taking the initiative to do something about the problem because it really shows a lot about your character. If people spent the amount of time they do complaining on fixing the problem, then we'd be all set

Sorry, just one of my pet peeves.

 

[Beauty Mark]

The thing about pumping money into these schools is that some of the problems within the schools start at home. Kids are taught apathy or to coast by. There was a charter school, where the kids were given lap tops and presumably a better education, but they did no better than anyone else in anything.

A lot of people think teachers are the problem, which they may be. However, a lot of times, teachers are trying to keep the peace in the classroom without stepping on parents' toes too much. I've seen so many teachers yelled at by parents after school, and there have been news stories about knives and such being pulled on teachers for disciplining the kid (detention). The quality teachers are not going to want to teach there.

With discipline problem students, they get sent to alternative schools (at least in my area). The district has to pay for these alternative schools, which are basically all sorts of thug kids who are probably going to end up in jail or killed sitting around, getting somewhat of an education when the teacher isn't trying to separate fights. Knowing the number of students who went to those schools, I think my district lost a lot of money in that.

The moral of story is a lot of the problems start at home. If people would start raising their kids properly, things would be better. Inner city school A might not be as good as wealthy suburb school A, but the playing ground would be a lot more even.

I went to a very bad school, so I'm not blowing smoke up your ass. It's just not an easy problem to solve, since you can't really make people raise their kids right. I admire teachers who willingly put themselves in these teaching situations, but I totally understand why many choose not to. I didn't even go into the absurd amount of bureaucracy and the shitty pay. I think you could pump in billions of dollars and that might change anything.

 

[lipstickandhate]

Schooling doesn't matter when children come from broken homes. A teacher and a new McGraw Hill textbook cannot make up for the other 20 hours of the day the kid is subjected to drug use, bad parenting, gang activity, and pandering social dialogue.

 

[lipstickandhate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by giz2000 While that idea would work in the ideal world, this is the real world, and money & politics rule. That translates into: poor neighborhoods, less money for everything (because lower income people pay lower taxes). Social services, education - you name it, it is of much more poorer quality in the low-income neighborhoods. Then you also have apathy set in (the "why should I care if no one else cares" attitude) and that doesn't help anyone at all.

Sorry but there are way more social services available to the average citizen in Bushwick than to those on the Upper East Side. Whether or not the Bushwick average citizen utilizes them to their advantage and actually benefits in any meaningful way from them, however, is somthing else.