I thought today's discussion stemming from the reading of "Segregated Schools" was a healthy start to talking about issues of race and education. I especially appreciated the honesty of participants in describing their own experiences, or in some cases, lack of experiences. I hope that we can build on that conversation as the months progress.
I thought it might be helpful to provide some links, especially for those outside Oregon, to get a better sense of Oregon's school financial issues and demographics.
First, the House overrode the governor's veto of the school budget, which essentially sets the amount school districts will be receiving. Here is the latest:
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/06/house_overrides_school_budget.html
While this is generally good news for Oregon students (and prospective teachers!), it's still disappointing that the Legislature wasn't brave enough to cut more tax breaks and raise taxes on beer, wine and cigarettes.
Here is a link to the story about the proposed reform of Portland high schools that we discussed:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/06/portland_high_school_overhaul.html
Portland School District has tried a variety of high school reforms, particularly in its so-called failing high schools, in the 15 years I've lived here. None has succeeded.
Finally, I thought folks might be interested in the demographics of the school where you will be interning. If you go to this link, you should be able to look up your school and learn about both your ethnic makeup.
http://www.ode.state.or.us/sfda/reports/r0067Select2.asp
Thanks, Michael
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Thanks for the links! I just finished reading the chapters for tomorrow (Tuesday) and I thought that maybe we could put together a list of questions/issues to discuss in tomorrow's class. I found the last three chapters really interesting, especially the last chapter where the author put the issue of school inequalities in a larger context and talked about some of the larger systemic issues. The book as a whole really does paint a pretty bleak (though realistic, in my opinion) outlook on the American education system, but does offer the slightest bit of hope in the final pages. He talks about the need to educate students about "the savage inequalities of American life" and challenge them to propose alternatives. I would be really interested in discussing how these types of issues can be addressed in an elementary classroom. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteI looked at the demographics for three schools in my neighborhood within blocks of each other (8 to be precise), and the stats are shocking! Trillium has 24% minority while Ockley Green (4 blocks north) has 77% and Beach (another 4 blocks south) 81%. What is going on? And why are all these schools so close to each other?
ReplyDeleteI keep turning Jen's question over in my head, and I'm not sure these issues can be addressed in the classroom. I think these need to be dealt with in the public/political arena. At the same time, it depends on what kind of classroom you have. I'll be teaching in a dual immersion program this year, and I'm really eager to see what the students are like. I'd love to come back to this topic once we've started teaching.