Today's battle in classrooms: Resegregation

[The1calledTKE]

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CNN) -- Two black and two white students sit around a table at Central High School and speak in glowing terms about the racial climate and quality of education at their school -- the only working school designated a National Historic Site.

Little Rock's Central High is hallowed ground for America's civil rights activists. It became a flashpoint in 1957 when, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregated schools unconstitutional, President Eisenhower dispatched paratroopers and federalized the state's National Guard to protect nine African-Americans selected to attend the high school.

"In my opinion, we all work closely together," says Richard Torrance, an African-American senior. "We communicate outside of school at events, at sports. Here at Central it's so large that you have to interact or you'll be alone."

But while Central High students sound upbeat about harmony in the hallways, legal and social activists warn that a problem from the past may return to the classrooms in Little Rock and the rest of the nation.

The percentage of white children enrolled in America's public schools -- 60 percent in 2001-2002 -- is 7 percentage points less than a decade before, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The Little Rock School District is increasingly becoming racially imbalanced as white parents enroll their children in private and suburban public schools in greater numbers each year. Little Rock's population is 55 percent white and 40 percent African-American. Black students, however, make up about 70 percent of the Little Rock School District's public classrooms, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

for full article see....

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/15/sc...ion/index.html

[Phasad1913]

Originally posted by The1calledTKE
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CNN) -- Two black and two white students sit around a table at Central High School and speak in glowing terms about the racial climate and quality of education at their school -- the only working school designated a National Historic Site.

Little Rock's Central High is hallowed ground for America's civil rights activists. It became a flashpoint in 1957 when, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregated schools unconstitutional, President Eisenhower dispatched paratroopers and federalized the state's National Guard to protect nine African-Americans selected to attend the high school.

"In my opinion, we all work closely together," says Richard Torrance, an African-American senior. "We communicate outside of school at events, at sports. Here at Central it's so large that you have to interact or you'll be alone."

But while Central High students sound upbeat about harmony in the hallways, legal and social activists warn that a problem from the past may return to the classrooms in Little Rock and the rest of the nation.

The percentage of white children enrolled in America's public schools -- 60 percent in 2001-2002 -- is 7 percentage points less than a decade before, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The Little Rock School District is increasingly becoming racially imbalanced as white parents enroll their children in private and suburban public schools in greater numbers each year. Little Rock's population is 55 percent white and 40 percent African-American. Black students, however, make up about 70 percent of the Little Rock School District's public classrooms, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

for full article see....

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/15/sc...ion/index.html

lol @ no responses.

[Optimist Prime]

You know what really pisses me off? Private school tax vouchers. That tax money goes to public schools. If people were less assholes about paying taxes, there would be a lot less problems. Taxes are a good thing. Taxes keep our military employed, they keep our roads paved, and they keep our schools from being substandard. When people stop paying school tax, the avereage student becomes dumber, and that makes us look bad as a country.

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by Optimist Prime
You know what really pisses me off? Private school tax vouchers. That tax money goes to public schools. If people were less assholes about paying taxes, there would be a lot less problems. Taxes are a good thing. Taxes keep our military employed, they keep our roads paved, and they keep our schools from being substandard. When people stop paying school tax, the avereage student becomes dumber, and that makes us look bad as a country.

Question? Do parents who send their children to private school not pay taxes for schools?

Where I live education taxes are included in your property tax, so whether your child attends a public or private school everyone pays.

[33girl]

No, if you send your kids to private school you still pay public school tax. However, when people get vouchers I believe they come out of the school tax fund.

I hate vouchers too though, for what it's worth. It sends a terrible message to your child of "if something needs improvement, just walk away instead of trying to fix it." Not to mention that unless you are in a city it's totally farkin' useless - the only thing where I grew up that wasn't public was a Catholic school and I don't understand the concept of sending your kids to a school that is of a religion you don't practice (although apparently many parents do .)

[madmax]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
Question? Do parents who send their children to private school not pay taxes for schools?

Where I live education taxes are included in your property tax, so whether your child attends a public or private school everyone pays.

Not if they get a voucher that equals the amount of taxes paid. If you pay X in school taxes and then get a voucher for X amount that you use to send you kid to private school, you paid nothing for the public school.

[Lady Pi Phi]

How do they determine who gets these vouchers?

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
How do they determine who gets these vouchers?

I think it's based on if a neighborhood school is considered failing, which they based on test scores. If a school "fails" for more than two consecutive years, and doesn't improve at all, the students' parents get the option of using vouchers.

This whole thing came about well after I graduated from HS, so I may be wrong.

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by Munchkin03
I think it's based on if a neighborhood school is considered failing, which they based on test scores. If a school "fails" for more than two consecutive years, and doesn't improve at all, the students' parents get the option of using vouchers.

This whole thing came about well after I graduated from HS, so I may be wrong.

Well if a school is considered failing, maybe they should look at the teachers instead of handing out vouchers.
Vouchers just don't sound right to me.

[Sistermadly]

The thing is though, no amount of "fixing" is fixing these troubled schools. Why should a bright but underprivileged student have to suffer just because his parents can't afford to live in a better school zone?

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
Well if a school is considered failing, maybe they should look at the teachers instead of handing out vouchers.
Vouchers just don't sound right to me.

I don't agree with them either, and I didn't vote for them--but then again, I graduated from one of the state's best districts, so it was never an issue here.

School segregation still exists--now more in the form of socioeconomics than race. But it's segregation the same, with the same results.

[DZHBrown]

I'm for vouchers if they can be applied equitably. In either Milwaukee or Cleveland, the vouchers had to be applied for and were then distributed on a lottery basis. Those who are eligible for the application have to make below a certain income level. If it is determined that kids would benefit from going to a different school, then it should be available for everyone in that income bracket - not just the ones who were lucky enough to know about the applications and then get picked out of the lottery.

Of course, the best answer is to improve the schools and a variety of other measures that won't be taking place anytime soon. I don't think there is a quick fix answer, but something needs to happen to change the future of the schools and education in general.

[33girl]

Originally posted by Sistermadly
The thing is though, no amount of "fixing" is fixing these troubled schools. Why should a bright but underprivileged student have to suffer just because his parents can't afford to live in a better school zone?

Because as I stated, in a LOT of areas of the country, the only private schools nearby are religion based, and I think it's BS that public $$$ be used to foster the teaching of religion.

And if you need to travel too far - I'm sorry, but I don't think that having to transport a 6 year old an hour one way every morning and every night contributes to his learning or his general health, no matter how damn good the school is when he gets there.

What I am trying to say is if you're in NYC or Chicago and there's zillions of schools one on top of the other it can maybe be beneficial - but other than that, it sucks.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by 33girl
Because as I stated, in a LOT of areas of the country, the only private schools nearby are religion based, and I think it's BS that public $$$ be used to foster the teaching of religion.

And if you need to travel too far - I'm sorry, but I don't think that having to transport a 6 year old an hour one way every morning and every night contributes to his learning or his general health, no matter how damn good the school is when he gets there.

What I am trying to say is if you're in NYC or Chicago and there's zillions of schools one on top of the other it can maybe be beneficial - but other than that, it sucks.

I travelled an hour and a half each way to high school.

By the way vouchers only would help the wealthy and educated - the kind of folk who know their children will have more opportunities if they study and stay involved with their children.

-Rudey

[33girl]

Originally posted by Rudey
I travelled an hour and a half each way to high school.

By the way vouchers only would help the wealthy and educated - the kind of folk who know their children will have more opportunities if they study and stay involved with their children.

-Rudey

Man that sucks!! Were you going from the city to the country or how? At that age I think it would be dealable - you can do homework and such - but the picture I have in mind is little kids over miles of farmland and BAD weather, cause that's what my hometown is like.

And I agree that vouchers mainly help the wealthy.