Supreme Court Decision: Limiting Racial Diversity in Public Schools

[Conskeeted7]

Shinerbock - I think that the solution comes from recognizing the true problem. And, in my opinion, it has nothing to do with race. It's all about economics.

I was educated in a school system that was majority Black. So, race had nothing to do with one school being better than any other. However, there were vast differences in the schools based on the neighborhoods. The resources were simply not available to the students in the poor neighborhoods.

For example, we had computers in the classroom since at least 4th grade (I went to a k-8). We also had a golf team, tennis team, and annual trips that required passports. We had new school books every year, a huge gym and auditorium and just a pretty school building in general.

My mom was a guidance counselor in a low income area and the school was using books I'd used in 5th grade for their 7th grade class. There weren't enough desks for all of the students. The gym didn't even have nets in the basketball hoops. There were only jump ropes and basketballs. Those students weren't given an opportunity to excel. Those that did well were still not doing what their peers across the city were doing. The standard of excellence was unrealistically low, setting these children up for failure.

This was all in the same school district. If we had been forced to 'share the wealth' there wouldn't have been just 1 or 2 good schools in the district. We all could have gone to good schools. So, my solution is equal funding and opportunity to all schools within a district. If there are programs or classes offered at one school but not another, allow students to be bussed half days for them. Just give them the access. It's unfair to expect students at lesser performing schools to succeed when we're not giving them the same tools as those who are succeeding.