Author Archives: Benjamin Seidman

Higher education is not only important in terms of job creation and academic research, it is a political advantage over many other nations. People’s of the world venture to the United States in order to study at some of the most prestigious universities and colleges in the world which are situated on American soil. Thus, cuts to higher education do not work in America’s favor. Both domestically and internationally. Education, especially higher education is the lifeline to our prosperous nation. It gives degrees to those living the American dream and offers massive services to our students trying to further their educations and futures.

Accountability is something that is misused and often misinterpreted when it comes to education. More often than not, it hurts rather than helps our schools. Incentive based programs, I believe can only help a school so much before it starts to hurt them.

I believe that more educational institutions of higher education need to be opened up across the country to make bachelor and associate degrees more readily available to our citizens because without these degrees, out citizens will be unable to attain professional jobs. Yes, many Americans cannot afford higher education and many do not need these degrees for their line of work but there is no reason why higher education cannot be made available to all Americans, not just the rich ones. Rich is clearly not an indicator of intelligence. We are a free country with equal opportunity for every race, class and gender. Lets open up our classroom doors to all and see what happens.

Parental involvement in a child’s education is obviously a key ingredient in the success or failure of a child’s educational development. As we have discussed in class, the home is almost, if not more so important than the school building. Parental involvement is not just going to cheer for your child’s soccer game or going to P.T.A meetings or going with your child’s class on field trips. More important than any of that is showing encouragement to your child by surrounding your child with educational opportunities.

Even President Obama said in his most recent (or second most recent state of the union) that education starts at the home! No matter what a school can do, if the child does not have parents that care for the education of their child, they will not succeed academically. It is not a fact, it is simply my theory that is supported by my life experience.

The question I have to anyone who cares to respond is: what can be done to educate parents on the opportunities and activities they can participate in to help shape their children’s education and effectively, their knowledge? Second, what do you think is a more effective way of showing support: Simply showing up for P.T.A meetings (and not contributing but also showing support by being there) or surrounding your child with educational resources and outlets outside of school (ie; books, museum trips)? By the way, I’m not saying that one is a negative – I do believe that both are positives in the support of a child’s education – but I do want to know whether people think one is more important than the other on a larger scale.

We dabbled into the matter of standardized testing last class and I felt that knowledge helped me segway into this next dilemma. In these chapters we learn that schools that are penalized for not reaching a certain requirement for test scores, namely AYP, are negatively impacted. They are given sanctions. This goes against what I thought was a “moral education”, if there is such a term. It goes against my own view of compassion and it feels as if the legislation of NCLB is trying to keep the bottom at the bottom. These kids are put in classes called LEP, standing for Limited English Proficiency. This is ridiculous, in my opinion. To have a group called this, we are telling are children that they are limited! This is America where you work your way up and you can live the American Dream with some hard work and sacrifice. Its backwards.

In that respect, NCLB offers no hope to struggling schools and students. It simply leaves these schools to rot. Yes, it encourages schools to raise their student’s test scores but at the same time, that school is probably losing some of it’ best students by way of transfer.

Chapter 4 talks more about this disconnect between society and the bodies that govern education. Since we started this class I have called for the voice of students and teachers alike to be heard in these decision-making places of NCLB legislation. Because, I don’t think that students or teachers would have come up with NCLB if they had the choice. I think they should be the ones with more of a decision because they are the ones in the classrooms 5 days a week, all day long. Not the board members sitting in their offices all day long. Shouldn’t a teacher at a school or a principal be a board member? They clearly won’t understand the key issues if they don’t even work in that environment.

This leads me to a larger question which is: Is standardized testing really an effective measure of a given student’s educational capacity? A student might be able to think and reason better than another but not be able to write in script at the age of 10. Presumably, this would be because of bad instruction. My point is that NCLB fails to help; it only hurts.

Two words came to mind throughout my read this chapter: backwards and impersonal.

Backwards because it takes away from the true meaning of an education. Education consists of giving – and receiving – education, according to an array of different dictionaries. The idea that schools should be teaching toward a test takes away from the creativity and innovation of both the students and the teachers (which are interchangeable) in the classroom. Schools have to survive by teaching their children specific curriculum to pass certain tests but this only limits the abilities of our youngsters. It might be an accurate method of measuring the grade levels of the students, but every school is different, and for good reason. The whole system is backwards because the purpose of the education system is flawed. Everyone is a slave to the system instead of using their own imaginations.

I say impersonal for mostly the same reason. Everyone, every school essentially becomes a statistic instead of a living, breathing focal piece of the education system. For America to truly value their children, they need to listen to them, like Kozol said repeatedly throughout his book. If we listen to each other, I do not think we can go wrong. The system in place displays way to much power by the central government. The people in the schools that are teaching the curriculum need to be making these decisions on a situation by situation basis.

What NCLB really is, as the chapter explains, is segregation. Segregation of how one child did on a test score over another. Potential is something that cannot easily be measured and something that goes completely overlooked the NCLB legislation. High scorers on the test can learn from low test scorers and vice versa. No doubt about it.

Punishing the weak and favoring the poor is not a good policy. Inundating the struggling with programs, funding and support is the least we can do to give our children the best possible educations.

“The average member of the community does not have the training necessary to make correct educational decisions.”

The notion of distrust runs in our own very people is what shined through in this chapter. I was struck by these words when I read them because they take away the humanity in education. Education is about learning from others and teaching others. There is no one way about it. In Kozol’s book, he tells us that one of his overall goal’s was to share the perspective of the students. After all, they are the brave individuals enduring the harsh realities of American education. Yes, much time has elapsed, but I often feel like nothing has changed. I know that Lessinger was comparing this to a hospital but education is not a science, it is a way of life. Something that starts at the home and something that is ingrained in us.

By self-righteously separating himself into a class of so called “experts” he deems that no one else has a valid opinion. That the mass population can complain all they want but it will not make a difference. If we can’t be involved in creating and sustaining out own educations, it takes a great amount of the motivation and involvement out of going to school.

This idea gave way to a system in which we are judged through are accomplishments and failures. I don’t know who said it, but I think we learn more from out failures than our accomplishments. Just saying, Lessinger. Education cannot be a science. If it is, than what is really the point of the class I’m taking right now? Every individual has a story, a method of learning that needs to be exposed. No one should be a statistic when it comes to something that many people consider one of the most important things in life. As I was walking through the Baruch cafeteria under the library the other day, I heard a mother say to what seemed sounded like her child, “….and what is the most important thing about school–your education.”

I believe that this mentality led to America’s downfall in the education sector and that we can’t be too arrogant. We must accept that we can learn from other cultures. We are a young nation and we must learn from our elders and those that have more experience. Nationalism is good for some things, but not all.

Savage Inequalities is written from an experienced, well thought out, educated perspective. Jonathan Kozol, a Harvard Graduate and Rhodes scholar knew that for his work to be considered legitimate, he would have to devote years of his life to visiting dozens of schools across America. In doing so, he finds some glaring differences in the well-being of our education system.

The differences between rich and poor, white and black are shown through quality of education and living as well as solid figures like: Dropout rates, school funding, children absences, reading levels, teacher absences, physical conditions of school buildings, health related risks, SAT statistics,

The contrasts lead us to one obvious assumption. Racism still exists because someone isn’t doing anything about this. It soon becomes clear to the reader that Kozol believes that money is the one difference that always separates these schools. “If we are the wealthiest nation in the world, why don’t we shower these neighborhoods with programs, give them everything they need”, he proclaimed at one of his speeches.

Here are some of his speeches to look at. He is brilliant in his stance.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=YDMEFUWnxKs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=TQsoU6CyGQw&feature=related

Kozol is a humble individual with big intentions. He cannot understand why America is the way it is and forces his audience to look at themselves in the mirror.

I firmly agree with Tatum that prejudice of other races, colors and nationalities are difficult to escape in the society we live in today. The media relies on stereotypes to pull in viewers. Stereotypes are what make television enjoyable. For this to be changed, we need to find another method of humor because clearly stereotyping races is damaging kid’s perception of other races.

However, as we have discussed in previous classes, the FCC can only do so much to limit the content of televised programs and this would not be possible. Therefore, I like the reeducation model, illustrated by Tatum, which proposes that we reassess our own prejudices and examine our thought processes.  It is clear that only with careful self-reflection can we fully eliminate racism from out communities.

As displayed through many of Tatum’s examples, racism is still clearly an issue today. Whether it is at the workplace, purchasing a home, hailing a cab or any other aspect of day to day life, it still affects the decisions we make. It shouldn’t. Tatum says that most people say they are not racist or prejudiced against any race but the only way to really be non-racist or non-prejudiced is to take the time to calculate your actions to make certain that you are not in any way acting racist.

However, as much as I respect her view, I do strongly disagree with her definition of racism and the idea that racism is limited to the majority. In my opinion, racism is applicable to anyone who believes they are better than another race. Racism is not only a manifestation of power over another race; it is a perception, a thought that you are better than another. A distorted process of thought which allows you to reason uncontrollably. Therefore, Tatum, you are incorrect in my view.

And to add to Tatum’s discussion of Who Am I? in Part II I believe that best way to go about grouping yourself is to group yourself as loosely as possible with any race. In America specifically, we are usually made up of many different backgrounds. It is important to recognize and appreciate your heritage but the more you identify with one race or another, the more separate you are from another race. To be a human amongst all other humans is the best way to think of yourself because then we are all of one, human race.

The changes to the education system in the 60’s, made possible by brace civil rights movement supporters, altered the course of our history. If it wasn’t for their bravery, who knows when this corruption would have come to an end. It changed American education from segregated to multicultural. It opened up our students to equality in the education system and opened doors. In retrospect, this should have happened much earlier but this opportunity gave us real equality and real democracy for the first time in American history.

Just as the Acts were passed, the methods of teaching were changed and more languages were taught as a result. This is so important because it made America more of an international country, effectively opening our children up to a world of opportunities, not just a country.

While the equality process took a long time, starting from the end of World War II and still continuing to this day, it is what makes this country great and free from all mankind. The struggles black children endured entering white school was not all for nothing. They changed a society forever. The culture wars, the movements, the casualties, the marches, they were not for nothing. They all changed the world and formed the world we now live in today.

Education and military is a tricky combination to me. I think that making the option of entering the military is not only justified but it is also necessary to the continuation and ultimately, defense of this nation. Being a soldier or being of any rank in the military comes with great benefits. Obviously, being a soldier can be dangerous and since the beginning of time there has always been war so the conflict of interest is unavoidable. We don’t want to put our children on the front lines, but we have to and our nation’s technology is good enough that we limit casualties to a very small war in the wars we fight. The hard part with education and the military is whether the military should be encouraged. I think that high school students should be educated about the military because it is a duty that will fit some people but kids not fit for the military should not be coerced into becoming a soldier.

The No Child Left Behind Act failed miserably. Someone posted earlier that it gave everyone a chance but since it was enacted by the Bush administration is has done little to help the education system in this country.

After the Cold War, the defense became a part of education and kids started learning based on what the government told them. They got in their ear. We are a free society, not one that brainwashes its kids. In retrospect, I believe that this should have been avoided but it was a psychological crisis for Americans and the prospect of warfare must have spooked people. Overall, I think that education and military should be separate but connected through small channels. Military and nationalistic views cannot take over the classroom.

I think that there needs to be a fine line between education and culture. There are intertwined, of course. Students are brought to museums and the movies by their teachers but I do not think it is the purpose of the government of higher level education officials to promote overly censored products of culture. I am one to advocate for more exposure for kids, even if they hear a curse word out of their favorite celebrity. I think that kids need some sort of censorship, yes, but it is not the job of the movie industry to hide children from this and that. There is a lot to learn from movies, radios and comic books. The extent to which they censored these medias were overly ridiculous. I understand putting in the rating system for movies but controlling the content of books is just extreme, almost communist! Now kids see traumatizing ads that say, “don’t smoke” on the subways and big pictures of Simpson. Why isn’t anything being said about, because those people have too much money to mess with them. You can’t really change what culture wants its citizens to see, it will happen one way or another because images are not only physical images, they are ideas and notions and will permeate society. Trying to control this is just a lost cause and an unfair exercise of power.