Author Archives: db113308

This chapter focuses on America competing in the global market by way of reforming the education system. In order to successful reform public schools: discipline will have to be considered. Discipline can be easily obtained through religion.

Religion in schools on many levels assist with structure and appreciation and this in return produces better performance in schools. Religion in general helps mold individuals to become good citizens by instilling good moral behaviors. In many education systems around the world religion is integrated into the learning process. Whether it is morning prayer or reading scripture or religion as a civics it’s a necessary discipline. In order to achieve pluralistic society other societies believe religion should be a part of public education.

In Germany it is believed that religion is a private matter like the U.S., but it is also thought to be a state’s responsibility to develop the whole child. The education system there allows for students to explore their own religion and become tolerant to others. The reasoning behind allowing religion in school is to encourage multiculturalism. Germany government has allowed for Christianity, Judaism and is moving towards Islam being taught in schools. The only religious boundary the government has enforced is found on the national and political arena. Germany doesn’t permit the display of symbols on political, government or national emblems. In the U.S. we do display religious symbols on the national level, yet we don’t allow for religious observations in schools.

In this chapter we are given the reasoning behind the U.S. shift from religion in schools to becoming religious on occasion. It’s understandable why the transition took place due to the earlier religious freedom struggles. Currently we are a diverse society and acknowledging religion in public education can only make for united society, in which we all need to live with one another. In my opinion religion taught for history purposes is not enough. If we want to build American patriotism we need to acknowledge the faith that makes up the population.

 How can parents stay committed to our public education system if religion in education is censored? People feel the need to be a part of some organized groups and at times it is through religious outlets. By leaving parents torn between enrolling their children into religious institutions are we really encouraging pluralism in our society?

Federal and state government should fund Higher Education especially in these economic times. Dollars should be spent more in this area because it will help with innovation, which in turn can help turn the economy around. Its a proven fact that when the economy is bad more entrepreneurs emerge. America is the land of innovation many contributors to our economy advancement were  products of CUNY. An example of how CUNY changed lives can be thought of when you think of the success of New York Jews it was a great education outlet for them and the same can apply for current immigrants.  People have obtained the American dream through CUNY with its flaws and all

Carolina, brought up an excellent point in class about taking away finanical aid from the students that abuse it. If the government is looking to cut education spending it should be for those individuals, but not for those who need it the most and keep their GPA intact.

As the old cliche goes experience is the best teacher and it can be applied parent involvement reading. Through my experience parents in minority schools enjoy complaining rather than channeling their energy towards bringing change through collectively working together. In fairness not all parents fall into the above assertion of complaining and doing nothing. Those parents that value education and have endured their own obstacles in pursuit of it are the exception. I find with these parents no matter how hectic their life are they will stop at nothing to be an intergal part of their child’s education.

One area in the reading that focus on the reasons why parents my feel comfortable being involved is the section titled Sense of Welcome.  I think there were some great points made on why parents may value their child education and how this may determine the level of their involvement. The section further discusses how sending correspondence in native languages may encourage those same parents. All true, but the adverse has to be spotlighted as well, which is some schools intentionally don’t want parents to can get involved.

Minority parents tend to be the victims of schools not welcoming them in fear they will see and know how these schools are actually being ruined. As parents their lays a right to end it corruption in these schools. Schools are continuing to enforce the unwritten rule: the less parents involved the better. Parents need to educate themselves on the policies that are in place so they can began to mobilize in schools. They don’t need their personal monies because its in the budget for them already to be involved outside of motivating their kids.

I know during our class discussion some of  us thought its was a good idea to send correspondences in some of the languages found in the school, but not others. If an exception is made for one group it should be made for all. This is another tool schools use to exclude parents and stop them from becoming involved. Parents need to really wake up.

Stan Karp did a good job on correlating external and internal factors that give off the disparities that have driven the inequalities within schools. Karp expanded in the areas of school vouchers, cutting off the arts, and money being spent wastefully on collecting data. There are core needs and priorities that are being ignored. We have children living in extreme poverty, but we are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on education research whiles we can be bring big social change in communities.

 Often you hear about prospective programs in education you know it wouldn’t work and you think who would think of initiating such an effort. To our dismay these programs are started and fail putting us further behind in reforming our schools.  No child left behind is actually doing the adverse and further crippling our school system as Kohn mentioned in chapter 5.

School curriculums are not meeting the demands of the standardized exams. Those students who do well are given a voucher to go to a private school.  By supporting private schools a message is being sent we don’t believe enough in public schools, how damaging. Where the focus and monies should be instead of paying private tuition is in bringing unemployment down in areas where it is highest. Giving children good health intervention, so they don’t have to miss school because of asthma.  Get rid of lead poison in building so the kids can actually focus in school. Stop mandating Adequate Yearly Progress because there is no real progress until we face these core problems.

 In beginning we learned the fundamentals of why public schools were started. It was geared towards patriotism and helping the poor rise up against poverty. Today that cause is lost according to Meier. Schools are busy, but not producing. The government needs to foster collectiveness and stop encouraging separation. Separation is being encourage through the many school alternatives presented to families when things do not work out in their schools.  In order to fix these problem we need to bring zone schools together by holding the whole district accountable for individual school failures.

In Chapter 5, Alfie Kohn describes the inequalities that standardized test imposes on families and students. Recently, an article I read in the New York Times titled “Lost in the school choice Maze” also highlighted how standardized test have caused school choice obstacles for even the brightest of students. The article exemplifies that America core issues in education are being ignored. More monies need to be put into creating the necessary space and quality education that all students can patronize. According to the article 8, 000 plus students are left without high school placement for the fall. Can anyone say overcrowding?

As the students and families try to maneuver the undesired academically segregated schools found in their given districts and communities. Talented minority students are second guessing themselves when they are not accepted to the school of their choice. Reason being standardize exams holds more importance than other factors as in school performance. Especially now with the NCLB this fact has become more apparent.

The application process emplaced can easily be compared to the entrance process found in specialized public high schools.  The schools are requesting of students the heavily weighed standardized test, but are not limited to just excellent in school grades, exams, essays and parents must attend tours and open-houses as well.

The people mainly impacted by the requirements are minorities. Many minorities are at a disadvantage due to the priority given to applicants who are zoned for the better schools. Parents find it overwhelming because they are unprepared and not armed for the process because they have not acquired the knowledge to be the best activists for their kids. Parents need to be accountable for their children education too. Not being in the know of the federal policies that shape the local systems is a true problem a point brought up in this chapter.

When families feel their local community schools cannot produce the quality education they need for their kids an option is made available. I say don’t give an option  let the kids stay in their zone schools so communities will start to standup for their kids’ education. This would force the government to regulate the public schools better. If the focus on improving public schools is not channeled soon privatizing public schools will not look so distant. Why not spend money on the communities that needs it the most and hold those in charge accountable for their results. By giving the options of vouchers and encouraging  families to apply for schools outside of their zone it doesn’t solve the underlining problems.

So, I ask should families be given the option to remove their child from a public school that is not doing too well, due  to their standardized test scores to another that is doing well outside of their community? Would limiting the options of school choice reduce the crippling of America’s public school education today?

This chapter narrowed it down to the early struggles and the birth of the teacher unions.  It’s been a long time since teacher unions were established, but teacher’s wages and their right to organize as public servants are being debuted, still today. You have a bill in Ohio being considered and protests in Wisconsin all on the basis of collective bargaining. Those places may seem far, but we all need to be worried. This can cause a domino effect if these bills are passed in those states. And hit close to home.

Unions for the purpose of school teachers are essential in America because of their mission to protect teachers and the public right to an education.  Teachers help bring the best out of children and in my opinion they should be among the highest paid professionals, like other successful school systems found around the world.

Meritocracy and reducing political influence in school seems fair enough. This approach is relevant as the previous blogger mentioned all schools don’t teach the same material. To expand on this, all schools don’t serve the same demographic of children, and depending on the location have the same special needs. Who better to asses the needs of their schools than administrators? 

On the topic of eugenics. The argument made by Laughlin that the state has the due responsibility to minimize the reproduction of “feeble minded,”was shocking. Now this is what I call intruding of  family and human rights. In the instance the person is mentally incapable to make decisions of their own the individual family should have a choice for their destiny. The reasoning behind sterilization was to have superior intellects in society was so absurd, I thought. Laughlin clearly didn’t have a conscious and having mentally challenged individuals in a society is a demonstration the world is not perfect. Excepting of diversity of all kind is important for society to advance. To have government decide on education is one thing, but to determine if you will have off-springs is not government’s place. So, I ask do you think it would have been a good idea to contunie with the practice of eugenics in the United States? and how this if at all would have improve the educational system?

Human capital is essential to the success of any nation. In the case of the United States the motive behind the public high school, I thought was a good one. Tomorrow workers need the necessary tools to secure capital, which in turn helps fuel economic growth. If we look at countries such as China where the wealth is increasing and the infrastructure is improving, this is an example of a government wanting to see their country improve as a whole. In China more money is being put into education as oppose to being cut. If you don’t value the youth, this hinders the progress of a society. Anytime there is, a crisis education is the first to be considered for a cut. America needs to become more community orientated and this would be the bases for long-term change.

How can the youth of America be enthusiastic about education when the government cannot provide a full fledge education for them?

The focus for what is necessary in this nation needs to be refocused. This chapter does a good job in highlighting those areas.

In this chapter “School Cafeterias, The American Cuisine and Processed Foods,” grabbed my attention.  Who would have thought the common school could be credited for initiating the processed food movement? Moreover, credited for people not wanting to cook at home in America. In addition to the movement, we can thank Ellen Richard’s for setting the standards for bland foods in hospitals and schools. According to her, prepackaged foods were a better alternative to preparing food yourself.  

Thank goodness, things are changing for the better with the popularity of farm fresh foods and locals supporting community support agriculture. Mainstream companies have had their share of influencing consumers and contributing to obesity in America. Okay, maybe we can’t give the food giants full credit for the dismay. The government has been a contributor in the poor food choices of Americans too.

 Things are slowly changing for the better, now as people are resorting to healthier food choices on their own. After reading this chapter I was left with the notion-should we continue to allow schools to determine what we should eat in higher education setting?  In the lower schools should parents be provided with alternative options for their children especially with those with religious and special dietary needs? After-all, isn’t it our tax dollars?

At least we can give Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg for banning Trans fat in public eateries.

The processes of segregation among Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, African Americans and Puerto Ricans differed, but the results has had the same impact on putting these communities at a disadvantage, today. All these communities are attempting to close the educational performing gaps that were widened by segregation.

Let’s take the instance of the Mexicans who are direct decedents of Native Indians and Spaniards. The treatment endured by them is disturbing to think about suggesting this nation was created to subdue inequality in religion and welcome freedom of expression. How could the people of this land inflect the same isolation they felt upon them before its formation?

The stripping of Mexicans, Native Indians lands and the displacement of Africans are all obviously negative and unfair. This nation could have been a greater nation after bringing these groups into unwilling situations. For example, if the intention was to bring unity and not segregation through education, we would have a stronger education foundation for all people. The resources used to treat groups inferior, could have been an opportunity to establish a cohesive system earlier on in America. By embracing racial diversity in 19^th century we would have alleviated the problems we are facing in poor performing schools today.  Students from vast backgrounds would be comfortable working with one another because it would be apart of the American culture. The depths of performance gaps would have decreased tremendously.

Generation of collaborations among different ethnicity groups would have yield more productivity among citizens of the land. I wonder if the American educational system were decentralized, and embraced diversity earlier on would this have subdued the racial gaps in performance we see today? These past issues easily lend itself to present day issues in education and in immigration especially in the cause of Mexicans. Now we are faced with states wanting to hire more teachers to improve the school culture, so schools depict the population it serving. Before reading this chapter I did not know the full intensity of how Mexicans have been scorned on their own land. Furthermore, the importance of embracing multiculturalism entirely in a nation.