Extended Comments: Danielle's Blog

Hi Danielle,

Although up until now I had never read any of Kozol’s work, I can see how his powerful message resonated with you. I agree that it is important to actually go into the field and ask people who are actually living the problem, in this case children, how they feel about the so called inequities that they are experiencing, in this case demonstrated in their schooling. In my experience, children are the most honest because they have no preconceived notions and are not restricted by what they should say to be politically correct.

In your blog, you mentioned how people who have privilege and power chose to “not send their children to the public school system, especially in inner city schools” and that this creates segregation in schools. To some degree I agree that is true in inner city schools, but also wonder how much segregation in other areas is caused by parental choice and how much is driven by geographic location. For example; Families many only have one choice; to send their child to a school that is within their town and if the town’s population is 97% black, then naturally the schools’ student population will also reflect these same demographics. This is definitely the case in the small town where I live, where nearly all of the residents are white and so are the students who attend the one elementary/middle school. This example shows a school which is totally segregated, but not by parents’ choice of school, rather their choice of where they live, and I’m sure the same is reflected across much of the country.

I am so glad that you included a link to Oprah's 'Trading Schools' piece which I have seen before but still got worked up about what I watched it back again. It ties in so well with Kozol's article by highlighting the 'glaring inequalities in the two schools'. Not only did the students see the materialistic differences between the two schools, the clip also showed the basic need of safety being called into question when the students from the wealthy neighborhood had to pass through the metal detectors at the lower income school. My heart went out to the student who noticed how the curriculum was so much more rigorous than at her school, and even though she was an A student, she wondered how she would cope if she went to the other school. Lastly, this clip highlighted the lack of AP classes at the lower income school and how that naturally stunts the academic growth of some students who have the ability to strive for more. It connects very well to Kozol's article where he talks about high school students from low-income areas who are forced to take classes in sewing and hairdressing instead of taking AP classes as they wanted to because there was a shortage of AP classes. It is so sad that these children are never even given a chance to fulfill their dreams.

Lastly, I am very impressed with your use of technology and would really appreciate it if you could explain to me how to get everyone’s blog link onto my blog. See you tomorrow!