What About Today?

Segregation in Our Schools Today?

It is commonly thought that schools today are the least segregated they have ever been and will continue to improve as the years go on, however this is sadly not the case. It has been found that today schools are more segregated than they ever were before. Desegregation was first implemented into schools with the passing of Brown v. Board in 1954, which unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional directly overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Furguson. Even with the passing of this law the South continued to segregate their schools for years and needed the force of both the police and military in order to put a stop to the segregation policies. As a result, to desegregation White people began what is called the "white flight", whites move from urban areas (cities) to the suburbs in order to be 'with themselves again'. Another miss conception is that the South is more segregated than anywhere else, however it has been found that the North is actually the most segregated today with the most dramatically segregated states being New York, New Jersey, California, Maryland, and Illinois. Additionally, a commonality which is shared across the whole country is that it is believed that people should have the choice into what policies and laws are implemented within their districts/schools instead of the state and federal government deciding. The biggest contributor to segregation today is that there is an overwhelming want from parents to be able to make their own choices into their child's education in order to reach what they think is best for their kids. In all the want for choice by parents has led to segregation in schools causing schools today to be more segregated than ever before.

The Issues faced today.....

Even today poverty remains a tremendous barrier to the educational success for many children who are in poverty, and those that attend high-poverty districts. The cycle of poverty can significantly increase the rate of lower academic performances from these children, higher dropout rates, and fewer opportunities for higher education after high school (Reuell, 2019). Another issue which is also presented is that schools within impoverished areas typically have fewer resources, overcrowded classrooms, outdated materials, and less opportunities for extracurricular activities for their students (Álvarez, Walker, Long, & Litvinov, 2018). This lack of resources limits the efficiency of teaching and learning for both the teacher and the student, while also making it harder for the students to reach their full academic potential, but also impacts the ability of the teacher to facilitate an environment where children can reach their goals.

Funding

Safety

Discipline

Absence

A more in depth look into things

Funding

It is a universal feeling among educators within the United States that a change needs to be made within their schools in order to provide children with the education they deserve and need. Teachers have stated they should not have to be teaching in classrooms which are overcrowded, have decades old textbooks, leaky ceiling, broken light fixtures, pest infestations, and cuts to basic curriculum due to the school not being able to pull together the funds in order to facilitate the proper learning environments (Álvarez, Walker, Long, & Litvinov, 2018). The biggest contributor to the State public school funding cuts was due to the country wide tax cuts implements, leaving the majority of public schools to have less money available to their schools now then there was before the crash from the Great Recession ten years ago (Álvarez, Walker, Long, & Litvinov, 2018). As of the 2017-2018 school year there was at least 12 states which largely decreased their "general" or "formula" funding which happens to be the form of state support for both elementary and secondary schools. To make matter even worse is the students who end up suffering the worst from these budget cuts are those that are impoverished. The reason this is so problematic for these children us that education is supposed to provide a pathway out of the cycle poverty in which generations of their families have had to go through, therefore making it even more difficult for these kids to end up creating a better life for themselves once they graduate (Álvarez, Walker, Long, & Litvinov, 2018). According to the U.S. Commision on Civil Rights it is not coincidence that low-income students are the ones to end up in the lowest funded schools. These schools are not just the ones that are the least updates, the ate the ones with the least number of supplies, lowest rigor (quality) of curriculum, and the oldest facilities and equipment, again creating another barrier for these students to overcome that students within other districts do not.

Safety

In recent years it has been a big question on how we are going to protect the schools our kids go to, but also how these stressors of potential violence end up impacting our kids during their academic years and after. In 2018 a survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center which concluded that 57% of U.S. teenagers are worried that a shooting could occur within their own school, making it that 1 in every 4 U.S. students is "very worried" about the chance of a school shooting occurring, and that 187,000 U.S. students have been exposed to gun violence in school since Colombine, 1999 (Álvarez, Walker, Long, & Litvinov, 2018). From this data it has been conclude by educators that this anxiety and stress about the 'what would happen' is taking away from the students' abilities to be able to concentrate and learn while in the classroom, therefore directly impacting the academic achievement of these students today and later in the future.

Discipline

Discipline within the education system has always been changing and evolving throughout the years into what is perceived to be acceptable and just for that time period, making educators and officials to always be looking for new solutions and or alternatives for what disciplinary actions should be taken. One alternative which has been implemented in recent years was the Restorative Justice Practices (RJP) which aims to reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions within schools to hopefully increase graduations rates and promote positive changes to students' behaviors (Álvarez, Walker, Long, & Litvinov, 2018). Through these practices it has shown that students are better off in school then they are when they are repeatedly suspended from schools for minor infractions which ultimately open them up to negative situations which can sometimes lead to court involvement, and possibly juvenile time. In all restorative practices have shown to be effective within the education system and help to build communities within the classroom and school by fostering relationships between teacher and students which has shown to directly better the behavior of students within schools because they know someone there cares about them causing them to more often follow the rules and stay in the classroom (Álvarez, Walker, Long, & Litvinov, 2018).

Absence

Directly coming off the discussion before with discipline it has been noticed that students who are typically absent from school are the same ones whose behavior when they attended resulted in detentions, suspicions, and even trouble with the police. To put this into perspective the amount of school that needs to be missed to be considered to be an issue is defined as missing 10% of more of the school years which is roughly 18 days missed out of the year, more specifically two days every month (Álvarez, Walker, Long, & Litvinov, 2018). According to the U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) about 8 million students miss more than three works of school during 2015-2016 schools which is 6.8 million more than what was recorded the previous year.

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