Reference no: EM133379300

Assignment:

Overview

In this module, as well as earlier ones we talked about the inequality in education for rich/middle class kids v poor kids, and how, decades after Brown V the Board of Education, although segregation cannot be legally maintained, schools today are, for the most part as segregated as ever. But desegregation is not just a matter of letting everyone in: When desegregation was first tried, few people wanted to send their kids to ghetto schools, since, because, due to the way schools are financed in the US, these schools really were not up to par (through no fault of their own). So they tried busing Black kids to the traditionally "White" schools. But this sometimes meant more than an hour's bus ride each way, every day.

This was inconvenient for parents, who had to arrange to take to the bus stop and pick them up. It was also traumatic for the kids, especially grade school kids, who were not only going to an unknown environment, where some of their new peers were known to be hostile. Also, busing brought about the closure of many traditionally "Black" schools and the loss of jobs for teachers, many of whom were Black themselves and serving as positive examples of success for the youth. Finally, although this was not the usual decision, many White parents who could afford it pulled their children out of public schools entirely and sent them to private schools. This further weakened the entire public school system through loss of revenue.

Assignment Directions

Say how you feel about busing: Did the goal of integration, which did happen, make it worth the effort? Why or Why Not? Is there a better way to achieve desegregation? Feel free to be creative, including changing the ways in which public schools are financed. Or, should we have only private schools, open to anyone, and for which people pay according to their means, with the government picking up the slack with revenue that would have gone to public schools? There is no right or wrong, but think deeply about how you really feel about the issue. I am interested in your opinions.

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