Savage Inequalities Reading & Reflection

1/Professor Irl Solomon History class summarizes the problems associated with inner city. In his classes many girls are pregnant or recently gave birth when they do not have the ability to sustain a child since they are underage and with little to no skill to enter the work force or further their education, especially with the stigma associated with a “ghetto” high school diploma. Furthermore these children are born outside of family structure leaving those teenage girls with little perspectives in their future lives risking to pass the same pattern down to their children.The school lack of funding to pay for equipment and teachers is responsible for students receiving a sub-standard education. Only half the students graduate from high school, only 22% of graduates will further their education at a college level, some 10 to 20% will get a trade education and the another portion will join the military. It is to be noted that the majority of students enrolled at professor Solomon’s class drop-out before graduating or do not pursue education.

 2/ The student named Jennifer is presently a student enrolled in a suburban, quality school but has the particularity to originate in the Bronx. She tells her personal story stating that her parents decided to move away from a poverty stricken area to a wealthier neighborhood in order to take advantage of their better funded school system. However the student believes that tax dollars should only fund local schools, and that leaving an unfavorable environment such as the Bronx relies first and foremost on a personal decision. A personal choice in picking a residence area with the best schools but also a personal and family involvement in school success.    When questioned about sharing resources with disfavored school districts out of humanistic moral values, she dismisses its importance stating it doesn’t bring her anything.

3/ The school in Rye is well built, pleasant to the eyes, having all the equipment needed, unlike the East St Louis high school that is falling apart, lacking proper equipment, understaffed and poorly conceived. The student body of Rye is mainly composed of White and Asian students whereas East St Louis is almost exclusively Black.The student body of Rye is thriving, studies Latin, takes AP classes, well-spoken evaluating in cultured environment. The school in East St Louis serves a much degraded area, with fewer opportunities, where crime isn’t uncommon, poorly motivated in doing well in school being distracted by extracurricular problems.     The American school system has many problems. The high school dropout rate as well as the teenage pregnancy frequency is considered high compared to other industrialized countries. Only 75% of all students enrolled in high school graduate. This underperformance might be correlated with the level of expenditure by the government with only 5% of the American GDP being allocated to education, which is low when compared with other first world countries.However such performance is not the consequence of neglect from the American government but rather the result of a policy. As a country applying largely the philosophy of the “laisser faire, laisser passer” the state chose to intervene little, keeping public services such as education and healthcare to a minimum, the government refuses to fund schools complementing local property taxation to allow each school the same budget and the same oportunities. One might ask, then how does the US get its skilled work force so vital for a competitive economy? The solution is to grant work visas to foreign highly skilled graduates, which are immediately operational and didn’t cost the state anything in education.This is the reason why many Americans receive a substandard education because the government doesn’t view equality of chances as a priority in order to maintain a competitive economy.