Closing the schools in our cities

CLOSING THE SCHOOLS IN OUR CITIES

How does closing our schools help our students?

Tara KelleyEDU363 Final

CLOSURES LACK BENEFIT Today we see more politicians announcing that

closing schools that are “average or below average” is going to be helpful and the right direction for our youth. Our public schools have to perform at a certain level to continue to receive funding from our government.

Our politicians need to see how socially unjust this process is and socially crucifying as our students are suffering because their education is hitting a wall when they school closes. The neighboring schools are not designed to take on more students. Schools need to stay open and funding needs to change direction to work for our schools and students.

AN ACTUAL IDEA?!?!?

From the last recording, there are around 99,000 public schools in our country as of the 2011-2012 school year.Politicians claim closing thousands of schools that are not aboveaverage is beneficial to our students because the poor quality is hurting out students.

LET’S LOOK AT NUMBERS Since the 1999-

2000 school year, there have been over 1000 schools closed each year. These numbers are divided into 4 different types of schools; Regular, Special Education, Vocational, and Alternatives.

However, the number of total enrolled students continues to rise, since that same school year enrollment has risen to its most current report of 300,764 students.

CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING

The children need to stay in school, and instead of closing them because the grades and scores are low, we need to design policies, curriculum, and programs for our children to succeed.

IS THIS THE ANSWER? Do we not strive to have our children

break the cycles in the inner cities? Our students get kicked out of a school because the SCHOOL fails them, yet our students suffer.

When students grades and test scores are below average in these schools we try to standardize the testing and fail to dissect the problem.

We have many gaps and inequalities that prevent our schools to thrive and choose to dissolve their very existance.

WHAT ARE THE SOCIAL INJUSTICES THAT EQUATE TO

SCHOOL CLOSURES?

Dissecting the issues to solve the problems.

TEACHER QUALITY This video hits the point that we

need better qualified teachers. It is also important to note she states it is about giving the teachers what they need to be better equipped. Our teachers are struggling in the inner cities when the schools do not have the proper supplies or resources to teach the students.

Something to note that in the city schools our teachers feel more overwhelmed and therefore create high turnover rates and leave the children left to suffer.

The politicians do not have the backs of the teachers and do not understand what it is like to have a child learn at an inner city school that lacks in resources and equipped teachers.

WAYS TO PROVIDEThe community can volunteer time and donate supplies as our teachers cannot afford to make up for what the government does not cover.More appreciation for our teachers can be shown with better funding, time, and help to reduce class sizes.A lot of teachers are able to reach out to their students but are stopped at almost every corner because of standardization.All children do not learn the same.

WHERE IS THE $$ MONEY $$ It is well-known that our politicians make a

substantial amount of money in a small career span. Our taxes go somewhere, how much actually help our schools?

Policies need to better disburse tax money, redo the state and federal budgets to include more funding for schools that are suffering. To break the cycles in poverty levels, we need to provide more for our children and our schools.

We can also do so much on our own, we can gather donations, develop programs and policies in schools such as a garden class that covers biology studies and healthier options for our children.

THERE WILL BE OPPOSITION The community

cannot afford to donate money.

We are parents working two jobs.

The government makes in impossible to apply and get approved for grants.

It is too late.

Those who cannot afford to give money can give time.

One hour a week can make a difference.

Get signatures, use your representatives to be the voice.

Our children will always need school, it is never too late. They are suffering intellectually as well as in danger of becoming victims of being stuck in dangerous neighborhoods.

MY POLICY I feel that we start with our buildings. We can work together

to get the schools in safer and better conditions. We need volunteers to do this, the very people in our communities that desire to see more out of their neighborhoods.

Our teachers need to continue going through training and classes to stay up to date with policies and current issues.

Our food needs to be healthier and we need better physical health for our children.

We need more parent involvement and communication so there will monthly meetings with the schools, city/town council and the parents/guardians.

We will have more applications for more funding and donations to better our children's education.

We need to provide equal opportunity for all our children, not just the “privileged” ones. We do this by treating our children as equals amongst each other. We also have programs that are inclusive.

SOCIAL IMPACT When we fail our children and close the schools,

they fall prey to a negative environment. If they are in dangerous neighborhoods they may stay stuck there with life threatening repercussions.

We keep our minorities stuck at below average levels because we stopped caring about the schools they attend.

The future is bleak with more people struggling to be successful and lead to below-par lives.

Poverty will continue to rise because our children are not confident enough to continue their education, they are not equipped enough to continue forward.

CALL TO ACTION

It is up to you, myself, and all of us to work together to be the voice of our children. To break the vicious cycle that is seen in poor communities, the children need to have a proper education with the same opportunities of the suburban schools. We have to break barriers and stop holding back our teachers and stop using personal beliefs to hold others down such as: racism, gender, orientation, class, and status. Our country will continue to plummet as we continue to let down our children. TAKE A STAND FOR OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND FIGHT TO KEEP THEM OPEN!!!!!!

CONCLUSION: NOT CONCLUDING OUR SCHOOLS

It is crucial to KEEP OUR SCHOOLS OPEN, and change how we educate our children. We cannot close schools we need to change what it means to be in school. We need to remember what the education is for and forget about a profit. The schools need to be more than just a babysitter for the children and start changing their lives.

Ken is right on point with what school has become.

REFERENCES http://

www.huffingtonpost.com/shaun-osseiowusu/turn-off-the-lights-publi_b_3592473.html

https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=619 HKAhVJKWMKHVjXCk8QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F

%2Fwww.democracynow.org%2F2013%2F5%2F28%2Fchicago_to_shutter_50_public_schools&psig=AFQjCNGbCfIJh0TUSMyVd2oykwoi0jcC-g&ust=1454808706753169

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLzCt56KUqs url=http%3A%2F%2Fquotes.lifehack.org%2Fquote%2Fprincess-diana%2Fi-

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http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms Marshall, C. & Oliva, M. (2010). Leadership for social justice: Making

revolutions in education (2nd ed.).  Boston, MA: Pearson.