This American Life- quotes- Blog 7

I really enjoyed listening to “The Problem We All Live With - Part One”. Even though segregation was outlawed, it is still very prevalent in today’s society.

“The US Department of Education put out data in 2014 showing that black and Latino kids in segregated schools have the least qualified teachers, the least experienced teachers. They also get the worst course offerings, the least access to AP and upper level courses, the worst facilities. The other thing about most segregated black schools, Nikole says, is that they have high concentrations of children who grew up in poverty. Those kids have greater educational needs. They're more stressed out. They have a bunch of disadvantages.” (Ira Glass). Segregation in schools became outlawed in 1954, yet the above quote shows that schools are still being segregated sixty years later. Most schools with a majority of black students are poorer and more disadvantaged and there is no reason that should be happening. All children, regardless or race or gender deserve a quality education.

“Nedra knew that the district had been performing poorly for years. In fact, it had been on probation for 15 years. Schools in Missouri get accredited by the state. Almost every district is accredited. But if you're doing really bad, you get put on notice. That's called provisional accreditation. That's supposed to be like a warning. But Normandy had provisional accreditation for 15 years. That means there are entire classes of students, nearly all of them black, who came in as kindergartners and graduated 12 years later without ever having attended a school that meet state standards” (Nikole Hannah Jones). The Normandy school district was not up to state standards for fifteen years and that meant that many students were losing out on their right to education because the education at Normandy schools was so terrible, many kids learned almost nothing. When a school loses its accreditation, it should be shut down very soon after so that the students can get transferred into another school district and have a great education.

“Under the law, while Normandy students can enroll in any nearby accredited district, Normandy has to provide transportation to just one. Normandy officials chose a district called Francis Howell. Francis Howell was 85% white. It sits across a river in another county, roughly 30 miles away from Normandy. One of the best districts in Missouri was just five miles away” (Nikole Hannah Jones). When the Normandy school district lost its accreditation, the state required the district provide transportation to another public school. The Normandy school district chose Francis Howell, a district where the large majority of students are white. During a meeting with parents who have children in the Francis Howell school district, many of them asked about having metal detectors and drug sniffing dogs around the schools because they assumed Normandy was getting shut down due to violence which was not true. People assumed violence was the reason because the school was mostly black. There was blatant racism going on at the meeting. The real reason Normandy students were transferring to Francis Howell was so they could have a better education and a better chance at a stable life.

The above image shows that high poverty schools almost always have a majority of black students.