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Post by nina2 on Jul 29, 2008 10:57:47 GMT -5
Call for Chicago students to skip 1st school dayFull article link: news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080729/ap_on_re_us/school_funding_protestQuote from article: "Today we are back to two-tiered schools — white and affluent on one side, and black, brown and poor on the other," said Meeks, who also is a minister on the city's South Side. "That's an injustice and it's immoral." Meeks said he expects several thousand Chicago students to travel in a caravan of buses to New Trier Township High School in the leafy, North Shore suburb of Winnetka, where they will attempt to enroll. State statistics indicate that the New Trier district spends around $17,000 annually on each of its students compared to the roughly $10,000 a year spent for each student in Chicago public schools. "We, as a civilized people, can't do it this way," Meeks said. "We're doing irreparable harm to hundreds of thousands of kids."
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Post by krazeeboi on Jul 29, 2008 22:29:25 GMT -5
Funding is only one part of the equation. How many parents show up to PTA meetings on the South Side? How many of those children have both parents living in the home?
Just about all of the ills that plague the Black community can be traced to the breakdown of the Black family structure. If we can rectify that, we can rectify a whole host of problems.
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Post by kitty on Jul 30, 2008 18:48:47 GMT -5
Hey KB...
Uhhh... I actually grew up on the South Side of Chicago... it ain't exactly the ghetto. There are a lot of two parent family homes there and I promise you that on the South Side of Chicago there are plenty of parents that show up for PTA meetings and anything else that is going on... The South Side of Chicago has a lot of middle class families...
But what Rev. Meeks is referring too is the fact that inspite of the South Side being an area home owners that pay taxes... They aren't quite getting their share of tax dollars that should go to education.
Do a search on New Trier school. It's not just one of the most wealthy schools in Illinois.... It's one of the most wealthiest schools in AMERICA! But it is a public not private school.... Trust me when i say their property taxes ain't paying enough for the school to have enough to pay 10K per student... that is technically private school money... Which the rest of us happen to be paying for...
I think that's why Rev. meeks wantys people to try to enroll there because for that much money the school should be open like a magnet school where people all over should be able to go if they have good grades... Not just people of a certain race and live in a particular school...
Kitty
R
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Post by nina2 on Jul 30, 2008 19:03:24 GMT -5
I understand what you are saying KB. And, I know what the subject of the article is, and in what specific area these events are happening.
However, if I may make a comment on:
However true it may be, I think that one of the myths that need to be dispelled is that the breakdown of family structure is more widespread in black families than others.
I don't know all the stats etc... but I can guarantee you that even though it may not be shown as often, or under the same (negative) light, it might not make the headlines as much/often or be kept in the spotlight as long, but if we are talking about white families, the down spiral is just as obvious for them as for others, including in white christian families.
It's a myth to even begin to think that anything is better on the other side of that fence when it comes to "healthy" families and raising children.
The ones who foster the kind of initiative such as the one in this article are a shrinking minority. That they may be so few and still be given such a voice and be heard, why and by whom, that's the real issue.
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Post by Poetricia (G.A.P.) on Jul 31, 2008 6:59:07 GMT -5
Funding is only one part of the equation. How many parents show up to PTA meetings on the South Side? How many of those children have both parents living in the home? Just about all of the ills that plague the Black community can be traced to the breakdown of the Black family structure. If we can rectify that, we can rectify a whole host of problems. AMEN!!!!! Go KB and Bill Cosby!!! Unfortunately, we (general) continue our modern day complaining about "the man" and "the system" instead of changing what we can - OUR FAMILY. When will we (general) get back to doing everything in OUR power to increase our children's knowledge and education??? Limiting TV, computer, cell phone, and game boy use, and increasing reading and writing and 'rithmatic. Taking our kids to museums, libraries, church, vacations, and sports games. I am not talking about parents on this board, as I suspect many of you already do that. I work with students in the Tri State area on a regular basis, both in the public school system, the private, in the hood and in the suburbs, and in the community (summer camps, recreation centers, vacation bible school) and recently I was stunned at the following: In a very poor section of the city I am volunteering at a camp for kids being held in the community center of one of the city's projects. I'm the coordinator of the kids poetry club, and I have about 20 kids for 1 hour every week from ages 6 through 14. I was stunned (and saddened) that my 8 year old nephew, who lives in the suburbs, has both christian parents in the home, but is by no means an angel himself, is on a higher reading level than the 14 year olds in this camp. These kids are not prepared for high school in September by their reading and math levels. But, they have every electronic device known to man, they know every word and every beat and every dance move of every rap, r&b song, and video. Every cable show, every pay per view movie, you name it they've seen it, no matter the content. And I know there's potential there. I've only spent 1 hour a week with them and I can see the imagination to form poems (more verbal than written because of their writing skills). But, their lack of knowledge at their various levels makes me wonder, is anyone else reading to them? My nephew isn't smarter only because he's in a better school district. It's his parents who make sure he reads every night, through the summer too. His parents who take time to invest their TIME into his education and his extra curriculum activities, and monitor how many hours of tv and game boy (or whatever the name is of those newer gadgets) he spends per day. And of course, he's in church as well. So, you see, the parents, grand parents, and/or guardians are pouring the wrong things into our (general) children and so you see, there is so much more we need to do that just to take a day off a school to protest the true and real inequality of the educational system in America. |
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Post by Nikkol on Jul 31, 2008 8:49:44 GMT -5
Hey KB... Uhhh... I actually grew up on the South Side of Chicago... it ain't exactly the ghetto. There are a lot of two parent family homes there and I promise you that on the South Side of Chicago there are plenty of parents that show up for PTA meetings and anything else that is going on... The South Side of Chicago has a lot of middle class families... But what Rev. Meeks is referring too is the fact that inspite of the South Side being an area home owners that pay taxes... They aren't quite getting their share of tax dollars that should go to education. Do a search on New Trier school. It's not just one of the most wealthy schools in Illinois.... It's one of the most wealthiest schools in AMERICA! But it is a public not private school.... Trust me when i say their property taxes ain't paying enough for the school to have enough to pay 10K per student... that is technically private school money... Which the rest of us happen to be paying for... I think that's why Rev. meeks wantys people to try to enroll there because for that much money the school should be open like a magnet school where people all over should be able to go if they have good grades... Not just people of a certain race and live in a particular school... Kitty R Is it possible that that school runs like "Central" in Philadelphia? In other words, the alumni give THOUSANDS of THOUSANDS of dollars specifically to the school. So although it's a public school, it's somewhat private at the same time...... just a thought. |
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Post by kitty on Jul 31, 2008 16:19:30 GMT -5
hey Guys....
I know and agree that we have a lot of problems in the black communities across the nation and in general. I also agree with Bill Cosby and I have even got his book, which is hilarious by the way!LOL But in this case... Rev. Meeks is not dealing with folks that have kids that are way behind in reading in their correct grade levels... He's not dealing with kids that don't know how to use the opportunites of a great education if it is offered to them... That one of the reasons that he is making it a point to try to register some kids at the school in New Trier.
Trust me... He not trying to enroll the gang banger who goes to class half the time, has a criminal record, and doesn't know how to speak the King's english! He's bringing kids that are seeking to go to college, are at the educational level that they should be but are losing out on funding that is going to areas that already have a great deal of money.
By the way to answer your question Nikkol... No New Trier is not receiving outside funds to my knowledge. I did work in the public educational school system in Illinois while i was there and I never heard of that going on to much of a degree within the public schools in the state...
Like I said before guys... New Trier isn't just a top school in Illinois... It's one of the riches school in the nation!!! Check it out... google it...
Kitty
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Post by krazeeboi on Jul 31, 2008 16:47:42 GMT -5
Nina and Kitty, thanks for bringing out more information about this particular situation.
Since I think that neighborhood schools constitutes the ideal model, how about changing the way the funding is done for the South Side district? That would be preferable than having to bus the kids all the way to the other side of the city (assuming that Rev. Meeks actions aren't simply to make a valid political point, which it may be).
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