Teaching Tolerance a Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center found at: http://tolerance.org. Has an article that goes along with this week’s discussion I found at http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-38-fall-2010/tapping-power-place, this article examines many American school problems that both rural and urban schools encounter. The article points out a few myths such as “In American popular culture, the word “rural” invokes images of sunny farms and little red schoolhouses—while “urban” means drugs, poverty and crime. But those who know the reality of both worlds will tell you that rural schools face many of the same challenges as their urban counterparts.” (Number 38, 2010) Some of the poorest schools serving children with many needs are rural. From a business perspective, urban schools have the ability to cut costs through consolidating schools and rerouting buses to adjust costs. Another area in the article that I found particularly interesting is Federal policy makers are shifting Title I funding away from rural school districts as policy makers feel the larger schools have a greater need than the smaller school. My question is who is really getting short changed in the end? I feel these policy makers need to consider the children and the benefits they gain rather than viewing them as monetary value. The article suggests that community needs to work hand in hand to produce a successful school in both the rural and urban communities. The new insight I gained was the information regarding the Title I funding as my children attend small rural schools that also rely on that funding in their budgets. Community members really need to speak to policy makers and advocate for out children regardless of the environment to which they live.
I enjoyed your review of the Teaching Tolerance article.I had not previously read much about the issues of rural verses urban schools.
ReplyDeleteMelanie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Funding should be allocated based on the needs of children, not whether a school is in a rural or urban area. Schools all over the country are facing challenges and need all the help they can get. There should not be so much red tape in getting what is needed for our children.
I am glad that you decided to read the piece on Title I funding. It makes me sick to think that big businesses will use children and education to further their cause. If the intention is to place money into the school to help the students succeed, why would there even be a question as to whether or not it needed to be transferred to a larger school.
ReplyDeleteTitle I funding is being cut all over and even when schools show how students scores have improved , the money is still being taken away so I dont know what to make of this problem , but do know that I want my grandchildren to get the best possible education they can get and by making sure that we understand who we vote into offices, we have a better chance of voicing where our tax dollars are going, well most of the time anyway!
ReplyDeleteMrs. Van Meter
ReplyDeleteI can relate to a portion of your post that discusses consolidating schools to save money. In these times, everything is about the money. In my community, there have been six schools that have been combined into two schools because student counts were so low and standardized testing scores were extremely low. Many teachers lost jobs and many children are struggling to adapt to the changes. I am not sure if it will actually help or hurt the children. I am not sure if the teachers are qualified to teach what is needed for the students. With the economy status, it is somewhat scary to see what education will be like in the near future.