Segregation and Education- 65 Years Later

This week’s readings and subsequent discussions on geographic justice were not only enlightening but sparked a connection to my passion: education. My a-ha moment occurred when reviewing spatial power as outlined by Design Studio for Social Intervention; I couldn’t rid my brain of “the right to thrive and express” (p.4). Among other facets of life, thriving is especially important when developing the next generation of citizens. Schools play an integral role in such humanistic cultivation and can be viewed as a public value. However, there are varying monetary values on education. How can a student in one school district be worth $43,000 but less in another? The answer isn’t within the classroom, but beyond it: property taxes.

Association of American Editorial Cartoonist

School funding depends on local property taxes. Houses vary in value within and between neighborhoods, causing districts to differ in amenities and resources. While it’s easy to notice which sports’ team got new uniforms or choir performed music from the new millennia, I considered my primary and secondary education to be ‘normal.’ I conducted experiments in chemistry, attempted to understand Shakespeare in English, pondered why all cafeteria food tasted similar, and longed for the days where I didn’t have to ride the bus. It wasn’t until college that I realized ‘school’ had alternative meanings. My new pals had two- or three-story high schools, 1-to-1 technology, multiple Advanced Placement (AP) classes, and even an actual cafeteria. My school served lunch in an entryway, had only two AP courses, maybe had Windows 7 after Windows 10 released, and was one floor. I knew money usually offered additional opportunities but didn’t think it influenced content. I remember being so dumbfounded that my friends had AP classes for almost every subject, leaving me to wonder if I was taught the same things as my peers.

Library of Congress

Thus, such an educational, yet inherently unconstitutional, procedure highlights wealth’s geographical organization. Shabazz asserts, “Poverty and wealth are organized spatially. Poor people and wealthy people do not live next to each other…we can map poverty and inequality through zip codes across the nation” (2016). This is further disheartening when zip codes are also used to predict American College Testing (ACT) scores (Berliner & Glass, 2014). Social class then compounds when coupled with race as discussed in “Why Geography Matters in the Struggle for Racial Justice.” Urban schools, for example, become stereotypically synonymous for students of color with low socioeconomic status.

I could talk about this for ages and still have more to say because education, like other topics, is contextual and influenced by other systems. If you want to dive deeper into the rabbit hole, feel free to click on the hyperlinks throughout my post—they’re quite eye-opening!

References

Berliner, D. C., & Glass, G. V. (2014). 50 Myths and Lies that Threaten America's Public Schools: the Real Crisis

in Education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Design Studio for Social Intervention. Spatial Justice: A Frame for Reclaiming our Rights to Be, Thrive, Express, and Connect. Retrieved from http:ds4si.org/storage/SpacialJustice_ds4si.pdf

Joffe-Walt, C. (Producer). (2015, March 15) Three Miles [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.thisamericanlife.org/550/three-miles/. 

Shabazz, Rashad. (2016). “Why Geography Maters in the Struggle for Racial Justice.” Retrieved from https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/02/09/mpr_news_presents.

Why America's Schools Have A Money Problem. (2016, April 16). Retrieved from

http://www.npr.org/2016/04/18/474256366/why-americas-schools-have-a-money-problem.