NAOS
Well-Known Member
I lived in Roxbury for a few months back in 2002. It sounds like you probably visited.
Got into a pretty heated debate with my wife last night about race.
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I lived in Roxbury for a few months back in 2002. It sounds like you probably visited.
latin jazz
Well-Known Member
I did. We were looking at some urban interventions around the Malcolm X, Washington St area. Went to several planning meetings with the community and oh lord, wounds were very open.
The contrast between Roxbury and South End were striking, just a couple of blocks away.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
Obviously I know it. Despite teaching in a poor district the property taxes are high. Absurdly so. Like $10,000 on a $400,000 home. And we get a **** ton of funding from the state. Money has nothing to do with it. Should we be remote, every single student grades K-12 will have a laptop. The district will shell out money should Zoom or Screencastify not extend their free trials.
Now so far as poverty level goes, yes. But that has nothing to do with the quality of education. Kids flourish in all areas. We have some brilliant kids. But most of them have an infrastructure in place at home to succeed. Hence my original statement of it all come back to the parents.
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But what about mah freedumbs?
Comrade in Seattle
Member
I'm not sure why two married parents have more time for this than, say, a mother and a grandmother. Please explain that to me in more detail.
My personal observations the black community says otherwise, at least for the kids doing well in school.
Project Implicit
implicit.harvard.edu
Even if it only occurred to, say, 5% of black businesses, don't you think just knowing it could happen would act as a damper on the desire to expand a moderately successful business?
You know, if these Nazis dont want to comply with our demands I am happy to help you beat them down. We need another meeting to discuss our beatings.
latin jazz
Well-Known Member
Even with transfers, there is a big disparity in funding:
School districts where the majority of students enrolled are students of color receive $23 billion less in education funding than predominantly white school districts, despite serving the same number of students – a dramatic discrepancy that underscores the depth of K-12 funding inequities in the U.S
Source:
Not arguing kids can't succeed in tough environments. But its not only about the parents (which I agree are important), but infrastructure, funding, spatial inequality, income disparities, etc
latin jazz
Well-Known Member
May I ask. What were you doing in Roxbury at the time? Were you working?
Miggs
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I think perhaps my perception is somewhat skewed because I’m in a state where the funding for poorer districts is so good.
And I agree about the factors you mentioned but a good home can help overcome those in many if not most instances. I do however need to rethink kids paying for college. The majority of my students this past year are college material. Great ****ing kids. Many are immature and still can be lazy at times but what kid isn’t...and they’re smart. I had 70 students and I’d say 10-15 were really good ****ing writers. A handful were great with one being exceptional. He of course did nothing when we began remote learning. For every subject. Nothing. And he’s brilliant. Anyway, they have the ability. But I wonder how many will end up graduating from a four year college or university. I’m guessing maybe 12%.
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latin jazz
Well-Known Member
On an interesting note, I did a study for the Boston Public School's Department of Transportation. In order to reduce racial inequality in education, Massachusetts allows a % of students of minority groups to attend a school outside their school district. While this provides wider opportunities to disadvantged groups, it also increases bus travel times, class attendance and thus, grades (BPS has a big problem in terms of budget & late buses). Mostly non-white studets who relied on school buses and wanted to attend better schools faced this problem (car ownership is also lower among non-white groups). So it's also about where you live and even how you get to school.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
I edited and added my prior post fwiw.
NAOS
Well-Known Member
I was working on an album. My friend and I had free access to a huge basement in an old Victorian house, and we needed a break from SLC.
latin jazz
Well-Known Member
That sounds cool. Are you a musician?. There is some beautiful architecture in Roxbury (one of the oldest parts of Boston).
latin jazz
Well-Known Member
12% would be a real shame.
Remote learning has been a real challenge for everyone. I'm actually teaching now and it's been exhausting. What about you? Are you waiting to get back to school when it's safe?
NAOS
Well-Known Member
Yeah, Roxbury was great in a lot of ways.
I play the guitar... now I’m focused on a totally different style (which is solo) than back in the Roxbury days (which was a sort of jazz-postrock project).
How long were you in that area?
latin jazz
Well-Known Member
NAOS
Well-Known Member
I’m working on my first solo album this year. If I ever get it done, I’ll let you know. These plans, like all my other plans this year, have obviously been totally exploded.
We’re you at Harvard? MIT? What’s your master’s in?
First, there are many studies that "white" schools get more funding than "black" schools.
Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education
Brookings Review article by Linda Darling-Hammond (Spring 1998)
www.brookings.edu
I believe money helps, but is not a "fix". The problem is, poor parents, that had poor parents that never emphasized schooling (and probably didn't have the education to help there kids with school). It is perpetual cycle, and one of the main reasons poor stay oppressed. Due to the systemic issues discussed in this thread, this has had a large impact on the black communities in this country. There is no easy fix. Additionally, many east coast schools that are "flush" with cash, waste money on too much administration. It happens everywhere, but is worse on the east coast. Utah does it, but not to the same extent as they have to be efficient with their funding. I believe Utah is ranked 49 or 50 in funds per student, but the test scores (whole other bias issue there) and graduation rates are very high, largely due to parent involvement, which again, are better educated themselves.
DC put a ****-ton of money into schools when former NBAer Kevin Johnson's wife Michelle Rhee was in charge of the DC schools, which are abysmal. The influx of money made no change.
As crazy as it sounds, we almost need to provide a welfare subsidy to poor, uneducated parents based on their kids attending and graduating. Or even better, pay them to finish school (with attendance requirements to receive pay, etc.)with better income, which means they will rely less on welfare and likely become tax payers themselves. And it may also make sense to allow alternative high schools to allow people to pursue a trade in high school, as not everyone desires to, or is built to go to college. Lets make the system work better. When I was in high school, we had an alternative place we could go for some credits where you can take autobody, auto mechanics, welding, etc. It should be part of the curriculum everywhere.
Currently just under 50% of households in the U.S. pay federal income tax. We should work to better educate/train our population. There has to be something to stop the perpetual cycle. And finding a fix will be good for all of us, and it will better educate upcoming and future generations, which will provide these families, and allow them to be net providers and not net takers.
latin jazz
Well-Known Member
Please do. I consider myself a music lover & audiophile.
Yeah, I studied Urban Planning at Harvard (but took 1/3 of my courses at MIT...their Planning school was really cool and more diverse).
Same here. Job-wise this year has been dead.
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