Blog Archive for Education News

Could it be that the Brown-era goals of school integration will come back in full force, now that small groups of urban middle-class parents are refusing to decamp to the suburbs? Until very recently, it seemed that only the Civil Rights Project and a few scattered independent schools considered the explicit goal of racial integration. Although at least one charter-management organization had begun to lay the groundwork for offering parents a “choice” school where racial and class integration is an important feature, more readily, we heard a school-reform dialogue that accepted de facto segregation as long as the goal was an equal quality of educational experience.

Photo by Ske via Wikimedia Commons

Robert Cook is managing director of Teach For America’s Native Achievement Initiative.

Since the days of Christopher Columbus, American Indian tribes have long fought to defend their traditional home lands, resources and families. As a result of these battles, many tribes were forced off their lands, and relocated, or rather confined, to reservations where they endured poverty, racism, and attempts to erase their traditional cultures.

Languages were particularly targeted in the government’s efforts to change the American Indians’ ways of life.  This attempt to “Kill the Indian to Save the Man” was largely accomplished through federal sanctioned land allotments, termination, relocation programs all of which failed to achieve full assimilation to the dominant culture.

Additionally, beginning in the late 1800s, Indian children were forbidden to speak their own languages and were punished in government—and church—supported boarding schools if they did speak their language or practiced their cultural ways. Most American Indians were not legally considered citizens of the United States until 1924. Even then, some states refused to let American Indians vote until as late as the 1950s.

– Sylvia Plath

In August, I was writing my paternal grandmother’s obituary upon her death at the age of 84. I always knew she attended Simon Gratz Public High School in Philadelphia. But as I spoke with my grandfather and great aunt, neither could confirm if my grandmother actually graduated from high school.

These facts speak to a time over 60 years ago when opportunities and expectations were different for many African-Americans. Some may still debate how much this has changed for African-Americans in low-income communities, but I see glimmers of hope and movement in the right direction.

Cara Volpe is a member of the 2003 Houston corps.

Cliché as it can seem, there are always a few particular students whose stories you think about and refer to again and again. Often they are the shining successes, the kids and teachers who inspire us and prove what’s possible. But some stories don’t have as happy an ending. . .and there are many whose endings we don’t even know.

When I met Jose, I was a first-year teacher at Jane Long Middle School in Houston, Texas. It was 2003, and on the days I wore a Long MS t-shirt I was often mistaken for a student. I was an idealist, an idealist who didn’t even need coffee to make it through the day at that point in her life. Jose was simultaneously a shining star and what felt like a thorn in my side. In my class, and every other class, he was a case study in disruptiveness, creating constant interruptions, talking back to me and other classmates, and generally diverting attention away from learning.

Photo courtesy of Cara Volpe