About the Website:
Income disparity continues to increase. Residential segregation continues to grow. Educational inequality continues to rise. But why? Who is affected? Where is it occurring? These are the questions, along with others, that we would love to answer on our website. We want to educate fellow civilians regarding the inequality and segregation that occurs in many parts of New York City. The idea of educational inequality and residential segregation came about in our Macaulay Seminar II course, The People of NYC. The following tabs, links, and pictures will display the connection between residential segregation and educational inequality. We all know these are two factors that affect a persons quality of life. How can we better the education system and help those who are segregated within their own community?
Who We Are and Our Stories:
Riya Kaushal:
Hi! I am currently a Freshman attending college. The topic of educational inequality and residential segregation mean quite a lot to me since I went to a public school that didn’t have the greatest facilities. Even though I attended high school on Long Island, I definitely faced some of the challenges many NYC public high schoolers face or faced. I started off my Freshman year of high school with a 9 period day. Later that year it was decided, due to the budget not passing, that the following school year will consist of 8 periods. In addition, teachers will be laid off, sports teams and clubs will be cut, and there will be a decrease in the number of classes offered (electives). This devastated the faculty but also the students. An 8 period day meant each class was longer than before. No body wants to be in classroom longer than they already have to. Another issue was lunch. When the day was a 9 period day, my high school had 4 different lunch periods, and based on your schedule, you took the lunch period that best accommodated that schedule. But with the 8 period day we only had 3 different lunch periods. The problem with that is, students that are taking several AP courses were unable to take a lunch period because those classes only ran during lunch. Which is completely unfair in my opinion. I didn’t have a lunch period after my freshmen year because I wanted to take majority of the AP courses offered in my school. Furthermore, since electives were being cut from our school. Which meant the addition of more Study Hall sections throughout the day. And lets be honest. That Study Hall period consisted of a person doing everything but studying. Students would talk, leave the class to go to the “bathroom” (which really meant, I am going to go roam the halls for the next 20 minutes), listen to music, etc. Lastly, when several extra curricular activities were cut (Wrestling, Kickline, Environmental Club, etc.) students were unable to do something they enjoyed doing after school. For me, extracurricular activities in high school were my favorite part of the day. Its where I met and made new friends. Its where I learned real world skills. And it’s where I was able to alleviate all my stresses and clear my mind. Although my school couldn’t offer me everything, I made the best of my resources. I wish the education system wasn’t this way. I want to better it. Children deserve a proper education. With the proper education comes well-paying jobs. We cannot neglect children living in poor neighborhoods, but rather help and educate them so they can break the cycle of poverty and make something of themselves.
Debbie Weng:
Henlo! Debbie here, and like everyone else here, I am a freshman in college. I was fortunate enough to receive this topic for this project because I have a lot of personal experience with this topic and a lot to share about it. I asked to be in charge of researching educational inequality in Bronx because I witnessed first hand the disparity in opportunities received by people who were affected by residential segregation during my time as a student in The Bronx High School of Science. I learned a lot about Bronx Science over the course of this project that I didn’t previously know. I was aware that Bronx Science had a large population of Asian students, but I wasn’t aware that they actually made up over 60% of the student body, Moreover, comparing Bronx Science to neighboring school DeWitt Clinton made the residential segregation in that district of the Bronx really apparent, since we were comparing a specialized high school to a zoned school in the same district. When I attended Bronx Science, the teachers would scold us if the class was misbehaving and say that “if you don’t want to work hard, Clinton’s right across that street from here.” What they meant by this was that Clinton is where the student’s who don’t try in school attend, and that we should transfer over there if Bronx Science was too much for us. After completing this project, I have gone away with the firm belief that educational inequality is created in large by residential inequality, at least when District 10 was concerned. If we can tackle the issue regarding residential segregation, the effects of educational inequality will lessen as well. The first step to resolving anything however, is understanding the problem at hand. Hopefully, our project will help do that for you viewers at home (or more realistically, at school).
Lauren Cassidy:
Hello! I’m Lauren and I am a freshman in the Macaulay Honors Program. When I was given this topic for my project I was intrigued and excited. While I have never experienced educational inequality first-hand, I have seen it affect some of my friends and even family members. Coming from a family of immigrants and having many minority friend growing up, I always noticed when there were differences in the way I was treated vs. someone I knew. This project allowed me to gain an in-depth understanding of where this issue stems from, what has been done/what has not been done about it, and why. More importantly, I have discovered ways we can stop the effects of educational equality at any age, and completely prevent it from ever occurring to future generations. As someone who attended a specialized high school, I saw favoritism practiced every day but did not know the reasoning behind it. My sister attends a regular public high school, and while it also has a curriculum focused on talent, it does not posses nearly as much bias as my school does. It was interesting to see why and how this affects teachers, students, and the city; and this insight strengthened my relationships with some of my relatives, friends, and neighbors. Proper education and equal access to resources is something all kids need, but they currently do not have. This is because, despite the number of reforms passed, nothing attempts to legally change the root of the problem. This comes from our history, from our cultural values, and our mindset. Once we change those we can provide equal opportunities for all kids, because all children matter.
Joshua Sacker:
Hey! My name is Joshua and I am currently a freshman in the Macaulay Honors Program at Queens College. I am fortunate enough to not have had much experience when it comes to the issue of educational inequality. In my high school, Benjamin Cardozo High School, I was part of the DaVinci program, which is an honors program offered there. From what I remember, the group I was involved with was diverse in terms of ethnicity. However, some of my fellow peers and friends who were zoned to go to the school were treated differently in some cases. Some teachers would single out students based on their ethnicity and gender, and usually favored those who were similar to themselves. Some of my fellow students were at times penalized when it came to their grades due to this, and they often fought back to get the grade they truly deserved. Unfortunately, it seems that even in cases where being unbiased is the rule, biases still come out. Its hard to fully prevent what you feel from coming out when considering grades to give. Those affected however almost always got the points they deserved to have in the first place, and problems such as this were fixed efficiently. Hopefully, the methods my school used to at least be fair when disputed can be used to help schools where this is a more rampant problem.
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What if it were your child receiving an inadequate education because of where he or she lives?
