Author: rdong27

Power, Protest and the Public School by Melissa F. Weiner address the struggles that Jewish and African Americans students went through in the NYC Public School system. Implemented in 1907, the Gary Plan introduced by William Wirt, the Superintendent of Gary, Indiana Schools sought to Americanize 63.4% of students with immigrant backgrounds. It was designed to shape student’s behaviors and equip them with the necessary tools to be successful in a factory environment. “Children were stripped of their languages and cultures and subjected to industrial and manual training classes such as math, history, cooking sewing etc.” In schools, the Gary Plan utilized all sectors of the schools allowing students to rotate from class to class in order to save money.

This plan was eventually introduced to NYC public schools by Mayor John Purroy Mitchel by 1914. With the guidance of Wirt, two schools: P.S. 45 and P.s. 89 were converted to implement the program. As the plan progressed, NYC board added, military training and lengthened the school day, hindering students from working and going to Hebrew schools. Jewish parents in particularly were extremely angry as this hindered their children to attend Hebrew School and practice their religion. Jewish parents were scared that their children may face proselytization and forced to learn the New Testament.  Additionally, religion in public schools would change student’s perspective of practicing a religion that deemed fit. By combining religion in schools and stripping student’s cultural backgrounds away, we are limiting their right to think for themselves and practice a religion important to them.

For African Americans, students were faced with segregation, overcrowded classes and dilapidated schools and retarded classes based on test scores. The school system spent $65.10 on white students and only $21.10 on minority students which increased the gap of the type of education received. Schools were unable to provide enough resources and provide adequate education which resulted in the huge gap of test scores. The Harlem 9 set out to increase experienced teachers and raise more funding for African American students. However much of it was unsuccessful. It took multiple tries and confrontation with legislation but it still took years.

From these two ethic groups we can see a similar struggle in which certain rights were violated. Jewish people were not given teh access to practice religion which African Americans did not have the resources to receive a better education. One thing I noticed was that Jewish people are not minorities and can be similarly classified as white. As a result, I personally felt they had a better chance of voicing their opinions and bringing change into the school system. Their voices had more power and it resonated with a majority of the parents. Meanwhile, it was harder for the African Americans to get their wishes. It took multiple attempts and confrontations and there was still little progress. This largely has to do with the fact that they are still minority and their role in society was not important compared to others. This article showcases how different ethnic groups are perceived differently and how they are able to get what they want.

For the past couple of classes, we have been discussing a lot about the issues of segregation, diversity and learning about how segregation has impacted the schooling of our the children of NYC. The structure of NYC public schools has isolated certain racial students from gaining the type of education they should be given. But it seems that, segregation has long be existent since the early 1900’s.

In the article, “Why Our Schools Are Segregated”, Richard Rothstein states that, “ The federal government led the development of policies contributing to segregation. From its New Deal Policy, federal public housing respected, existing “neighborhood composition” by placing projects for low income blacks in black ghetto and those for middle income whites in white neighborhoods.” This refers to the redlining article we read earlier. The reason why some areas within NYC are so segregated is because of the placement of projects. From the beginning of time, blacks were isolated in areas of poverty and people that had there skin color. There was no interaction with other races. NYC housing laid the foundation in which schools were made. Invisible borders were drawn and blacks had no power to escape from this type of lifestyle. In fact, banks and saving institutions refused loans to families in predominantly black neighborhoods or to black families that attempted to purchase homes in white neighborhoods. This proves that the root of segregation lies within the policies of law makers and government agencies.

New York is regarded as of the most segregated places in the country. The solution to fix this problem is not as simple as it may seem. Different critics offer different perspectives on how to combat this issue. In “ Does the Negro Need Seperate Schools”, Du Bois argues that the negro does not need neither segregated or mixed schools, what they need is Education. He suggests that the benefits of education outweigh the resources that any school could provide. In a way, Du Bois is making clear that negros can rise to the top no matter their family circumstances. If education is heavily stressed, there is no difference on the type of things a negro and a white can accomplish. Maybe this is why some students from underprivileged backgrounds are still above to do well or even better than their classmates. It’s about the idea of perseverance and working hard to escape their lifestyle. On the other hand, Rothstein mentions that well developed and aligned curriculums, good teacher- principal collaboration make jobs make no difference in neighborhoods where nearly all students were black and in poverty.  Helping students decrease the education gap has to do with the idea of integrated schools. We provide the same resources to students of all races. However this problem is not as easy due to the fact of zoned schools and redlining all cause restrict blacks from attaining the same opportunities. But, because of the DOE’s efforts to increase equity and diversity within NYC schools, policy makers are aware of the type of problems that are affecting students. DOE’s policies are an first step effort in trying to change the broken system of segregated schools that old leaders have implemented.

NYC’s DOE, “Equity and Excellence for All: Diversity in New York City Public Schools” is a great starting point for NYC to have a foundation to desegregate schools. It is better than not getting anything done, however, there are multiple flaws within the proposal itself.

On page 4, the DOE lists 3 goals to desegregate students and increase racial representation within the school communities. From a glance, they seem like great steps, but when we compare it to the actual data, the goals are pretty much low.  For example, goal #2 states: “Increase the number of students in a racially representative school by 50,000 within the next five years”.  Currently there are 1.1 million students attending NYC public schools. If we calculate the ratio, the DOE plans on just increasing representation by 5%. That number is going to decrease as more students are getting enrolled into the school system each year. As defined by DOE, “a racially represented school is considered if blacks and Hispanics make up at least 50%, but no more than 90% of the student population. That potentially means that a school can technically have 89% black and Hispanic student population while still be referred to as racially represented. In my opinion, that school is not considered, “racially represented”, but in fact segregated. They quote, “30.7% of our schools are racially represented, but they never mention the percentages within each school. This data is very vague and does not tell us anything.

While I while reading, I noticed there was no mention of the word “equity” despite it being included in the name of the proposal. It was never defined or incorporated into the goals to increase diversity. It seems like it was just another fancy filler word that showed there was improvement and changing coming. Diversity is constantly mentioned, but the concept is still a little vague for me. On page 6, the DOE has begun implementing actions to increase diversity. One of which is to, “eliminate the”limited unscreened” method for admission into high schools” and instead replace it with “admission methods” to promote greater diversity.  In this particular section, the DOE states that many high-need students are not given priority into these high schools because they are faced with a barrier of resources and time. By replacing a new admission method will increase their chances. But, there is no reference as to what this new method will look like. There is no specific plan as to the step in creating this method and how can we be positive that it will actually increase diversity.

Overall, I feel that this agenda create my DOE is a great starting point, but much of there goals are too low and really vague. There are no guidelines as in how they will be able to address the multiple issues within our school system, but it is better than nothing.