I was totally able to relate to this week’s chapters in Foner’s From Ellis Island to JFK because they really read like the story of my immigrant life in New York City. I came here and maintained my ties with Israel, and as technology progressed this became easier and more viable. I still remember my uncle sending my family fax messages of drawings with writing such as “We miss you, we love you. Come visit soon.” And we tried to visit, although it was hard. Ticket prices are up in the sky, never mind for a family of five.
In the NYC public school system I learned English through the ESL program. I still remember my first day of first grade and the first time I ever wrote my name in English; the dot above the i in my last name came out enormous! Looking back on it now, where I was enrolled in school really made a difference in my learning. Had I been enrolled in the other local elementary school, I would have been around very different people who are not as motivated to learn, and I believe that that would have affected my learning. Therefore, I don’t believe geography and its effect on students was given enough emphasis in the chapters we read. Just in my neighborhood of Fresh Meadows there were several elementary school choices, each with a different set of students, and those students affect the new immigrants coming into the schools.
While it is wonderful that the NYC public school system has improved in graduation rates, programs, and opportunities, I agree with Foner that it’s got a long way to go. Again, in terms of geography, I know that my school had pretty solid graduation rates, but go to the high school just five minutes away and that number changes drastically. Our dropouts rates are one of the highest in the country! Is that because of the high immigrant numbers that we have, as suggested? Maybe, but a lot of it is about motivation. I, along with a lot of people in our class, graduated from high school as immigrants to this country. The fact that we’ve made it to Macaulay Honors College just shows that immigrants today can (and should!) thrive, especially because of the increased number of opportunities available today that their grandparents never had.
