Thurgood
Marshall, the first Black American United States Supreme Court Justice, (1967)
argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, the case
that ended “separate but equal” in education at the national level. To
that end, my parents made the decision to be a part of an experiment of
busing their children out of the community to a north-side public school in
Chicago, Illinois. A two hour bus ride per day, for eight
years at (Smyser elementary school) and four years at (Von Steuben high school). Keep in mind;
this was my parent’s choice because the schools, teachers, curriculum and
resources in MY community were inadequate. I am grateful for the excellent
public school education that I received, and that my parents were
forward-thinker’s. However, I ask the question “is it acceptable for
a child to have to endure the busing out of one's community to
achieve a quality education”? Nevertheless, 40 years later, and we still face a
systemic educational problem in the Black and Latino communities in the
country...OUTRAGEOUS and UNACCEPTABLE! Why do we still have this problem in
2011? Well, a good friend of mine who teaches in Highland Park, Illinois says
each child in her school get $30,000 per year, versus the Chicago
Public School children, who are lucky to get $6,000 per year. The funding disparity is so shocking (almost five to one) that one has to believe this is one factor associated with the achievement gap in minority children. However, the key factor is the low-socio-economic status. Last, this is not the Justice
that the Honorable Thurgood Marshall fought for in 1954.
Wake up America! The future of a nation is contingent upon the efficiency of ALL its children. Check out this insightful article to learn about the systemic educational failure that our children are facing:
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