Urban Education

Educators Address Racial Inequality  by Erica Smith October 30, 2014.

Segregated schools have been outlawed but is there really racial equality in respects to the quality of an education? A symposium was held in St. Louis titled Michael Brown vs The Board of Education to discuss racial injustice in educational systems. The resources provided to Hispanic and African American students are inferior to others. “Black students in particular are four times more likely to have under certified or unprepared teachers.” Why is it that we are giving less to those students who need more? Most often teachers come from middle class white families from the suburbs. Putting them in a classroom with urban minorities causes a culture clash. These teachers do not have the experience to properly interact with let alone teach these students. Due to these differences teachers and students often do not see eye to eye and students are more likely to act out. This may be why “black and brown students are disproportionately sent to the principle office.” Cultural competency and sensitivity should be incorporated into professional development in order to help with this issue. Not only are minority students given less experienced teachers they are also given lower quality curriculum. Teachers tend to dumb down classes because they do not think that the students can handle it. Students who are advanced are bored due to this remediation. The parent of a child holds a great responsibility in respects to ensuring that the child is motivated and has the resources to succeed in school. The child also holds responsibility to go to learn, come to school and behave. With that being said it is the responsibility of the educators to create an environment in which students actually want to learn. All students deserve to have experienced teachers, learning materials, and advanced courses provided to them.All of these issues are going to be discussed at the symposium. The fact is that students at predominately African American and Hispanic schools do not receive the same quality of an education as a white child from the suburbs. This is a form of segregation and it is not right. I am sure that if nothing is done to help improve education in urban areas it will become an even more major issue of public policy.