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FTR, I got no problem with bussing. The spouse and I were both part of the first wave of desegregation in NC. I went to an all white neighborhood school in 1st grade and then was bussed out of that school in 2nd grade when the court decision came down. I thought it was exciting. My parents didn't seem upset about it.
The spouse is a few years younger, but was bussed across town in Charlotte to the "black" high school and had a really good experience there and made great friends.
My mom has pretty bad dementia now and was remarking a few months ago about black kids in school — I was afraid of what was coming next — but she said she thought it was "really important to have all kinds of children in school so they can learn to get along". I was so glad to hear that!
I'll just be sitting over on the sidelines here in Chapel Hill watching to see what happens.
When I lived in north Raleigh we were in fact placed in an island node (higher income neighborhood) that was bused to distant schools for purposes of balancing socio-economic diversity.
Would you say your neighborhood was the exception or the norm?
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FTR, I got no problem with bussing. The spouse and I were both part of the first wave of desegregation in NC. I went to an all white neighborhood school in 1st grade and then was bussed out of that school in 2nd grade when the court decision came down. I thought it was exciting. My parents didn't seem upset about it.
The spouse is a few years younger, but was bussed across town in Charlotte to the "black" high school and had a really good experience there and made great friends.
My mom has pretty bad dementia now and was remarking a few months ago about black kids in school — I was afraid of what was coming next — but she said she thought it was "really important to have all kinds of children in school so they can learn to get along". I was so glad to hear that!
I'll just be sitting over on the sidelines here in Chapel Hill watching to see what happens.
Thank you. I do agree.
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bussing isn't a huge deal, in and of itself. It's when the time (both the amount of time it takes a child to get to and from school, as well as the time spent for the parent to travel to the school for related functions) and monetary commitment to do it becomes too high, that I begin to disagree. 8 million dollars would be better spent in MANY other areas.
I never understand why we cannot live and go to school in the area we live.Give the money to the school to improve when it is needed if you have children that need extra help then get more teacher etc, I hated busing back in the 60"s just as today wash of time and money. Our comummiies are better mixed now days !than it was in the 60-60's
I never understand why we cannot live and go to school in the area we live.Give the money to the school to improve when it is needed if you have children that need extra help then get more teacher etc, I hated busing back in the 60"s just as today wash of time and money. Our comummiies are better mixed now days !than it was in the 60-60's
Here's the issue.
You can give the schools more money, if you have it to give. Then, invariably, there will be schools that are surrounded by wealthier people with more money and generally higher levels of education. The schools near them will hold fundraisers. These schools will take in more money. They will be nicer schools than those in poorer neighborhoods.
So, what do you do next? You give more to the poorer school to make it nicer?
What if you don't have more to give? Do you take it from the wealthier school? I don't think the parents from the wealthier school are going to like feeling that they must pay to get the same stuff as is given to the poorer school.
This isn't even counting the volunteer time that wealthier schools are pretty much guaranteed compared to poorer schools.
What's the answer?
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it helps by exposing those students to other ways of thinking besides what they've grown up with in a poverty stricken area (which does help address generational poverty).
Is there any data to support the notion that this actually works?
I have been unable to find any Wake County data analysis that demonstrates that bussing low-income students improves their educational outcomes.
Our children went to school in a different state, so our experiences may not apply to Wake County.
What I observed when they bussed in low-income kids to middle-income schools is that the the low-income kids felt left out. Their science projects were not written up on tri-fold poster board. Their homework was not turned in. Their reading levels fell further and further behind.
When the kids were younger, parents invited everyone to birthday parties. The low-income kids either didn't show up or showed up with inappropriate, often embarrassing presents. By middle-school, they had formed their own cliques for acceptance. Lot's of in-your-face, defiant behavior as well as students who just withdrew as they knew there was no way they could compete in this milieu.
Osmosis was supposed to work some sort of magic. Instead, each classroom had a sub group of defiant or withdrawn students who struggled to keep up but always felt one down. Many of them dropped out by high school.
It is heartbreaking to see a students trying their hardest and still not able to keep up because they don't have the support in the school or at home to be successful.
Bussing students hither, tither, and yon is not going to solve the problem of generational poverty. It is cruel to keep pretending it will.
Let's use the trifold board situation as an example: (your explanation that the poor children did not have access to them)
In a high povery school, most children would not have them, their parents may not be able to afford one and their parents may have never made it far enough in school to have ever completed one themselves and therefore don't realize the importance of having one. Or maybe they just don't care. And while they may not be "embarrassed" that they don't have one since no one at the school has them, they also don't learn the importance of using one by seeing how nice a project can look with one nor do they learn to try to make their project look better since no else's does either. Also, the PTA doesn't have any money to supply them since all of the parents in the high povery school work 2 jobs and have little to donate or purchase from fundraisers.
In my experience of 25 years with WCPSS and a graduate throughout the entire diversity years (as well as 2 children), in a diverse school with a mix of socioeconomic levels, the high povery kids still may not have parents who can or will buy them a tri-fold baord, however the PTA at that school collects and distributes funds to make sure every child at the school has the resources they need. When the science teacher tells them their project needs to be on a tri-fold board and a student can't afford one, the science teacher usually has several available to give out, thanks to parents who care about the success of the school overall as well as volunteering their time and money to the PTA. The children also get the opportunity to see what a great project looks like, which they may have never seen in their high poverty schoo and what is expected from such a project which they may have never really learned in their high povery school.
It's not learning by osmosis, but it's learning by example in a school with a diverse mix of students and academic backgrounds and being exposed to an academic standard that their parents either don't or can't necesarily understand or support.
And while I do not support busing students across town to schools far away, I believe the board CAN come up with a resonable assignment plan that takes diversity into consideration and avoids high poverty schools while still keeping bus rides reasonable. Obvioulsy they think they can do it too since 7 out 8 of them agreed!
You can give the schools more money, if you have it to give. Then, invariably, there will be schools that are surrounded by wealthier people with more money and generally higher levels of education. The schools near them will hold fundraisers. These schools will take in more money. They will be nicer schools than those in poorer neighborhoods.
So, what do you do next? You give more to the poorer school to make it nicer?
What if you don't have more to give? Do you take it from the wealthier school? I don't think the parents from the wealthier school are going to like feeling that they must pay to get the same stuff as is given to the poorer school.
This isn't even counting the volunteer time that wealthier schools are pretty much guaranteed compared to poorer schools.
What's the answer?
Throwing money at education doesn't work. Schools with apathetic parents will always lag behind those with engaged ones. Putting kids in higher performing schools will not change who the parents are.
Wealthier schools being able to raise more funds for their schools should not be considered when funding schools with public funds.
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