Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draft

History is Not Always in the Past: Segregation and Urban Schools in Michigan Today

Exemplary charter schools, like the national network of KIPP academies and the Green Dot schools in Los Angeles and New York City, have indeed worked wondered, giving inner-city youngsters seemingly bound for failure the skills and confidence needed to shape their own identities. But those top-drawer academies only serve a tiny minority of students-KIPP enrolls 33,000 students, .00059% of the nation’s school-age population. Nationwide 3% of students attend charters, many of them ordinary or worse (Kirp, 5).

Charter schools are not always the answer to the United States’ public education crisis, as

only a percentage of them have shown significant success. Some students thrive in charter

schools but there is not enough success to make a logical claim that charter schools are a lasting

resolution to the public education crisis of the United States. Deregulation, privatization, and

segregation are all potential negative consequences of charter schools (Ravitch, Part I-Ch. 1).

Urban public schools like the ones found in Detroit would benefit from long-lasting,

considerable reform instead of stripping away “failing” schools and replacing them competely

with charter schools.

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, over half of the children

in Detroit attended charter schools during their study in December of 2013. The amount of

students had increased by 10% since 2012 (from 41% to 51%) revealing an increase in students

that has occurred rapidly, further emphasized by a statement claiming that student enrollment in

the United States had increased by 80% overall (charterschools.org). “‘It’s no surprise that

parents continue to seek the best possible educational options for their children,’ said Dan

Quisenberry, President of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA), the

state charter school association” (charterschools.org). Charter schools appear to be the best

choice here, but the level of education in cities like Detroit is still suffering. In this paper I will

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftexplore how charter schools are not enough to fix the problems of urban schools that have

suffered from violence, lack of funding, and segregation for decades.

Research of Detroit charter schools has found mixed success, but largely success that was

accomplished was not the full potential that could be reached and in some cases, such as with

Detroit’s Gee Edmonson Academy, in which numerous school rating websites displayed

disappointment. The socioeconomic background of the 272 students that attended Gee

Edmonson Academy in 2009-2010 is as follows: (95% of the student population is African

American. 1% of the population is white. 3% of the population is of mixed race or ethnicity. 99%

of the student body is eligible for free school lunches, revealing the poverty level of the students.

The state average of free and reduced lunch assistance is 51.2%. Gee Edmonson Academy has a

significantly higher rating (elementaryschool.org). The school fits many of the criteria of a

typical struggling urban school in the United States: largely minority students who live in an

economically poor environment.

There are only 15 full-time teachers and the ratio of teachers to students is about 18:1

(elementaryschool.org). The ratio is not a bad one-it is enough so that each classroom allows for

individual attention for students. Yet the school has a “D” grade based on test scores and the

environment; although the school scored a “C” on improvement, it scored an “F” on tests-only: a

mere 6% of students are proficient in math, 30% in reading and writing, and 2% in the social and

natural sciences. In the 8th grade class, only 39% of students are proficient in math and reading,

about to enter high school unprepared. The schools have progressed by about 50% in each topic,

but the scores of the school remain dismal (scorecard.excellentschoolsdetroit.org). Charter

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftschools did not create the success that students deserved in this instance because the reforms that

were necessary and that could have perhaps been achieved as a public school were replaced with

the quick fix of charter schools.

Michigan urban schools in cities like Detroit provide educations that are not as beneficial

to students in comparison to rural or suburban schools. This is a result of multiple detrimental

factors, including a hostile living environment, over-crowding of schools, and the inability to pay

teachers the deserved salary. Areas like Detroit have recently initiated charter schools-privatized

public schools. Charter schools are harming Detroit further by enabling segregated school

systems, under-paying their staff, and because it is more difficult to regulate a privatized school

than one in a public school system. The most harmful way that charter schools have been

hindering the public education system is by segregating students. This is harmful because

segregation denies students the ability to interact with students of different ethnicities and

cultures. Furthermore, socioeconomic status could be affected by race: minority groups in

America are more likely to be in the poor and working class. Schools with a greater population

of poor and working class students risk more hardships because of less available funding.

Diane Ravitch’s Reign of Error claims that charter schools are detrimental to the

American public school system almost solely because of the privatization. She claims that

market-based reforms align with enemies of public schooling by allowing room for exploitation,

fraud, corruption and schools are no longer solely institutions of education but rather they’re now

markets. Charter schools do have potential to be beneficial to the American school system, if the

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftmotive of profit were to be removed (Ravitch, Part I- Ch.1). David Kirp, the author of

Improbable Scholars, has reached similar conclusions:

These privately run academies have become playthings of the super-rich. The fabled Harlem Children’s Zone floats on an ocean of money from investment firms such as Goldman Sachs; and when Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wanted to make a splash, he pledged $100 million to underwrite new charter schools in the troubled Newark, New Jersey school system, announcing his largesse on The Oprah Winfrey Show…The Obama administration’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top initiative…deployed the carrot of new money to prod the states into expanding charter schools and closing low-performing public schools (Kirp, 4).

It is made clear that schooling in the United States morphed into solely being about finances and

who could contribute to the money bank that is privatized charter schools. Money could have

instead been put to use in the financing of the struggling public school systems and could have

assisted in the creation of new reforms.

Ravitch makes it clear in her introduction that the problem of segregation and

concentrated poverty is a result of society, not school districts. Charter schools are enabling that

problem by typically arising in areas in which there is racial segregation geographically (Ravitch,

Part I-Ch. 1). Moreover, she concludes that privatization comes with the cost of deregulation and

segregation (Ravitch, Part I-Ch. 6). Furthermore, Ravitch made charter schools sound as if they

were solutions to problems that did not need solutions at all. In a dismayed tone she spoke of

how privatized charter schools were used as solutions for black and Hispanic students that were

being “failed” by public schools and needed “saving” by being placed in private schools. Charter

schools were an answer to the calls to fix the achievement gap between minority students and

whites. However, the achievement gap was already closing and the scores of blacks and

Hispanics increased greatly in the two decades after national federal testing in 1990. According

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftto Ravitch black students in the eighth grade saw a closing of the gap of 78% to 49% from 1990

to 2011. Hispanics saw a similar decrease of 66% to 39% (Ravitch, Part I- Ch. 6). If the federal

government had not intervened and privatized schools had not become a sought after solution,

than perhaps the achievement gap would have continued to close. White achievement also

improved in addition to minority students, which prevented the achievement gap from closing

further-giving a false impression that black and Hispanic students were not doing as well as they

actually were (Ravitch, Part I- Ch. 6). However, the achievement gap still could and needs to be

closed even more.

The existing schools need to be reformed. Ravitch claims that public schools are not a

lost cause and that substantial reforms within the existing schools are the right solution. School

districts should focus on early education, the essentials of reading, writing, and vocabulary, and

the reliance of individual attention to students. Classrooms should be typically smaller,

preferably less than twenty students, and teachers should be counseled to interact with students

based on their individual needs (Ravitch, Part I-Ch.1). Union City school district of New Jersey

has displayed actions that could represent Ravitch’s advice, and is an accomplished and

successful district, steadily progressing over the last few decades as a result.

David L. Kirp presents the story of a successful school district that once was close to

being shut down completely, Union City in New Jersey. The state had threatened to seize control

of the schools (Kirp, 8). Union City schools consisted of students that were mostly minorities

and immigrants. The district was extremely poor and many children were introduced to school

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftbarely knowing English (Kirp, 15). The school system worked well under pressure and converted

a potential disaster into a well-functioning machine:

This is no one-year wonder. Over the course of the past generation these youngsters have been doing better and better. What’s more, in 2011 89.4% of the students graduated- that’s 15% higher than the national average. Nearly 60% head to college; the top students are regularly winning state-wide science contests and receiving full rides at Ivy League universities (Kirp, 8).

The school district faces many pressures to continue further success and get more high test

scores each year. However, the school district refuses to concentrate solely on scores and

performance of students and rather consistently attempts to balance the needs of students on an

emotional level as well. One thing that Kirp made sure to claim in his introduction was that

charter schools were simply a quick fix in many states and that schools needed more of a

concrete fix. What Union City did was make their schools feel more like a family and relied on

turning students into thinkers rather than memorizers (Kirp, 8). Funding helped, as well as

making the district as a whole function well together, each element helping the other out in a

cohesive system (Kirp, 12). In this paper it will be discussed what reforms should be promoted in

urban public schools, specifically in Detroit, in replacement of “quick-fixes” like charter schools.

It will be discussed the different aspects of reform that need to be considered in order to raise test

scores as well as graduation rates, and compare those reforms to the success of Union City.

Adequate finances are necessary to build larger schools, hire more teachers, and in the

purchasing of school supplies such as books, computers, and projector systems. Finances are also

necessary in the funding of extracurricular activities which could keep students away from gangs

by providing activities as an outlet for the stress they face as well as a simple distraction. Money

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftcould also be used for security measures which would make students feel safer and therefore

make them more able to concentrate on their classes. Struggling families would have money for

themselves so that they may provide the essentials for their families, thus relieving students of

the stress that they face wondering how they could help their parents or siblings. Problems that

arise with low-income families could produce over-tired and over-worked students. Long and

constant work hours for parents could result in feelings of neglect. Many students may feel as if

it is their duty to help their parents when in financial distress or they may have to help look after

younger siblings if there is not enough money for child care or babysitters. Extra stress on

students could negatively affect the academic performance, stress that students in suburban and

rural areas are less likely to be burdened by.

David L. Kirp argues that money does in fact matter in shaping a school system in

Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for

America’s School in which Kirp discusses the success of Union City schools in New Jersey. Kirp

argues that more finances created a path for success:

New Money, not just new ideas, was essential to the success of aa district whose woes could be traced in part to the school board’s unwillingness to raise taxes. The state’s one-year reprieve came with an edict that the city hike the tax rate, and the school budget grew by $4 million. Most of these new dollars were earmarked for long-overdue repairs…$500,000 to create minilibraries in each classroom as a way to woo children into becoming readers (Kirp, 83).

Union City went on to set fundraisers in order to raise more money for the schools and purchased

200 computers. Many of the students were impoverished just as in Detroit, and the new libraries

and computers made the children excited for school which improved their performance (Kirp,

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draft83). New technology in Detroit’s schools as well as more supplies provided for the school would

be beneficial because many students may not be able to afford their own supplies and new items

to learn with could bring a newfound excitement to the studies.

Urban areas like Detroit face hardships that suburban and rural areas typically are less

exposed to. Large cities are more vulnerable to violence, murder, gang affiliation, and robberies

due to the lack of stability residents face in their socioeconomic status. Desperation could lead to

extremes in behavior as people struggle to find solutions to their economic problems. Virginia

Delaney-Black’s article “Violence exposure, trauma, and IQ and/or reading deficits among urban

children” reveals how students who experienced trauma struggle more in school because of their

fear to leave their home and their lack of concentration in classes. Students who suffered from

PTSD did significantly worse than other students on standardized tests as well as faced lower

literacy rate. This could be from undue stress and a lack of sleep caused by nightmares, as well

as a fear of the unknown and potential violent encounters.

The article focused on students who were from a low socio-economic status which links poor

education to violent environments as well as both factors occurring within poorer families

(Delaney-Black, Comments). Poorer communities face larger amounts of violence because of

higher populations, as well as economic instability. Turmoil and frustration are emotions that

easily develop into something more violent and dangerous reactions. Violence and crime leads to

jail and imprisonment, which leads to lower chances at finding a career or getting into higher

education. Lower education hinders chances for higher socioeconomic backgrounds and more

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftincome, people potentially become desperate, and then violence and turmoil results. It appears to

be a cycle that many urban areas cannot seem to escape.

Students showing signs of struggle in learning may be a cause for concern: “Exposure to

violence may actually inhibit intellectual and academic functioning. If community violence

exposure does in fact cause such deficits, the estimated number of urban children experiencing

violence at this level would make this an issue of major concern. For example, Lester and

colleagues have previously demonstrated that even very small IQ decrements (only 3.26 points,

<0.25 SD) can have a major practical impact if large numbers of children are affected” (Delaney-

Black, Comments). The study concluded that urban schools like Detroit may benefit from

interventions and centers for students showing symptoms of PTSD. This study reveals clear signs

that a violent environment like in Detroit has a direct negative correlation with struggling

students (Delaney-Black, Comments).

“Discipline in Michigan Public Schools and Government Enforcement of Equal Education

Opportunity” relates the amount of discipline in schools to the success of the schools. Discipline

in secondary schools that was not satisfactory led to defiance from students which create a poor

educational environment for surrounding students. Urban schools would suffer from this

phenomenon more due to the large population of students. Students may feel ignored or

neglected by staff due to the crowding of schools and act out while seeking attention. The study

also claimed that minorities were more likely to drop out or suffer in school. Detroit Public

Schools holds a majority of minority students and therefore may hold a higher drop-out rate than

other schools as well as disproportionately being suspended and expelled from school (Discipline

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftin Michigan, 2). This could be a reaction from crowding as students seek attention as well as

students possibly reenacting violence they had been exposed to. Students who have been victims

of violence or who have witnessed violent happenings may be more tired and stressed than other

students, and act out. Perhaps students who do need more discipline are also acting out violent

situations that they had witnessed.

These students may simply need more attention as well as counseling as they may not know

how to show the fact that they are struggling. Ravitch suggested that every school in the United

States should be well equipped with staff ready to work with students who have mental,

psychological, and emotional problems. Staff should consist of nurses, psychologists, guidance

counselors, as well as social workers (Ravitch, Part I-Ch. 6). Students with expulsions on their

record tend to suffer more when seeking higher educations and a disproportionate amount in

Detroit could only hinder the community. If students are enable to receive a higher education due

to disciplinary problems, it only makes sense that gangs and violence is a possibility for the

future. With a loss of opportunity, an abundance of stress, and a past of outbursts, students may

grow up to continue on the path they had been on. If violence did in fact replace the opportunity

for higher education due to disciplinary problems during early education, then this could hinder

Detroit by having less potential income into the city, more poverty, and the potential for more

violence.

Although Improbable Scholars does not explicitly claim counseling as a solution, a similar

tactic was used by the school district in aiding their success. Teachers, especially early childhood

education teachers, focused on making students as comfortable and relaxed as possible during

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftschool hours. The ultimate goal was to make students want to go to school. Kirp compares the

schools to a family: “its warmth feels like the public equivalent of love. It takes lots of work to

make such caring an institutional virtue” (Kirp, 44), revealing how much of a community, rather

than simply an institution, the school district has become.

The feeling of community and family as a united front assists in the education of the students

by insuring the feeling of a safe and trustworthy environment. Improbable Scholars claims that

many teachers lack the essential backgrounds to work with children, especially ones in struggling

communities: “’Kindergarten teachers typically lack a solid background in child development’…

they don’t understand the ‘why’’” (Kirp, 114). The “why” could be why those teachers teach or

it could be why what the students are learning is important, the text does not explicitly explain

what “why” refers to but both predictions serve as vital models for what needs to be happening

in the classroom. Students need motivation in order to learn and knowing why the curriculum

matters is important. Teachers understanding why their job is important, that their teachings

could shape a child’s future, is even more vital.

It is clear that schools do not have the ability to stop violence nor effectively change the

environment that students live in. However, schools could make a strong effort to create a safe

space for students. Counseling should be readily available and workers should be counseled and

taught how to respond to victims of trauma. Schools could have security guards as well as the

forcing of issuance of badges for guests whom must be authorized to visit the school. It would be

a struggle to achieve these tasks without appearing hostile, but it is not impossible.

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Renée J. Martin’s article “An American Dilemma: Using Action Research to Frame Social

Class as an Issue of Social Justice in Teacher Education Courses” puts into perspective how

minority students could be suffering in school as a result of socioeconomic status. The article

claims that students with a lower socioeconomic status were expected to do less work, are

exposed to less valuable curricula in comparison to students of higher status, and in general are

given a less valued education:

The social class of America’s students is a salient factor in their ability to achieve desirable academic outcomes in schools. Scholarly research has unearthed numerous links between teachers’ expectations of students from various social classes and students’ academic outcomes… It has long been understood that knowledge, power, and social class are inextricably linked and that the best predictor of one’s occupational prestige and socioeconomic status are governed by the education once receives (Martin, 6-7).

Martin is correct that knowledge, power, and social class are linked. However, class should not

determine a student’s education and knowledge. Education and power should lead to a higher

social class, but those born into lower ones should not be trapped into a system of neglect.

This could be evidence as to what is happening in Detroit Public Schools considering that

most students are from urban areas of Detroit, Detroit being a well-known city throughout the

world. The inefficient education for socioeconomic struggling students could cause the gap

between suburban areas and urban areas like Detroit because suburban and rural areas typically

hold more students of a higher socioeconomic status in comparison to urban areas like Detroit.

Students who are receiving a lacking education would struggle in pursuing higher education

because of the competition that revolves around colleges and universities.

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draft

Even if the students were admitted into higher education, they would be surrounded by

students from higher socioeconomic environments who have had previous experience with

school work. This could lead students to feel isolated and inefficient. Students with a

socioeconomic status that is lower typically are trapped in that status because they are granted a

poor education and therefore cannot make the leap into middle class status because of their

inability to get a higher education. A college education or a degree in a skilled trade is necessary

in order to compete in today’s job market. Without those educations, people are stuck working in

lower paying jobs, with limited career opportunities. If students in urban areas are not receiving a

quality education, then one can hypothesize that they will be continue to be in a lower

socioeconomic class, limited by their education, and pursuing limited pay jobs. It’s a debilitating

cycle that reveals why Detroit’s job market is suffering so much.

Kirp understood that there was a link between social class and education. He understood that

many children from lower social classes were denied the education they deserved and therefore

suffered by being trapped into a defined future:

The old saw that demography is destiny contains more than a kernel of truth. Over the past generation, fewer white students and more poor and nonwhite students have enrolled in public school. Between 1990 and 2010…‘the percentage of public school students who were White decreased from 67% to 54% and the percentage of those who were Hispanic increased from 12% (5.1 million students) to 23% (12.1 million students)’…between 2007 and 2011 ‘the percentage of school-age children living in poor households…increased from 17% to 21%.’ Add the near-poor, those barely scraping by, and that figure doubles. For black and Hispanic youth, poverty is a double whammy (Kirp, 6).

Kirp goes on to claim that many taxpayers could be resentful of poor schools because they don’t

want to pay for a school that is unsuccessful. As schools’ test scores drop, the funding for the

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftschools decrease as well, in the form of potentially massive budget cuts (Kirp, 6). However,

taxpayers don’t realize that schools lacking in funding that cannot adequately educate students

actually cost taxpayers because of dropouts:

Nationwide, most public schools-and most charter schools, for that matter-give these kids at best a mediocre education. As a rule…youngsters from poor families go to worse schools that middle class students. Poor minority and immigrant youth generally wind up in factories for failure, where students flunk classes, skip school and drop out in droves: in 1,550 dead-end high schools, fewer than 60% of the students graduate…that dropout will cost taxpayers nearly $300,000 in lower tax revenues, additional government benefits, and incarceration costs (Kirp, 7).

Poor education leads to harmful cycles of poverty, desperation, and the potential of violence and

crime. Poor families produce poor students that tend to end up in less successful schools and so

cycle continues because without a great education, there is little opportunity to crawl out of

poverty.

Many might claim that phenomena like “White Flight” are in the past, but history tends to

repeat itself. According to “How Segregated are Michigan’s Schools? Changes in Enrollment

from 1992-93 to 2004-05” by Bettie Landauer-Menchik, Michigan Schools have increased in

segregation dramatically since the introduction of charter schools. The article begins by stating

that Michigan was cited as the most segregated state in the United States in 2002 by the Harvard

Civil Rights Project (Landauer-Menchik, 1). The article sought to find out if African Americans

were more likely to attend segregated schools in 2004-2005 than twelve years prior. The first

figure shown revealed that Detroit was the most segregated city in Michigan by far in 1992-

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draft1993. The amount of segregated schools in Michigan had increased by almost 50%. Detroit held

the most segregated schools, 274 out of 431 buildings (Landauer-Menchik, Table 1).

Segregated schools in Michigan are mostly found in the Detroit, Southfield, and Flint area,

where the traditional schools are commonly segregated as well (Landauer-Menchik, Figure 3).

This reveals that charter schools are not simply creating segregation, because it was previously in

the schooling system. This does not mean, however, that charter schools are not further

promoting segregation by making it easier for families to choose who is in their schools because

they are privatized. The article mentions that Detroit is the only district with more than 100,000

students in the city, and it is also the city with the most segregated schools in general.

Segregation and crowded urban areas hold a direct link. Perhaps systems like School of Choice

could help if used more by giving students in crowded schools a different school to attend to that

may not be as segregated as the new charter schools being created.

It may be inevitable that charter schools increase segregation because they are formed in

areas that have previously faced housing segregation due to “White Flight” but segregation

should not be promoted in any manner. Households may prefer to choose segregated schools in

order to appease their comfort zone but this only hinders their children’s education by limiting

their exposure to new types of people. Perhaps charter schools could decrease segregation by

seeking out students from other housing areas. One way to counteract the results of segregation

would be to have cultural presentations in which students learn about specific cultures during

select times each day.

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A benefit of segregated schools could be that students are more comfortable. If it is a

minority group that attends the school as the majority than the school could concentrate on that

specific culture and background. Students with a similar history could benefit from a learning

environment in which their culture and history plays a role because it could motivate them to

learn to the best of their potential. It is important for children and young adults to learn about

their culture’s history and background so that they may learn from the past, find pride in their

ancestors, and strive to become more successful. As an example; if someone were German, than

it would be important for them to learn about German history and culture so that they could learn

from Germany’s past. This would potentially interest them because of their ancestry, as well as

teach them important information about the world.

Much of Detroit’s problems lie in the financial sector. Segregation is obviously a factor that

is not easily changed as well as something that some perceive as a non-issue. Working on

Detroit’s finances may be the only answer to the education problem. Timothy Bartik’s essay

“Increasing the economic development benefits of higher education in Michigan” describes the

potential for Michigan to increase economic benefits of higher education in hopes of increasing

the amount of students that go to college and universities. This could increase local economic

development and therefore help create more income. If more people in Detroit had the

opportunity and ability as well as benefits of higher education, then the money needed for the

city could come due to higher quality in the workforce (Bartik, 3-4). If more people are working,

than the opportunity “loss” could be crime. Bringing more money into the city through the work

force would help fund city renovation projects as well as provide citizens with money for

housing, water & electricity, as well as health care through job benefits.

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Charter schools typically pay teachers and staff less than other public schools. Debbi Harris

and Marisa Burian-Fitzgerald discuss the hardships of teaching staff in charter schools in

“Teacher's Hourly Wages: A Comparison Across Michigan Schools and Alternative

Occupations. Policy Report 24”. Teachers hold a very competitive pay in comparison to other

careers that they could have chosen with the same education and that charter schools typically

pay their teachers less in comparison to other urban schools and suburban schools (Harris,

Burian-Fitzgerald, 1). A competitive pay and low-income could cause excessive stress for a

teacher who should be able to concentrate on teaching their students rather than worrying about

pay. If schools face budget cuts, it could possibly cut into available resources for the students.

Teachers have the option to purchase resources for their classes themselves, but with lower pay

they may not be able to afford it which could create more undue stress.

In urban schools teachers with more experience tend to receive a lower pay than novice

teachers because the schools are desperately trying to find new staff with more experience

(Burian-Fitzgerald, 7). Students may find comfort with teaching staff after working with them

for a school year, and if troubled students are given new teachers than that could hinder progress

by making the student feel nervous or uncomfortable. Furthermore, the new teacher would have

to pick up where the last had left off, interrupting the progress of the student.

It is a reasonable conclusion that teachers who accept jobs at schools that pay less because

they wanted to help the students. Teaching is a noble job in which a driving motivation should be

to better the community through wisdom and knowledge. It is very possible that the teachers that

take the low-paying jobs just realize that those students may need them more than at other

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftschools. However, teachers are still human and if teachers with more experience receive less pay,

then there is not enough compensation for staying within the school system. It is easy for

teachers to feel under-appreciated, and there is a lack of motivation if test scores keep dropping.

The study also showed that not only to charter schools pay teachers less in general, but that

teachers also tend to work longer hours than with traditional public schools (Burian-Fitzgerald,

6). This could be hold negative consequences because the teachers could exhaust themselves and

as a result lack the needed energy to work with so many students. If teachers have a lack of

motivation, long hours, low pay, and most likely a high ratio of students to teacher, than how

could a school expect those classes to be successful? Students need individual help and

cooperation. It is simply asking too much of the staff to expect them to help students adequately

with a lack of resources, lack of pay, and excessive work.

Rita Maranowski provides a new perspective to the dilemma: perhaps it is not just low

funding in the school systems, but misplaced funding? Maranowski’s article “Estimating the

Efficiency of Michigan's Rural and Urban Public School Districts” claims that much of

education funding does not go to the general education but rather to specialized programs

(Maranowski, 1). This is unfair and unbeneficial to most students because the students who are

not in these special programs end up being ignored and lost in the system. This is revealed by the

stagnant success rates that have resulted from all of the money being put into specialized

programs. This presents the question of whether or not too much blame is put on society,

environment, and the history revolving many urban areas. Maranowski claims that despite a

large increase in funding, success of students as only increased marginally (Maranowski, 1).

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Perhaps the school systems themselves are partially to blame. Maranowski proposes that

policy enforced that could dictate how schools use funding could be beneficial considering the

wide variety in which different schools use their finances (Maranowski, 3). One policy that

Michigan has enacted that is beneficial for urban schooling is more direct attention toward

students who are at a greater risk of struggling academically:

Research indicates children from disadvantaged backgrounds are at greater risk for low academic performance and therefore, the federal government has responded by providing schools with additional funding for programs targeted at helping students who meet eligibility requirements. Title I funding for elementary and secondary education is available to schools to help improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students (Maranowski, 12).

The only problem with this is that there are many more disadvantaged students in areas like

Detroit than in other schools in Michigan.

“The Nation’s Report Card” by the National Center for Education demonstrates that Detroit

fell behind other schools in large cities in terms of education in 2009. Test scores in Detroit were

significantly lower and only 40% of students in Detroit fell under the NAEP’s basic level,

compared to other large cities average of 63%. Only 7% of Detroit students fell under the

NAEP’s proficient level, compared to 21% on average in other large cities. Students in Detroit

are showing that they are not being granted the same education as students in surrounding

schools. 60% of students are not meeting the NAEP’s basic level, 60% of students are not

meeting the requirements of skills that are typically met by other students (National Center for

Education Statistics, Overall Results). This gives the impression that not only is Detroit

struggling more than the typical urban area, but perhaps Detroit’s schools are also to blame for

the schools considering that other large cities held higher scores. The data did not include the

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftwhite students in Detroit because “reporting standards were not met”. This could be a result of

Detroit having a far greater amount of students than most districts as well as being a city in

which “White Flight” hit particularly hard. In 2009, students who were eligible for free/reduced-

price school lunch had an average score that was 13 points lower than that of students who were

not eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch. This reveals that students who held a lower

socioeconomic status were less successful in school (National Center for Education Statistics,

Score Gaps for Student Groups).

Revenues and Spending of Michigan’s Urban, Suburban, Town and Rural School Districts by

Michael Van Beek analyzes the difference in funding and revenue of schools in different

environments and socioeconomic statuses to test the argument that schooling is directly related

to adequate (or inadequate) funding. Van Beek claims that history is to blame for much of the

disparity between different types of schools: “For most of the 20th century, the majority of

America’s school revenues came from local property taxes. In many states, including Michigan,

large disparities between districts’ local property values and methods of assessing taxes led to

substantial funding variations between urban, rural and suburban districts…suburban districts

could often raise more local revenue per pupil than rural and urban districts” (Van Beek, 1). This

is a shadow of the “White Flight” phenomena in which property taxes in Detroit dramatically

decreased after many white middle and upper class residents left. Cities now surprisingly held a

high amount of revenue in comparison to rural districts and in comparison to the changes in

terms of growth to suburban and rural districts (Van Beek, 4), showing that funding is not as

crucial as many make it out to be. The study also found that rural and town groups spent more

funding on instruction than did city and suburban schools. Kirp cited an increase in funding as

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftone of the stepping stones in creating a more successful school system out of Union City,

including the building of a new preschool and a $180 million high school (Kirp, 12).

School of choice is one program that was presented in order to relieve some competition in

schools with high populations of disadvantaged students. Charisse Gulosino and Christopher

Lubienski’s analysis on school programs in “School’s Strategic Responses to Competition in

Segregated Urban Areas: Patterns in School Locations in Metropolitan Detroit” shows the efforts

that Detroit’s school system has shown to help students become more successful. School of

Choice allows students to pursue an education at schools that they otherwise would not have

been able to afford to attend: “…not only is choice expected to open up access to existing, high

quality schools, for families in need of alternatives, but the competitive effects of choice-as

schools compete for the choices of consumers- are also expected to generate new and better

options for poor families” (Gulosino, Lubienski, 2). This could also help schools that are

suffering from over-crowding students because more students could go to other schools.

However, it could also hinder the schools that the students are leaving because instead of

working on the problems of the child’s school, they just seek an alternative. This could further

the problems of inequality because now the children stuck at the original school are still

struggling whereas the children who use School of Choice now have a better education. The

expected prevention of this problem is that schools would do better that were losing their

students because of competition for consumers: “…‘market populism’ where competition-based

reforms such as charter schools and vouchers can provide equitable opportunities for

disadvantaged groups” (Gulosino, Lubienski, 2-4). Although this is a decent idea and does give

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftpoor families more choices and opportunities, it is not always realistic. Yes, the child has a

higher quality school to attend, but how would they get there? What if their parents must work

long hours? How would the parents consistently afford to get the student to classes on time?

Considering that students who normally attend School of Choice are commuting. It is nice that

these high quality schools are offered to more students, but what about the struggling schools?

What about the students that must stay there? The opportunity just becomes more unequal. What

communities should be doing is work to improve the lower quality schools rather than simply

moving some students to higher quality schools. What happens when every student from the

poorer schools tries to get into the higher quality schools? Those higher quality schools both

become crowded and lose some of that quality as a result, or some students get left behind.

Yet, if schools are over-crowded, they may be relieved that some students are seeking their

education elsewhere. The study found that many charter schools have taken the place of tuition-

funded private schools so that they may receive students who are better-prepared and get better

market value (Gulosino, Lubienski, 11). This shows that charter schools may be driven by

business goals where real estate is low (Gulosino, Lubienski, 19). This gives the impression that

charter schools are not being enacted in order to help with the success rate of students, but to

gain finances instead on the coattails of students that are already successful. The study found

suggestions for charter schools: “…our findings suggest a need for close monitoring of the

distributive patterns of enrollment, racial/ethnic and income groups, and the net effect of charter

school location on neighborhood characteristics” (Gulosino, Lubienski, 21). Charter schools tend

to be placed in similar areas, with similar students. Where is the diversity?

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draft

Detroit’s citizens have thought of reforms for their schools in order to better educate their

students according to Council of the Great City Schools report, “Reforming and Improving the

Detroit Public Schools”. The council advised both reforms in finances and in curricula. The

council claimed that since 2002 improvements in the school had become stagnant and even

declined in some areas, and that the school district is lacking in “clear and consistent guidelines

(Council of the Great City Schools, 8). The council advised reforms such as: working with a

teachers’ union, developing and updating the district’s marketing plan, initiating a city-wide

“army” of volunteers and mentors, developing a parent guide that explains the school goals for

the year, and ensuring that every school has enough resources by establishing a policy for

ordering textbooks and other resources (Council of the Great City Schools, 10-11).

This resource displays that citizens of Detroit know what the district’s problems are and that

they are attempting to solve those problems. Since that is the case, I must wonder why Detroit’s

public schools have not improved drastically since 2008 when this report was issued. The

council provides statistics on how students in Detroit are different than surrounding schools in

Michigan: Detroit students are more than four times as likely to be African American than in

other cities in Michigan and the enrollment of students in Detroit Public Schools has dropped

significantly more than in other schools in Michigan (28 students per school in comparison to 10

students per school) (Council of the Great City Schools, 23-25). Perhaps the demographics of

Detroit have put the city in a position in which they face too many socioeconomic hindrances

that reforms cannot simply fix. Charter schools may only create more of a problem by creating

an environment in which those socioeconomic realities are enhanced.

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draft

One aspect of Union City’s success that has been vastly neglected by all of the other articles

regarding urban education is how local government can shape a school district. The mayor of the

city, Brian Stack, who is also state senator, worked tirelessly with the school district to make it

the success story it is (Kirp, 115). School politics intertwining with local politics is an aspect that

most districts lack. Usually the mayor does not hold much leverage in school politics, but the

necessary relationship between local politics and school matters rescued Union City (Kirp, 117).

Senator Brian Stack made sure to get Union City the funding they needed and he fought against

any potential cuts that could occur. Similarly, democratic Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence of

the 14th district in Michigan, who is also the mayor of Southfield, has won the recent election on

a platform of early education. With her “double-dipping” and history of working well with

Republicans, Brenda Lawrence could help school districts of Detroit and surrounding urban

areas.

The following is a list provided by Kirp that reveals what Union City did that made them so

special and become a success story among poor urban schools:

1. High-quality full-day preschool for all children starts at age three.2. Word-soaked classrooms give youngsters a rich feel for language.3. Immigrant kids become fluent first in their native language and then in English.4. The curriculum is challenging, consistent from school to school, and tied together

from one grade to the next.5. Close-grained analyses of students’ tests scores are used to diagnose and address

problems.6. Teachers and students get hands-on help to improve their performance.7. The schools reach out to parents, enlisting them as partners in their children’s

education.8. The school system sets high expectations for all and maintains a culture of abrazos-

caring-which generates trust (Kirp, 9).

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough DraftMany of these ideas advised by Kirp could be applied to Detroit schools and other urban schools

in America. Early education is a necessary component of schooling because it is the first

impression a child holds of school and rooms full of language could be beneficial because of the

components of reading and writing as well as communication. Challenging students is a practice

that should be expected from teachers. It’s a common sense conclusion that no one will know

what their capable of unless they are pushed. Looking at past work of students to figure out what

could have went wrong or what miscommunication could have existed between the student and

the teachings could help with the performance of students because it shows exactly what students

needed to work on. The same method is used by students every time they look at past comments

from teachers before writing again. Hands-on help to teachers and students could be effective

because then potential problems would be brought to light immediately allowing for more time

to fix the issues at hand. Reaching out to parents is helpful because they can assist students on

their homework as well as promote growth by boosting their students’ confidence and

reinforcing notions that education is important. Lastly, building trust is crucial because the

opportunity of failure brings vulnerability and a safe environment could bring reassurance to

students who have emotional problems or trauma due to potentially destructive or violent

environments in urban areas.

Union City did more for their students than most schools. Union City cared about how

the students were doing emotionally, mentally, and academically. They did not search for quick

fixes but rather fought for the right resources and worked with teachers to insure that students

were being taught to their best ability based on their individual needs. Numbers on tests were not

as important as the well-being of the students. The consideration that students and teachers are

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Mikaela HaleyDecember 12, 2014MC 401Research PaperRough Draftpeople was not lost among the searching through figures and statistics to see which race or

socioeconomic background was doing better. The leaders of the school district, as well as the

community, worked hand in hand to discover the problems of the school and what had to be done

to fix them. It took grunt work, hands on help, and fundraising. It was a long process that took

years to accomplish and is still a work in progress. The school district did not search for a quick

fix and did not allow privatization to take over. Union City realized that substantial reform was

necessary and that real success takes years and dedicated leaders and staff.

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