Brown

The Brown vs. Board of Education case primarily was focused on desegregation. Since then, desegregation has taken many turns. School districts used different measures to assure schools were equally segregated. For instance, the demographics in each school district were a number one factor in determining school zones. When I was in 6th and 7th grade, districts used a policy, often referred to as "busing", where students were bused across their districts into lower-class neighborhoods or higher-class neighborhoods. I remember traveling 50-55 mintues every day to get to a school when I lived a quarter mile away from school that was in walking distance. This was a way to have schools equally balanced on a social status level.

Over the years, though, things have changed and most districts don't use "busing" anymore. Many students go to their neighborhood schools. The problem with this arises when funding is determined. As we all know, funding is primarily determined through FCAT or other standardized test scores. Unfortunately, schools in a low-class neighborhood suffer the consequences of this policy. I do not think this is fair at all and that all schools should be equally funded regardless of the demographics and social status of the school. Most students in the lower-income neighborhoods have parents who work many jobs and often at night time. While teachers are doing all they can to help their studetns succeed, some work and studying needs to be done at home. It's sad but many of these students don't have parents at home that can sit down with them every night and help them with reading, writing, and math. In some instances, many parents in lower-income neighborhoods may not even be able to help their students because they themselves did not complete school and cannot read, write or do basic math.

In the end, even though schools are technically segregated, it might not seem like that because of the demographics of each neighborhood. If all schools are to be equal and all students are to be able to receive the same education, then funding needs to be the same for each school. The schools who receive lower grades on FCAT are probably the one's who need more funding for more resources.