Low Achieving Schools

The public schools in the Bay Area that are low achieving schools are poorly funded. They are limited to spending because of the debt the schools are in or the budget cuts that were occurring. Our schools in the Bay Area aren’t as poor as in the schools mentioned in Savage Inequalities, but money can still make a big difference in education. Properly funding schools will give the students equipment and books they need to learn in class. In the book the author mentioned students not doing anything in their science class because they didn’t have proper equipment to do their activities with. Teachers shouldn’t have to make their own equipment or use their own money to buy materials.

            Schools in the Bay Area that are mostly populated with minorities are also low achieving schools. These students tend to fail their classes and be put in remedial classes or drop out. The schools are also surrounded by neighborhoods that are dangerous to the students and they attract students to join gangs or sell drugs. This relates to the book Savage Inequalities because the schools Jonathan Kozol visited that had mostly black students were in the same situation. They weren’t learning from their classes so they dropped out and dedicated their time and money to the streets. The schools that Jonathan Kozol visited had drop rates as high as sixty percent.

Comparing high school teachers in Hayward to teachers in Savage Inequalities are quite similar. Some high school teachers in Hayward didn’t really teach the class, it was more of a daycare for students. In the book there were teachers that just sat at their desk all day while their students also do their own thing. I can see why these students had to learn on their own or why they dropped out. Both Hayward schools and the schools in the book can’t afford to keep or attract young teachers so they are forced to deal with all the teachers they already have.