The choice is yours
After reading the article and watcing the video i honestly have to admit i wasnt surprised. Ive always had an inside veiw on how things were in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schhol districts. I grew up in the West Side of St. Paul and lived across The street from the saint paul public school Humboldt. I went to grade school with many of the kids who attended Humboldt but was fortunate enough to be able to attend a private high school. I saw how many of those kids lived; a hard liFe both a school and then at home. I also saw many of those kids drop out. Im even desided to focus my paper on this issue.
I believe that having the program "The choice is yours" is a really good thing. I think this may be the break alot of those kids need to suceed, and judging by the numbers that the article said the kids who do praticipate in this program succeed. I think that it is good for the students to get out of their segregated towns and be able to see that there is more out there for them and so they see they can do "better". If these students stay in their low poverty segregated cities they only see other children like them and dont realize what they may be missing. Not all student are oblivious to what else is out there but sending them through this program may just give them better perpectives, grades, and get them to want more.
Comments
Growing up in Fargo, North Dakota, I was completely unaware of this problem in the Minneapolis and public school districts. After reading this article, I was in shock after learning about the reality of segregated schools.
At the school where I tutor, the Minnesota Internship Center, almost all of the students are Somali. However, I don't consider this a segregated school because this school is specifically meant students who don't fluently speak English. The article focused on regular public schools and demonstrated the reality of segregation in schools.
I agree with you that the "The Choice is Yours" program can be a really good thing. All of the kids that participate in this program have benefited. However, the problem with this program is that is can't help all of the kids. And because this program can't help all kids, it is unsuccessful in being a complete solution to the problem of school segregation in the Twin Cities area. This program is very costly and would never be able to gain enough money to support all of the kids that want the opportunity.
There are many areas that contribute to this problem and it is nearly impossible to solve anytime soon. Also, there is no clear cut problem or solution pertaining to the subject of school segregation. However, many things can be done to improve this situation in the school system. To improve the problem the government can fund programs similar to "The Choice is Yours", fund inner-city schools that are struggling due to poverty and segregation, and investigate the root of the problem.
Posted by: Alex Christianson | October 22, 2006 3:03 AM
I toatally agree with you that this program may help a lot of kids to succeed in school. I think a major problem is that kids just see themselves being any better than they alreadyy are, so they are stuck going down this path that doesnt have any other options, but with this progarm it could open their eyes a little more to more options that they have in thier lives.
Posted by: Kristen Erko | October 23, 2006 11:55 AM