The counter-argument: key words. 1. School is not a miniature society. 2. It is highly artificial, unrelated to outside world.

1. School is not a miniature society.

2. It is highly artificial, unrelated to outside world.

3. It is a training ground: a very special society in its own right.

4. Many teachers claim better work done in segregated schools.

5. Greater achievements academically, socially, in athletics, etc.

6. Children from segregated schools have greater self-confidence when they leave.

7. Many more practical advantages in segregated schools: e.g. administration.

8. Adolescent problems better dealt with – easier for teachers to handle.

9. Sexual deviations, greatly exaggerated.

10.No distractions – co-educational schools often lead to disastrous early marriages.

11.Segregated schools have successfully existed for centuries: a proof of their worth.

12.In many countries, the most famous schools are segregated.

13.Thousands of great men and women attended segregated schools: e.g. Churchill.

? Writing

Write an essay expressing your views on single-sex education.

 

 

B EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Donald K. & Janelle J. Jarvis, 14 September 2006

Education in the USA is characterized by great variety. No central national office controls education: each of the 50 states directs its own educational system and standards. The national government collects statistics, requires some testing, and provides a little funding. Within each state, local school boards have a lot of control over education in grades 1-12.

Elementary and secondary education (grades 1-12) in the United States is publicly funded and basically free of charge for all students, although some modest fees are commonly assessed for books and supplies. Private education is also available in most cities, but is usually very expensive. Parents can also get permission to “home-school” their children if they agree to follow certain legal guidelines. Many parents pay for private music, dance, gymnastics, or other lessons for their children.

No religious education is permitted in any public schools (grades 0-12). Parents desiring religious teaching for their children usually take or send them to church-supported (Sunday) Schools once a week, enroll them in private schools, or home-school them. 11% of US pupils attend private schools, most of which are Catholic.

 

Educational level	Grades	Age	Note: Few schools are specialized-most are general schools for all pupils.
Pre-school/child care/day care		1-4	Usually private, often expensive. Publicly funded pre-school care is rare.
Kindergarten		5-6	This is a free “zero-grade” in every elementary school.
Elementary School	1-6	6-12	Usually a neighborhood school with required classes for all pupils, a library, and gymnasium/lunch room/auditorium. Many schools put on music programs for parents two or more times a year.
Middle School	7-8	12-14	Usually a large school, where most classes are required. A few class options are available, such as band, chorus, a foreign language.
High School	9-12	14-18	Many class options are usually available. Students may choose a vocational or college-preparatory track. Spanish is a common foreign language. Extra-curricular activities like sports, music, and drama are popular. Many pupils work after school at paying jobs or in volunteer service. Student clubs are common.

 

& Reading 1

 

The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees each citizen equal protection under the law. However, up until the 1950s, this equal protection was interpreted as “separate but equal” for Americans of European ancestry and Americans of African ancestry. This segregation was most apparent in education. American public schools-have not always been racially integrated, but since the 1950s, efforts have been made to integrate American society through the schools. The road to integrating America’s schools has been a long and hard one, and the goals of integration have changed along the way.

In the early 1800s black slaves were not allowed to attend schools in America, so all schools were white. In later years, black and white children both attended public schools, but separately. In 1896, a famous Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson, attempted to attack the “separate but equal” doctrine that had ruled the country for so long. Homer Plessy, the plaintiff inthe case, attacked the Louisiana law that required segregation on trains within the state, stating that his rights had been violated under the Constitution. He claimed that legal segregation had created a system in which black citizens were inferior in the eyes of the law. Plessylost his case, and the Courts 8-1decision ruled that “segregation by race did not necessarily imply racial inferiority, ” thus upholding the doctrine of “separate but equal”. The decision resulted in the continuation of segregated schooling.

It was not until many years later that the nation officially repudiated its segregation policies. In 1954, the Supreme Court overturned “separate but equal” in the famous Brown v. Board of Education case. Linda Brown, a five-year-old girl, had to walk five blocks to a bus stop and then ride two miles each day to her all-black elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, even though there was an all-white school only four blocks from her home. Her parents, believing that the segregated school system deprived their daughter of her constitutional rights, sued the Topeka Board of Education. The Supreme Court then interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to mean that states had to provide equal educational opportunities to all students and viewed segregated schooling as “inherently unequal.” This momentous decision practically banned segregation in the public schools—at least in theory.

For several years, however, there was no real attempt made to integrate the schools. Because U.S. education is not nationalized, powerful local school districts were able to continue their old practices. Then in the late 1960s and early 1970s, several court decisions ordered the elimination of segregated schools. Desegregation processes were instituted through mandatory busing, in which children from predominantly white school systems were sent in buses to black schools, and children from predominantly black school systems were sent in buses to white schools. The focus was on integrating African-Americans into the mainstream of white America. Many families in busing programs have been satisfied with the results. However, opponents of busing point out that it is ironic that children must spend so much time traveling to school on buses when avoiding busing was one of the original reasons for the Brown v. Board of Education case.

Even advocates of busing concede that busing may have created more problems than expected. Many white parents have protested busing by fleeing the inner city for the suburbs; others have enrolled their children in private schools. This “white flight” has caused cities and schools to re-segregate, forming even more racially isolated ghettos within many American cities.

And while the physical separation of children by race is far less common than it was in 1954, there is evidence that the number of racially segregated schools is now on the rise. In fact, in some areas of the United States, particularly in the Northeast, the degree of racial separation in the schools is even greater than it was in 1954.

Some African-Americans as well have left their own communities, in order to live in safer areas with better schools. This has left inner-city children with fewer successful, well-educated black role models , and instead has allowed the negative example of drug pushers to take their place. Many black parents have also come to oppose school busing, insisting instead on better quality educational programs in neighborhood schools. The famous Brown v. Board of Education case had officially registered the nation’s distaste for discrimination, yet many parents now see the results of the 1954 case as a mixed blessing.

In recent years, educators and governments have sought new ways, other than busing, to deal with segregation. In a recent case, the Supreme Court softened its position, ruling that school systems could be freed from mandatory busing if they complied “in good faith” with desegregation orders.

Alternative plans for integrating schools have been offered, many of them focusing on curriculum improvement and teacher training. These plans are often referred to as “choice”, because parents gain the right to choose their children’s school, public or private. Many believe that giving parents the right to choose a school will lead to “voluntary” desegregation and that a free-market approach to schooling is one of the only ways to improve the quality of American education and give equal opportunity to all students. Critics of this approach claim that many schools will be left abandoned as students and their families vie over the better schools.

One example of achoice program is the“magnet schools, ” designed todraw white students back into inner city schools by offering a specialized curriculum, focusing, for example, onscience or art. With quality education incentives, these schools also work toward integration by balancing the ratio of black and white students in each school. Magnet schools have been successful in some areas but not so in others. Although some parents are attracted to the focused curriculum of a magnet school, they remain reluctant to send their children back to inner-city public schools. African-American parents see the emphasis on getting white students to enroll in the magnet schools as an insult.

In some states, an even more extreme concept of schooling has been proposed, and in a few cases, attempted. “Voucher programs” are being advocated, in which each child receives a voucher that can be “spent” on any public or private school of his or her choice, regardless of its location. Critics of this system say that voucher programs may lead to more segregated schooling as the more highly educated parents, tend to do the research that is needed to choose the best schools.

The school does seem to be the most appropriate place to ensure that all people have equal opportunity in “one nation under God.” So far, it has been the most appropriate place to begin the process of integration. The best method for realizing this goal, however, remains unclear.

 

4 Do the following exercises

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