Blog #8

A quote that stuck out to me the most in The Problem We All Live With by This American Life was, “They celebrated that the transfer students were there.” I thought this was quite amazing. The students of Francis Howell School District treated the transfer students nothing like their parents had. The parents had believed the students from Normandy School District would lower the districts test grades, cause more violence and push families to move out. However none of this happened. The test scores stayed the same, no violence was encountered and families stayed in the district. The students from Normandy excelled in the new integrated school. I thought that the youth Francis Howell’s willingness and welcoming of the Normandy students was incredible to hear. The racism and rejection of the mostly black Normandy community for the most part was still present in the older folks of the mostly white Francis Howell community. Yet, the children of Francis Howell welcomed the new students of Normandy with open arms. This is remarkable, the intelligence of the youth is something amazing.

To further back up the importance of integration for the students of the lower-class community, Bob Herbert wrote in his article Separate and Unequal, “The study, released last October, found that “over a period of five to seven years, children in public housing who attended the school district’s most advantaged schools far outperformed in math and reading those children in public housing who attended the district’s least-advantaged public schools.” This quote claims that there is evidence that the integration of lower-class communities into upper-class communities greatly enhances the learning of the student. Upper class communities have schools with better teachers, fewer classroom disruptions, pupils who are more engaged academically, parents who are more involved, and so on. This is a major aid to a child’s learning.

Additionally, Herbert stated, “Some middle-class schools have been willing to accept transfers of low-income students when those transfers are accompanied by additional resources that benefit all of the students in the schools.” I personally think this is essential. The school is given more resources to help that child’s learning. Those resources can further help other student’s as well. Additional resources will not only benefit students from the low-income communities but also student’s from the middle-class communities. And who doesn’t love extra help? New resources = help for all to succeed!