Editorial: Perpetual inequality: our own role

This past summer, AP Language and Composition students were required to read The Shame of the Nation by Jonathan Kozol. The book describes the foundering of the American education system in inner-city schools and the apartheid that has been created as a result of it. Kozol repeatedly compares the triumphs of almost entirely white suburban schools to the failures of those that are as much 99 percent black and Hispanic. It is infuriating to read about the de- privation of students who deserve as good of an education as their middle-class counterparts. But what is even more outrageous is that we, LMSD, are part of the problem. If you look in the back of the book, LMSD is even mentioned as a reference for how big the differ- ence in per pupil spending is between suburban schools and inner- city schools.

According to the New America Foundation, in 2011, LMSD spent $27,494 per pupil while the state average was $15,153. In 2009, 81.6 percent of students in LMSD were white; nine percent above the state average. And while 91.2 percent of students at LM or Harriton received achievement in reading in 2010, the state average was only 64.0 percent. What is even more shocking is LMSD’s comparison to the School District of Philadelphia. In 2010, they spent $11,417 per pupil while LMSD spent $21,616: a $10,000 difference. In 2009, their student population was 61.4 percent black and had a high school reading achievement of 42.6 percent.

It is ironic how we read about a country with a failing education system, but are never told that we are the schools who are partially responsible. For instance, prior to the start of the school year, students received a letter saying that the No Child Left Behind Act is still in place in LMSD. Through the act, taking state assessments, such as the Keystones, determines the funding that schools receive. So a school district with such high standards and excellent teaching like LMSD would have no trouble achieving good enough scores to receive excellent funding. But inner-city schools who don’t do as well don’t receive nearly as much–if any money at all–creating a cycle that is destined to repeat until real change can occur.

Reading about this subject is highly important and should by no means be discontinued. However, students should know that the in- justices they are reading about can be found only thirty minutes away at schools such as Bartram High School, a Philadelphia school that is often in the news due to violence. We are in our own little bubble here at LM, and reading a book is not enough to pop it. There is no clear or easy solution, but we must do more, not only as individual students, but also as a school.

Unsigned editorial on this page reflects the general opinion of staff editors, not the views of individuals.

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