Same Education for all

Edwin Gutierrez

 

English 102

 

Dr. Parker

 

10/20/14

 

Many kids in schools need a lot of attention in many areas. Some student lack in certain subjects and others do very well and are able to pass their classes without a problem. Then there are the children that have disabilities who require a lot more help. A lot of the time, special need children are the sweetest kids to be around and despite how much attention they need, one is always happy to help them, but there are some people who don't really care much about them and leave them behind in education because they think that the special need student(s) won't achieve much. Within education, everyone deserves to be educated and respected. Teachers have to care about their students are their education. If not us, who will help them succeed?

            In the article, "Complaint sparks federal probe of special ed discrimination in San Ramon schools", by Ashly McGlone, wrote about how the  Los Cerros Middle School discriminated against a 12 year old autistic boy. Parents Adam and Judy Wang said that "their 12-year-old autistic son with verbal apraxia and other special needs students are 'being deprived equal access to education and a fair opportunity to learn and function in the community,' compared with non-disabled peers." (Mcglone, 2). Not being able to attend field trips or to learn the same things as other students who aren't mentally disabled is absurd and shouldn't happen.  It's understandable that it does take time and patients to teach disabled kids, but just because they have a disability doesn't mean that the student isn't smart enough to do the work. In another article, "What Genius and Autism Have in Common" by Maia Szalavitz wrote about autistic kids and their talents.

Having achieved acclaim and professional status in their fields by the ripe age of 10. Most are musical prodigies; one is an artist and another a math whiz, who developed a new discipline in mathematics and, by age 13, had had a paper accepted for publication in a mathematics journal. Two of the youngsters showed extraordinary skill in two separate fields: one child in music and art (his work now hangs in prestigious galleries the world over), and the other in music and molecular gastronomy (the science behind food preparation — why mayonnaise becomes firm or why a soufflé swells, for example). He became interested in food at age 10 and, by 11, had carried out his first catering event. All of the prodigies had stories of remarkable early abilities: one infant began speaking at 3 months old and was reading by age 1; two others were reading at age 2. The gastronomist was programming computers at 3. Several children could reproduce complex pieces of music after hearing them just once, at the age most kids are finishing preschool. Many had toured internationally or played Lincoln Center or Carnegie Hall well before age 10 (Szalavitz, 3-4).

Being disabled doesn’t stop a kid from doing well, it’s the teachers and sometimes even the parents who don’t care about them or their education. Like in the article, the kids have overachieved and have done things that a lot of us can’t do without learning and to learn what they have learned early on would take some of us months or years to learn.

Szalavitz, Maia, and Maia Szalavitz. "What Genius and Autism Have in Common | TIME.com." Time. Time, 10 July 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

 

 Mcglone, Ashly. "Complaint Sparks Federal Probe of Special Ed Discrimination in San Ramon Schools." ContraCostaTimes.com. Contra Costa Times, 02 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

 

Skiba, Russell J., et al. "Achieving Equity In Special Education: History, Status, And Current Challenges." Exceptional Children 74.3 (2008): 264-288. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

 

Just because I speak Spanish doesn't mean I can't achieve.

Edwin Gutierrez

Dr. Parker

English 102

15 October 2014


Speaking two or more languages says a lot about a person. It also enables that person to get better jobs, especially jobs that need bilingual employees, but with obtaining a better job, one needs to go to school. With the majority of people in the United States being Hispanic, Hispanics are also less likely to finish high school. If they pursue a higher education, it's not a four year institution that they attend. A lot of this trouble comes from the parents; the parents, many times don't have the proper incentives or guidance to push their children to go to school. With non-educated parents, expectations are lower and kids don't care much about school after high school or during high school and eventually drop out and begin working at a fast food restaurant as if that's how it's suppose to be, which is not. We as Americans need to educate people on how have better resources to obtain a proper education, no matter the race.

Graduating high school is a big accomplishment for many kids. Upon graduating, a student can deiced what they want to be in life. There are many options, but what about those that drop out of high school? In the article, 'Discrimination in Academia', by Thomas Dolan, he states that "Joseph Soares, a professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. "Hispanics are less likely to graduate from high school, and if they go to college, are less likely to attend a four-year institution. They are more likely to take a lesser degree at a less costly school, and are tremendously at risk, with attrition all along the way." (Dolan,4) Being less likely to graduate or event attend a four year university takes its toll on students life and career. It will not only affect the student themselves, but their children (if any or in the future). Their children will see that their parents didn't graduate high school or did and never did anything after that and will want to do as their parents. Not only might the parents not care, but just as African Americans, income, location and resources are a big factor in a child's education and achievement. As stated, "parents without college educations and an inability to provide their children the necessary guidance and incentives, lack of financial resources, poor secondary schools, lower academic expectations, students not provided satisfactory paths to higher education, and so on." (Dolan, 5). We can't be having less expectations for any students. the race or the first language of a child shouldn't predict the outcome within education of a child. We need the students of America to succeed so future generations can also succeed.

Dolan, Thomas G. "Discrimination In Academia." Ebscohost.com. N.p., Feb. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

Zinny, Gabriel Sanchez. "Hispanic Achievement: Not Only a Matter of Education." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

Less of everything for women

Edwin Gutierrez


Men have dominated many aspects within the United States, especially in education and the work force. Women are underrepresented in many areas, even though they have higher success rates in obtaining their bachelors or masters than men. With being more successful in obtaining a higher education, women still face obstacles in obtaining financial aid while attending a university. Having a difficult time obtaining information about financial or having trouble with income not only affects single women, but women that are mothers. We as Americans have to stand for women rights. We can't leave them to fend for themselves. Women are as human as men are and can sometimes be better at many things than us men.

In the article, "Women still face barrier in higher education" by Piedad F. Robertson, Robertson states that "studies have shown that women are more likely than men to earn bachelor’s degrees – in every state, every income bracket and every racial group. Women earn 57 percent of all bachelor’s and 58 percent of all master’s degrees." (Robertson, 3). Being so, why is America against Women, their education and income? Clearly men are lazier in obtaining a higher education and women work harder for their education. While working harder for their education, women also work harder for their children and not many schools help them out with financial aid because colleges don't educate them on how to receive or apply for financial aid. "a recent study by the American Association of University Women revealed that women were significantly more likely than men to cite a lack of money and information about financial aid as obstacles to going to college." (Robertson, 7). If better information was presented to them about financial aid, many women claim "that they would have been 'much more likely' to attend college if better and more user-friendly information about financial aid had been available (51 percent vs. 33 percent for men)." (Robertson, 7). We need better rights for women in many, if not, all aspects within America. They work just as hard as men do, sometimes even harder because a lot of them have children. This should affect everyone because this could be your daughter or wife that could be dealing with this in the future.

Robertson, Piedad F. "Women Still Face Barriers In Higher Education." New York Times. New York Times, 2012. Web. 2014.

More money, less education.

Edwin Gutierrez


We all want a brighter future for ourselves and our families. The American  dream is to have a good paying job with great benefits and great people to work with. Now a days, in order to get a good job with great salary, we need to go to college because a high school diploma won't suffice; maybe at a fast food restaurant, but who really wants to work at a low salary job? No one does. With colleges asking for more than the $40,000 per semester -which is what the average American makes yearly- a lot of students are being forced to sign up for loans which ultimately leaves the students with a pile of debt, which may take years to pay off.

With the "the federal government done little to improve the situation, it has made things worse: In 2006, with the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act, the federal government cut $12.7 billion from the education budget– the largest cut in the nation's history." (Huevel, 2), which means that a lot of school funds that help students attend college, like the Pell grant, "a key source of aid for low-income students, have remained stagnant and only pay for about a third of a college education, down from 60 percent 20 years ago" (Huevel, 2). This is a serious matter to all students and parents. With education budget cuts, many of us will not be able to afford the education we so desire without taking out multiple loans and walking around with a huge debt on our shoulders. Furthermore, community colleges are now getting expensive and some of us aren't fortunate enough to receive federal aid. "The consequences of this are grave. According to Campus Progress, it is estimated that between 2001 and 2010 "two million academically qualified students will not go to college because they can't afford it." (Huevel, 3). We can't let this happen anymore. There has to be a way for all to receive an education without burdening ourselves with abundance of debt.

Tests are racist, too!

Edwin Gutierrez

We've despised them since we have first heard about them; laid eyes on them. They're boring and take up so much time. Tests have been around long enough for everyone to dislike them and depending on the subject, they can be dreadful. Now imagine a test that is bias. Well, not so much the test, but the schools who are giving them for admittance into their school. Now, we know that some schools require students who wish to enroll into their school, to take a test for a spot in their school, but to give a test and based on either name, gender, income or for other reasons other than test scores is uncalled and absurd! Many would believe that we would have learned by now, but racism is still out there and  it affects many kids. Many kids around the country suffer from believing that they aren't good for school and turn their attention to other ideas, which is more problematic to others. Good education and teachers who care about their students will improve many factors within a child's life.

If every student was taught with the same patience and attitude, many kids would succeed and accomplish more. We wouldn't read or hear about discrimination in schools and definitely not read about a "Bias test policy" from the New York Times, written by Al Baker. Of 967 African-Americans, only 19 were given seats to Stuyvesant High School. “I refuse to believe there are only 19 brilliant African-Americans in the city; it simply cannot be the case,” Mr. Hewitt said. “It is a shameful practice and it must be changed.” (Baker, 5). With these kinds of tests, a lot of kids will go on to believe that they aren't good enough for good schools or classes and will more than likely not want to attend school or settle for low scores because it's what they know how to do. "Deidrea Miller, said the department 'has launched several initiatives to improve diversity.' Those include a free test-preparation course aimed at poor students." (Baker, 10) which we really need more of around the country so that our future children can exceed in many ways. We can't implant their minds with negative thoughts about their education. There are other means of accepting students into schools, but "New York City’s specialized schools were the only ones that used a single test as the sole admission criterion. Others use multiple factors including grades, teacher recommendations, essays and interviews." (Baker, 13), even so, with other means of admissions, students still might be discriminated against because of their ethnicity and other factors. With misleading kids and giving them false hope makes them want to do better within school or leads them to a life that they shouldn't deserve.

Noah Morrison, a student stated "The test is fine, but there need to be more opportunities for people to do well on it. There need to be more test-prep programs in underachieving middle schools with high black and Latino populations. It’s a socioeconomic problem.” (baker, 22).

 

 

 

Baker, Al. "Charges of Bias in Admission Test Policy at Eight Elite Public High Schools." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 07 Oct. 2014.

Motivated to fail.

Edwin Gutierrez


Money, money, MONEY; it's what gets America going to sustain life. Being the "richest" country on Earth, everyone within the states should have access to a good school, resources and teachers. Teachers now a days do not want to teach at a low income school because they know that they can get a better paying salary at a different school or better benefits.  With less teachers teaching low income classes or schools, students are failing dramatically in all subjects. And lets not forget about the income of the parents; if they don't make a sustainable income, statistically their children are less likely to get motivated for a proper education. So with money being the main factor as to why a kid can't get a proper education is beyond many of us and those who can get an education seem not to care .

Teachers are great and they deserve the respect that they do because their job is tough. There are also those teachers that say they care but don't want to work at a low income school as stated in the Huffington post, "teachers are more likely to gravitate toward the schools that pay the most, offer the best facilities, present the safest working environments, and provide the most advanced learning environments", which is understandable, but I'm sure at some point in the teacher's life thy said that they wanted to teach kids and give them an opportunity to grow and succeed in life. With more teachers trying to get better jobs at better resourced schools, it feels as if teachers don't care anymore about the lower income class, when they should be paying attention to them because "the United States placed average to below average versus other developed countries in reading, science, and math, but these averages mask the influence of poverty."

 http://www.tumblr.com/search/poverty%20education

Friedman, Howard Steven. "America's Poverty-Education." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

Education in the US.

Edwin Gutierrez

On a daily basis, we see or hear about kids struggling to maintain their grades or those who don't want to go to school because they're "too cool for school." But what about those who would like to go to school, but cant because they're homeless or go from family to family, hotel to hotel? Those kids are living in the circumstances aren't recognized as homeless by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In the article, "Record number of homeless children enrolled in US public schools" is just exactly what they talk about. They know that there are kids out there whom wish to pursue a better education and life, but due to their circumstances, they can't.
 “We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible" (President Obama election debate: education). So why aren't we doing anything to help?

Released on Monday and according to the Department of Education, "nearly 1.3 million homeless children and teens were enrolled in schools in the 2012-13 school year, an 8 percent increase from the previous school year." Despite the slight increase, many kids are still out living in different homes and even though that they do, HUD doesn't see them as homeless and wont do little to nothing to help with their education because they have access to public schools.

With having access to public schools, kids still struggle to do well in school because "kids in our schools and communities are spending restless nights in bed-bug-infested motels and falling more behind in school by the day because they’re too tired and hungry to concentrate." If where here to help, why not help? Myself and many others are fortunate enough to live and go to school in peace, but we take it for granted. The ones that can go to school without much struggle should help realize how lucky they are to receive financial aid or help from anyone.


Paulson, Amanda. "Record Number of Homeless Children Enrolled in US Public Schools (+video)." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

http://www.lightafire.com/quotations/authors/barack-obama/