A Solution to Segregation in Texas? (SumBlog 7)

This week in class we talked about how to solve the problem of segregation within education.  More specifically, we discussed how class, race, and ethnicity are not necessarily equally represented in different school districts.  One of the biggest factors impacting the predominate race and social class represented within an individual school is the economic opportunities for the families within that district.  The general trend is that the higher the class of a neighborhood, the better the test scores of the students in these districts will be.  It has also been found that in areas that face economic disadvantages, the students are predominately racial/ethnic minorities.  This, in turn, has led to a system in which our schools remain segregated (which was described in our textbooks).  Also, it has led to a system of inherent inequality.  However, one county in Texas thinks that they have the right solution to this problem.

A solution?

The theory behind this counties attempt is that if all of the schools have equal monetary resources, they will all be just as successful academically.  However, this is not necessarily true.  According to class material, funding makes little difference in test scores.  Diversity, on the other hand, makes a much larger impact on the test scores of students in public school districts.  Just because students are given more academic resources in the working class, cannot change the fact that they are from the working class.  Families in this class generally do not put the same emphasis on education as the middle and upper middle class.  However, by diversifying the student population, students could gain from the positive influence of their peers.

I did not pick the video that I chose just to say that it was not valid.  I simply picked it to show one real-world attempt at solving an obvious flaw in our education system.  I also chose to share the link because it demonstrates how complicated changing institutions in our country can become.  This was made evident by the fact that both parties are suing the state over the matter of the proposed change.