REDISTRIBUTING RESOURCES IN EDUCATION
by Emily Mitchell
Adapted from TIME Magazine
1.
Before starting their morning lessons, children in public schools across the U. S. recite
the pledge of Allegiance.* The familiar words echo in immaculate suburban buildings with
bright, airy classrooms and labs where children study art and languages, learn on the latest
computers and play sports in well-equipped gyms. They also ring out in overcrowded city
schools, where sewage backs up into bathroom plumbing and where students share used
textbooks and practice typing on handmade, fake keyboards. Whatever the setting, the
pledge ends the same. "With liberty and justice for all."
2.
The notion of equal opportunity is central to the American ideal. For that goal to have
any meaning, it must be rooted in an education system that gives every child a chance to
succeed. But for decades, a gulf has been widening between the quality of public schooling
for children of privilege and that for those born into poverty. By relying on local property taxes
as a crucial source of funds, the U.S. has created a caste system of public education that is
increasingly separate and unequal.
3.
As these disparities have become too glaring and shameful to ignore, a reform
movement has grown that seeks to play "Robin Hood" by taking funds from richer districts to
help pay for schools in poorer ones. Since the 1970s, 10 states have decided -- or been
forced by courts -- to overhaul their methods of funding some of their school districts.
4.
The forces of equity have now been joined by a powerful voice:
Jonathan Kozol,
author of Savage Inequalities. After two years of research, Kozol has written a searing report
of the extremes of wealth and poverty in America’s school system and the blighting effect on
poor children, especially those in cities. Kozol observes that inner-city schools are bleak
fortresses with rotting classrooms and few amenities to inspire or motivate the young. One
history teacher has 110 students in four classes, and only 26 books. Every year, says a
teacher in a nearby school, "there's one more toilet that doesn’t flush, one more drinking
fountain that doesn’t work, one more classroom without texts.”
5.
In painful detail, Kozol describes city schools where water cascades down the
stairways when it rains, and where the chemistry teacher uses a popcorn popper** as a
Bunsen Burner.*** Kozol juxtaposes these images with descriptions of the luxurious facilities
in nearby wealthy suburbs which have among other things: seven gyms, rooms for fencing,
wrestling and dance instruction, and an Olympic-size pool.
6.
For Kozol and many activist reformers, the chief villain of the education tragedy is
"local control", America’s decentralized system of school administration and its heavy
reliance on property taxation. Everything from pencils to teachers’ salaries is paid for through
a process that varies from state to state. But in most cases, about 6% of the money in any
district comes from Washington, from the state government and 47% from locally generated
property taxes. Kozol believes that the best way to improve schools would be to do away
completely with the property tax as a source of revenue. In its place, he suggests a
progressive income tax to raise money that would then be distributed fairly among districts.
7.
The reform movement is already producing some results. In 1989, Kentucky’s
Supreme Court ruled that the state’s school finance system was unconstitutional; the richest
schools were allocated as much as $ 4,200 a year for each pupil, while poorer ones received
only $1,700 per student. Under a plan that is in its second year, virtually every school district
now has at least $3,200 to spend per student; over the years, the gap between rich and poor
districts will be further narrowed. Children from low-income families now have new preschool
programs, and there is a wide range of Saturday and after-school projects for students with
special needs.
8.
But in other parts of the country, the fight over redistributing privilege remains bitter.
Texas' State Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that gross educational inequality could no longer
be condoned. Since then, Texas lawmakers have come up with two plans that the judiciary
found unsatisfactory. The Governor signed a compromise law last year that shifted millions of
dollars in property-tax revenue to poorer districts, but the bill’s constitutionality is still under
challenge in the courts.
9.
Kozol points out that in most cases better-off Americans simply have a narrow view of
what they are doing. "They do not want poor children to be harmed," he writes, "they simply
want the best for their own children.”
10.
Yet anyone who has seen the shameful disparities between public schools in rich and
poor areas, or who has read Kozol’s vivid account, will find it difficult to deny that the
differences in funding make a mockery of the nation's ideal. Fifth-grade teacher Madelyn
Cimaglia has no doubt of the wonders that could be worked in San Antonio’s Edgewood
school district if more funds were available. Like thousands of her peers, Cimaglia
supplements meager classroom supplies with her own money, buying her students books
such as "Alice in Wonderland." “Our kids would fly if we had resources similar to the rich
districts," she says.
* oath of loyalty to the U.S. Government
** machine to make popcorn
*** equipment in science laboratories
QUESTIONS
1. What is the writer's purpose in this article?
a.
b.
c.
d.
to compare the situation of poor school children in different states
to show that money will not solve the problem of bad schools
to illustrate the need for reform in the United States education system
to explain why the poor in America do not deserve bad schools
2. FILL IN THE BLANKS IN THE SENTENCE BELOW (not more than 3 words in each
blank).
In paragraph 1, __________________ are being contrasted with __________________
____________________________________.
3. In paragraph 2 the writer says, "For that goal to have any meaning…" What
goal is he referring to?
________________________________________________________________
4. According to paragraphs 2 and 3,
a.
What is the cause of the "caste system" in the U. S. schools?
______________________________________________________
b.
How is this situation being corrected in some states?
______________________________________________________
5. What general point is illustrated by the examples in paragraphs 4 and 5?
______________________________________________________
6. How does Kozol suggest we solve the problem of local control of the
schools?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Each state should pay for school supplies and teachers’ salaries.
Schools should receive money through a progressive income tax.
Schools should raise money from local owners of property.
America should adopt a decentralized system of administration.
7. a. As described in paragraphs 7 and 8, redistribution of school funds depends on
a.
b.
c.
d.
personal donations
private schooling
a new constitution
legal procedures
b. In what American state has this problem of redistribution been solved?
______________________________________________________
8. According to paragraph 10, the current distribution of funds in education (corresponds/
doesn't correspond) with the nation's ideal.
Quote from the text to support your answer.
_____________________________________________________________
9. What is the writer's conclusion?
a. More money in poor schools will give the children a chance to succeed.
b. America's central ideals about the education system are not taken seriously.
c. Teachers should buy students books and extra supplies with their own money.
d. America’s children need to read more books like Alice in Wonderland.
Summary cloze
The writer contrasts suburban schools with 1. ____________ schools. She claims that
although in every school the children start their 2. _____________ reciting the pledge of
Allegiance, the opportunities in the two kinds of schools are not equal. While pupils in the rich
districts classrooms with fresh 3. _____________, learn on the most modern 4.
_____________ and practice 5. _____________ in well-equipped gyms, pupils in the poor
neighborhoods
suffer
from
inadequate
physical
conditions,
learn
from
6. _____________ textbooks and don’t have computers. A caste system was created
because U.S. schools were 7. ______________ by local property taxes.
As a result, a 8. ______________ movement aims to 9. _____________ money from richer
districts and give them to schools in the poor districts. Jonathan Kozol, a famous 10.
_____________, has 11. _____________ the forces of equity. He has written a report that
contrasts the privileged schools and the poor schools. The reform movement already lists
several
12.
_____________.
For
example,
today
the
13. ____________ between poor and rich schools has been narrowed in Kentucky. The
writer concludes saying that if poor schools have more money, the children there will have a
better 14. ______________ to succeed.
Vocabulary Exercises
I. Find a word(s) in the text that means the same as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
spotless (p.1) ___________
crammed (p.1) ___________
idea (p.2) ___________
differences (p.3) ___________
fairness (p.4) ___________
point by point (p.5) ___________
main (p.6) ___________
were given (p.7) ___________
however (p.8) ___________
only (p.9) ___________
II. Find a word(s) in the text that means the opposite of:
1.
empty (p.1) ___________
2.
real (p.1) ___________
3.
less and less (p.2) ___________
4.
divided (p.4) ___________
5.
operative (p.4) ___________
6.
paltry (p.5) ___________
7.
partially (p.6) ___________
8.
widened (p.7) ___________
9.
friendly (p.8) ___________
10.
boring (p.10) ___________