Posts
In the second half of the 20th century education in the South Bronx was relatively unimportant. While the necessity of a good education was not stressed, the resources available were also inadequate. For example, the schools lacked libraries, sufficient seating, and qualified teachers. The buildings were described as huge, factory-like buildings with thousands of students. This made it easy for students to get “lost in the crowd.” It was reported that every day around a third of students don’t show up to school.
In the early 50’s and 60’s laws were created stating that children be bussed into different school districts in order to achieve racial balance in schools. Because of this, most families that were able to moved to the suburbs to avoid this. What was left was an abundance of low-income families and vacant buildings, jumpstarting the decay of the South Bronx. The violence level in some high schools still reaches 7 out of 10, and a few in particular are rated in the top twelve most violent schools.
One of the main reasons education was unable to progress was because of the minute yearly budgets. In order to improve pupil achievement, adequate facilities were required. Each year the Board of Education would request a sum of money in order to provide more seats, materials, and other schools projects, but each year it was ignored. For 1967-68 a budget request of $284 million was requested, but only $181 million was given. The following year, the board asked for $265 million, and only received $122 million. City officials claimed that it was not possible to spend all of the requested money in the school system, and for that reason denied the requested figure.
Works Cited:
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-158527910.html
Wikipedia
Media Links (Video & Articles):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgyN4p7K0LE
CITY SCHOOLS SEEK A RECORD BUDGET By LEONARD BUDER
New York Times (1857-Current file); May 10, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) pg. 39
No comments:
Post a Comment