This American Life about desegregation in schools

[Anonymous]

It still isn't a life I would want to have but it is far from the grinding poverty of a third world country.

In the sense that there are no open sewers, I suppose you're right. But it is far from the life that my grandmother and her siblings had... and they grew up picking cotton in California's Central Valley. And yet... every one of them was able to go to college and prosper there because the high school in their poor farm town actually taught them well.

So, you may ask--did my grandmother become rich? Did she live the American dream?

Not really. She raised three kids with a husband in the merchant marine (before he died) and they were still pretty damn poor. But they read a lot of books. And being poor was not a crime then. It still isn't. It is not even a moral failing, despite the fact that so many of you seem hell bent on making it one.

[Anonymous]

But ....parents in ALL neighborhoods should invest in their kids education and make learning a priority in their own homes and neighborhoods. That means turning tv off. Reading to your child.

Thanks for the lecture, sanctimonious mom.

I never read to my children. They're all reading at about six levels above grade. The oldest is eight and a level X. Since we are upper middle class, no one lectures me about this. To my face, anyway. Learning is a priority for EVERYONE. I wish you could just freaking understand that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:QUOTE " No. A high school education will get you a minimum wage job, and a high school education is not "serious less than ideal choices." Both the people I know who work these kind of crappy jobs are in their 30s or 40s without kids and living in apartments. Lower-level office workers or retail managers - so more than minimum wage but not great. They can't afford kids and can't find a decent man for two salaries (though these two salaries, if the guy is also working crap jobs, would put them in an impossible position for day care and college). I guess they are responsible not having kids because they can't afford them. But good god if I try to imagine my life without my kids. I'd rather die. They are my heart and job and reason for existing. I know these two women well."

I would much prefer NOT to have kids than have kids that end up like the ones in the show...or similar.
No money? No kids.
That's how it should be.

Did you listen to the podcast? Are you saying that all the parents in the Normandy district are not supposed to have children? Just force sterilize the population of Ferguson?

[Anonymous]

I would much prefer NOT to have kids than have kids that end up like the ones in the show...or similar.
No money? No kids.
That's how it should be.


Ok, so poor people shouldn't have children because they can't offer quality of life. How about rich people that, say, find out their child will be born w down syndrome or some other devastating condition, should they abort? Because no matter how much money they can't really offer quality of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tutored a kid whose family sent her brothers to a less than adequate charter school because of someone they met from that school on the metro. At least one of the kids should have been applying to the magnet schools in DC but his parents didn't know what their options were and just went with the path of least resistance.

Another word for "path of least resistance" is lazy. And that's the problem. There are tone of resources out there, free Internet at public libraries, all you have to do is start asking questions. But many people are just lazy parents, they just get their kids to a bus stop and think their job is done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
no minimum wage employer is going to pay overtime. she is working two jobs, one 20 hours a week and one 30 hours a week. Or she is a salaried manager who has to be on the clock for 50 hours a week though she will likely make more then minimum wage in that situation but not much. I know someone who works retail, manager, scheduled 53 hours a week, 36,000 a year. And this isn't fast food - this is at a better retail place. you guys have no clue how grim the numbers really are

You're just coming up with a bunch of excuses why it's impossible instead of actually doing something.

I've known one very poor white woman. She grew up very poor in a very dysfunctional family in the country. Half of her family was in prison, half on drugs, she barely finished school, never went to college. She had kids who went to prison and drugs, a couple of failed marriages. She'd never heard of things like a kitchen scale or a fondue. She was depressed, on medication.

She's been working by cleaning houses. And you know what? She made it. She worked really hard and paid off her home and paid for her car, got out of a toxic relationship and is now very proud of herself. She says working hard really does pay off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Miserable, depressed people don't make the best economic decisions. That goes for all races and classes. But when you're poor, one or two mistakes can ruin your whole life.

No one can save you from the consequences of disastrous choices that you make. And you can't blame that on race.

[Anonymous]

This thread has become so depressing. Do you people hear yourselves? Where is your compassion? I strongly suspect that you are basically the same as the parents at the outraged school meeting, of the school that wanted to keep the poor kids out. "Have we thought about moving up the start time?" That's you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
no minimum wage employer is going to pay overtime. she is working two jobs, one 20 hours a week and one 30 hours a week. Or she is a salaried manager who has to be on the clock for 50 hours a week though she will likely make more then minimum wage in that situation but not much. I know someone who works retail, manager, scheduled 53 hours a week, 36,000 a year. And this isn't fast food - this is at a better retail place. you guys have no clue how grim the numbers really are

You're just coming up with a bunch of excuses why it's impossible instead of actually doing something.

I've known one very poor white woman. She grew up very poor in a very dysfunctional family in the country. Half of her family was in prison, half on drugs, she barely finished school, never went to college. She had kids who went to prison and drugs, a couple of failed marriages. She'd never heard of things like a kitchen scale or a fondue. She was depressed, on medication.

She's been working by cleaning houses. And you know what? She made it. She worked really hard and paid off her home and paid for her car, got out of a toxic relationship and is now very proud of herself. She says working hard really does pay off.

how is that a success story? Her kids are in jail. The person I know working 53 hours for 36,000 works her butt off. Is never late. The only time she took a sick day was the week after she was a victim of a random home invasion sexual assault (likely because she lived in a cheap but not nice area apartment complex). Fortunately, her parents were able to help her get a into nicer apartment in a a safe area, but that now takes much more of her paycheck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread has become so depressing. Do you people hear yourselves? Where is your compassion? I strongly suspect that you are basically the same as the parents at the outraged school meeting, of the school that wanted to keep the poor kids out. "Have we thought about moving up the start time?" That's you.

I agree. It's like let's blame them for not taking personal responsibility on one hand, and then on the other hand, let's cripple their chances of making it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of one bedroom or studio apartments in the Janney-Mann-Eaton-Murch area on Wisconsin and Conneticut Avenue. Many with utilities included. The rent is reasonable as you don't pay utilities.
But ....parents in ALL neighborhoods should invest in their kids education and make learning a priority in their own homes and neighborhoods. That means turning tv off. Reading to your child. Letting your child see you read. Give back, even if just your time to beautify your own neighborhood school. Teach your kids to care about ALL life and themselves.

aren't there housing codes about how many people can live in a studio or one bedroom. And there is no way an apartment manager would rent an efficiency to a single mom of two. You have to fill out a long application, and she would be considered too risky economically and socially

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread has become so depressing. Do you people hear yourselves? Where is your compassion? I strongly suspect that you are basically the same as the parents at the outraged school meeting, of the school that wanted to keep the poor kids out. "Have we thought about moving up the start time?" That's you.

I agree. It's like let's blame them for not taking personal responsibility on one hand, and then on the other hand, let's cripple their chances of making it.

I can only hope that most of the people making those claims did not actually listen to the podcast. If that's their response after hearing the stories of these kids, I truly despair for their humanity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But ....parents in ALL neighborhoods should invest in their kids education and make learning a priority in their own homes and neighborhoods. That means turning tv off. Reading to your child.

Thanks for the lecture, sanctimonious mom.

I never read to my children. They're all reading at about six levels above grade. The oldest is eight and a level X. Since we are upper middle class, no one lectures me about this. To my face, anyway. Learning is a priority for EVERYONE. I wish you could just freaking understand that.

no it isn't a priority for EVERYONE. thats what you need to understand. There are plenty of parents who expect the schools to be the parent, do all the teaching, provide three meals a day, social services, winter coats etc. These same parents never ever show up to anything. These same parents are the ones I see everyday yelling "get your fucking ass in the car" at their elem aged kids at the school across the street. Those parents do NOT CARE and I am not convinced they have the mental capacity to even love their kids. That kind neglect, poverty and abuse actually damages young brains and the fanciest newest school building isn't going to change that. That poor kid getting screamed at in public at age 6 is going to be raging against the world by age 11 and also three grades behind. And thats why the parents who do care bail on the public school by 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

And thats why the parents who do care bail on the public school by 4th grade.

This is exactly what those 1,000 kids were trying to do in Normandy. They cared but couldn't afford to get out so when the transfer opportunity came up they lined up even w the 30 miles distance. But the parents at the other school didn't want them there. So how do we expect poor people to get out of poverty if we deny them opportunities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But ....parents in ALL neighborhoods should invest in their kids education and make learning a priority in their own homes and neighborhoods. That means turning tv off. Reading to your child.

Thanks for the lecture, sanctimonious mom.

I never read to my children. They're all reading at about six levels above grade. The oldest is eight and a level X. Since we are upper middle class, no one lectures me about this. To my face, anyway. Learning is a priority for EVERYONE. I wish you could just freaking understand that.

no it isn't a priority for EVERYONE. thats what you need to understand. There are plenty of parents who expect the schools to be the parent, do all the teaching, provide three meals a day, social services, winter coats etc. These same parents never ever show up to anything. These same parents are the ones I see everyday yelling "get your fucking ass in the car" at their elem aged kids at the school across the street. Those parents do NOT CARE and I am not convinced they have the mental capacity to even love their kids. That kind neglect, poverty and abuse actually damages young brains and the fanciest newest school building isn't going to change that. That poor kid getting screamed at in public at age 6 is going to be raging against the world by age 11 and also three grades behind. And that's why the parents who do care bail on the public school by 4th grade.

Learning is not a priority for everyone, if this was the case we would have no failing school districts, no bad schools because everyone wants to learn, so that argument right the is DUMB. I have worked hard to be in a certain school district, I pay enough in taxes to support gazillion welfare programs, on top of that I don't need to start supporting the education of your kids by "making sure they are with the higher achieving kids". This is life, it is survival of the fittest. Just to make my point clear, if my family and I were to fall on hard times, I know we will be in a bad school district too but there's not much we will be able to do about it, we surely won't be blaming anyone, it's life. It's time for personal responsibility, you can argue till you are blue in the face but nothing short of personal responsibility will change the situation.