Well, I am back from Chicago, and although the trip home was obnoxious ( I got transfered to another train and ended up in St. Louis instead of LaPlata where my car was) all in all, things were good. It felt really good to be in a big city again. Sometimes I forget how much I miss it. Walking up and down the streets of Chicago was wonderful. It made me think of Boston, which of course always makes me happy. I made some new friends up there, which is always a bonus. One is a business major who went to this really amazing public school- more on that in a minute- and the other works as the promotions manager for an orginization called the Chicago House. I went to one of their small beneifts while in town and I was really impressed. They help people out a lot with a lot of different things, and I don't think I could do it justice in my despcription, but as I said, it seems like a great organization. Both the guys are really cool, and I look forward to hanging out with them more in the future. I have to say that 2 highly potential friends in 3 days is rather impressive. Hehe.
As I mentioned earlier, one my new friends went to this amazing public school in one of the Chicago suberbs. As he and I talked about it, he was very animated and excited about it, while I seemed not the least bit pleased. He finally figured out that there was something wrong and asked me what it was. I said he probably shouldn't open that can up, but he insisted. I tried to warn him. I went on a tirade about how it agrivates me that there is such a disparity in public schools. Let me first tell you that this school has 3 swimming pools, a TV production studio, has 2 sections devoted to international focuses (including teleconfrenceing around the world), etc. While I find all of these things to be amazing, and I told him so, I was so infuriated at the disparity it showed. He didn't immediately understand. So we talked about the school that was aproximately 10 miles away. This high school has less teachers than it needed, only one gym, no pool or anything close, was over 50 years old, etc. The teachers made approximately 1/4 of those at my friend's high school, there was no budget for extracurricular activities, etc.
What I told him, and now I tell to you, is that the very idea of public schools was thwarted by this disparity. Here he was, by no fault of his own, going to a school that was so amazing, setting himself up for a life of sucess. While I told him I was making no statements against him, and that he may have very well worked hard once he was there, the fact of the matter was that he was no different from someone living 10 miles away, and yet he was afforded a world of opportunities the other could scarcely dream of. And to make matters worse, it wasn't even like he was going to a private school! He, like the boy not so far away, were both attending schools funded by the government. I explained to him that the goal of public schools was to giveeveryone an equal chance for sucess.
He countered that his parents paid more property tax. Can you guess my response? In truth that only made matters worse in my eyes. for one, it only perpetuates the class system. He said that there will always be classes, and I agreed, but the difference is that while class will always exist, it is an American goal for it not to be predetermined. The fact that his parents make money should in no way be able to give him such a better start than someone who was born to a poor family. That is almost as bad as the victorian and feudal system where you are born into a class. It has been proven time and time again that those who attend better schools have an infinitely higher chance of maintaining or raising their social status and making more money. He (at least early on) didn't do anything to earn him the right to attend such a dramatically better school. He said his parents worked hard. Well, since we all know that you can't chose your parents that seemed no better. Why should his life be set up so much better because he was lucky enough to be born with better parents?
In my mind, the idea of the American educational system is to give everyone an equal opportunity to succeed. Will there always be classes? Yes, because some people will not take advantage of what they are given. It is my belief that no matter what walk of life you come from, you have the right to an education that is equal to everyone else. I think it is our obligation as a society to provide for our future through our educationsal system, and that we shouldn't be able to discriminate against someone because their family makes less money. I am happy to say that the more he thought about it, the more he ended up agreeing with me. It makes me think that there is hope. He simply didn't ever think of the difference that system made in his life and what it could easily have made in another's. Maybe if more people start realizing that we only hurt our society as a whole by not taking action, then maybe some real change can come about. With situations like these, there can be no doubt that what we are trying is not working, and something needs to be done.
Well, I guess this turned into more of a tirade than I had expected, but it was something I feel strongly about. I was impressed that this empassioned explination was something my friend enjoyed. We had a great time, and I felt really enegized being able to have that conversation. It seems rare that people want to discuss anything serious now days. Oh well. I am going to class. More later!
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