1. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw- Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Chapter 10 Legal, Ethical, and Economic Responsibilities: How Can We Make Our Classrooms Fair?

2. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Is School Funding Unequal? School funding in every state (except Hawaii) has traditionally been based on the local property tax –Wealthier communities have a huge advantage over poor districts with far fewer funds During the past decades, states have been financing more of school costs –Funding from the federal government for local school districts has stayed at 10%

3. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

4. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Is School Funding Unequal? 1973 Supreme Court case, San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez –A divided court, 5-4, found that unequal funding could not be challenged in the federal courts, claiming: Differences are not unfair as long as everyone gets a minimum education No proof that more money buys more quality education

5. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Is School Funding Unequal? Many state constitutions have addressed education and educational equality –40 out of 50 state supreme courts have heard school finance cases –Half the courts decided that over-reliance on the property tax represented an unconstitutional inequity in school finance Research in some states, such as New Jersey, show measurable differences with increased funding for underprivileged schools

6. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

7. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Join the Dialogue Do you think money is that important to a good education? Why or why not?

8. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Do Schools Sort and Track Students? Differing views exist on the purpose of public education –Public education is in place to ensure that every one has a solid basic education and no one is left behind –Joel Spring claims that schools were meant to be “the sorting machine” that would send some students to successful careers and others for low-level work

9. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Do Schools Sort and Track Students? Schools in the U.S. have historically encouraged various forms of tracking –Advocates for tracking, including G. Stanley Hall and more recently Tom Loveless, see important virtues in dividing students by ability –Critics of tracking, including John Dewey, Jane Addams, and W.E.B. Du Bois, claimed that tracking stunted student growth—most often female and minority students

10. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Do Students Drop Out Before Completing High School? A century ago more than 90% of high school students dropped out. Today, 70% of high school students graduate –Attitudes have changed and schools are held accountable for dropouts –Most legal barriers to the full inclusion of all children have fallen but many cultural barriers still exist Example of “institutional racism”

11. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

12. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why Do Students Drop Out Before Completing High School? Some students find school boring or unwelcoming Some cities have implemented alternative programs for students to earn their degree –Learning to Work programs –Transfer High Schools –GED programs

13. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why is There an Achievement Gap? Jacqueline Jordan Irvine claims that children of color are not being taught in ways that help them achieve at the same level as white students –White students score, on average, 20-30 points higher than students of color –Some of the difference, though not all, is based on gaps in income

14. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

15. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Why is There an Achievement Gap? Issues of multiple ethnicities and gender roles Teachers, in the end, cannot fix all of the social, cultural, and economic forces affecting their students –But teachers can make a significant difference

16. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. How Do Teachers Sometimes Get Themselves Into Trouble? Ethical dilemmas, examples –Use of school supplies –Grading and letters of reference –A teacher’s social life (in and out of school) Teachers need to remain cautious in interactions with students and colleagues to avoid even the perception of improper behavior

17. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Reading: From Money, Schools, and Justice by Stan Karp Karp writes: “Our schools don’t get enough money, and the money they do get is not distributed fairly.” Problems arise when defining an “adequate education” and persuading people to change or increase taxes New Jersey example shows the positive effects of equalizing school funding

18. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Reading: “The Tracking Wars” by Jeannie S. Oakes Advocates for detracking include National Governors’ Association, NAACP, and National Education Association Proponents of tracking claim that detracking compromises the education received by the most academically able students Oakes concludes: “Latinos and African Americans [are] more likely than whites and Asian students to be placed in low-track classes” While studying three schools: “High-track placement led to achievement gains, and low-track placement had negative effects”

19. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Reading: “The Tracking and Ability Grouping Debate” by Tom Loveless Loveless contends that “today’s tracks [are] multiple pathways through different disciplines” and are based on: –Prerequisite courses and grades –Teacher recommendations –Parent and student requests Loveless found: –High-track students’ achievement was far above low-track students’ –Race has no effect on tracking –Class, however, can affect tracking assignments

20. Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Reading: “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum Tatum writes, “questions and confusion about racial issues begin early” –Personal experiences Minority students begin to self-segregate after puberty –Students start to ask deeper questions of identity at this age –At adolescence, the racial content of our self- perception intensifies Tatum writes, “The Black students turn to each other for the much needed support they are not likely to find anywhere else”