Siddity In The City

They got public education right.

This article was a bit of encouraging news in a rather depressing NYT weekend edition. Crisis! Evacuation! War! Dead Dogs! Busing that works! Whuzzat? It sounds like the Raleigh plan really is working. Test results of minority children went from below half scoring at grade level to nearly all scoring at grade level. Students encounter economic and racial diversity from their earliest days. In a plan based on income rather than race, thus neatly sidestepping the race/social-engineering/unconstitutionality argument. Only about 2.5% of said children are assigned to schools they wouldn't voluntarily attend for sake of economic balance. Well-off suburban kids are actually heading into the urban areas to attend top magnet schools. At no additional cost to parents. The only drawback involved for any of the students is a longer bus ride. And in the end you have a community of better educated, more productive adults across the board. What the hell is the problem? Why are people fighting this? I think it's ridiculous that, in a nation that claims meritocracy, there is so much opposition to giving all of its most vulnerable and blameless members (er, that would be the children) an equal educational start in life. I, for one, would gladly support an education plan that would draw from federal tax funds, at greater cost to me, if it meant that all schools, and the children therein, would receive equal funding and thus equal quality of education. And I don't have any children of my own to consider, as yet, nor do I expect any children of mine to grow up in poverty, at risk of attending underperforming schools. Better schooling for all children is just good policy. And yet, there are still folks who just cannot stand the idea of putting poor children in rich schools. Like the suburban mama who complains that the busing is wrong, that economic busing is proxy for race. To which I say, so fucking what? Is it working? In the sense that the children, all the children, are faring better than they did before, not in the sense that your little golden children may or may not have an hour less to watch the MTV every day? Yes. So, what is your problem? Unless, of course, your complaint that the problem is busing is just "a proxy" for your racist desire to keep your children separate from the dark hoardes. *eyeroll* These are the same people, of course, who will swear up, down and sideways that they oppose affirmative action on the grounds that it is an unfair advantage for the undeserving. *deep breath* Oh, and for those who'd argue that we shouldn't be busing "our" children out to "their" schools, we should just be improving "our own"? Mmmm, yeah, shut the hell up. You keep working on that plan. Let us know when that works out for you, okay? In the meantime, I'd be happy to put my kids in a place where they'll learn what they need to cope in this society right now. Ohdamn. Now I done gone and got all worked up. It's a good article. Read it, then email it to your favorite anti-busing crusader. Happy Sunday.

posted by Sid @ 9/25/2005 12:26:00 PM