Pumping more money into CPS (Chicago, Joliet: house, neighborhood, purchasing)

[ajolotl]

I was just pretty freaked out reading the new 08 school report cards that a public high school one mile from my house (Julian on 103rd and Vincennes -- middle to poor I guess but not exactly the projects) had EIGHT freaking percent of its students pass the PSAE. That is absolutely incredible to me. Am I misunderstanding something or is this scary as hell? It's hard for me to believe money alone can fix a problem like that -- I'm from an overall pretty poor country originally and the local school had extremely modest resources (dirt poor by U.S. standards) but it was taken very seriously by the students. By comparison the area by Julian and the school itself is incredibly wealthy and prosperous. Is money really the problem?

[lincolnparker]

money is not the problem, nor is it the solution. Prosperity is always relative, factoring in purchasing power parity.

[ajolotl]

I spoke too soon. 7.7% passing rate still puts Julian ahead of 25 other schools in sd 299. Go south side. Where my daughter swims in the summer (Dyett on 51st just east of King) 3.3% passed. Scary. Pool is pretty nice though.

[SAI126]

It's like pouring money into a black hole. The change, if it ever comes, will be when the students and the parents of the students will it. When the culture of the inner city changes from gangsta rap to intellectual and cultural achievement. It will be wonderful if it ever happens, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by SAI126

It's like pouring money into a black hole. (emphasis mine)

Is this a Freudian slip?

Freakonomics points out that peer groups play a large part in whether a child values education--more so than parental influence! As SAI126 points out, the culture of the inner city places very little value on education at this point in time. It's especially a problem for young African Americans who have the attitude that scholastic achievement is "acting white". It's quite sad, and is a huge waste of potential.

[SAI126]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Is this a Freudian slip?

No, if it was I would have said a black and brown hole. Sheesh. Can things get any more PC?

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by SAI126

No, if it was I would have said a black and brown hole. Sheesh. Can things get any more PC?

I was joking. I should have put a "" next to it to be more clear... Sorry!

[MannheimMadman]

Having checked out that school for kicks at one point, I agree; dumping money in is not a good idea. Where I am student teaching at the moment (Joliet), we see the same phenomenon that was mentioned above-backlash against "acting white". Sadly, many of my poor Black kids have more than adequate critical thinking skills, and good creativity that could take them somewhere. However, why would they choose to achieve? It's frustrating for me as a teacher, but all we can do is try our best to create a better learning culture. The problem we find is that one or two bad apples can kill the momentum.

[Drover]

Lifted straight from another post of mine on this subject:

At $11,000 per pupil per year, CPS's budget is not exactly inadequate. The problems have a lot to do with a major bureaucracy being so entrenched and self-serving that it is simply unable to deliver a quality educational product. If CPS's budget doubled tomorrow, the extra money would vanish into a cosmic vacuum of incompetence, patronage and waste. Little of it would actually reach the classroom level nor would it measurably improve academic outcomes.

And this is hardly unique to Chicago either; this is a common problem with nearly every major-city school district. Washington DC's per-pupil budget is somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000/yr, NYC's about $17,000, and their results are no better. And it's not politically correct to say this, but you can't discount how the moral health of the community affects the quality of the schools. No amount of school funding tinkering is going to fix that problem. And quite honestly, the education bureaucracy and "community activists" are a lot more interested in getting more of your money than fixing the problem.

[Chicago60614]

My roommate worked for CPS for 5 years teaching 5th grade on the west side.

Pour as much money as your heart desires into the schools, unless you have parents and a community that are dedicated and devoted to education, nothing will change. The most sad part is that most people live and die to have their children become more than they were, but it only takes 10% of people not caring to destroy an entire neighborhood after only a few years......