Social Bias in Public Education

Issues of social bias between urban and suburban schools are bound up with the vexed history of racially segregated schools, government-mandated school integration, the economic decline of the inner cities, the growth of suburbs, and so-called white flight from cities to suburbs. The issues are highly charged, highly politicized, and far from resolved. One factor contributing to the politicization of public education is that of unfair funding patterns. At first glance, that does not seem to be a valid issue, as Figure 1 suggests.

Figure 1. Current expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance in public elementary and secondary schools: 1970–71 to 2000–01.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, 2002.

According to the US Department of Education, the per-pupil expenditure in American public schools between 1970 and 2001 has risen by 700% in current dollars and nearly doubled in 2001 dollars. That is reflected in Figure 1.Such expenditures may seem impressive, but the aggregate figures do not capture the differences in per-pupil spending in different school districts. A report o

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ncial inequities; until that situation is remedied, effective schooling will not be possible (Morris, 1999, p. 317). The amount of funding available for pupils at a given school district affects the ability of the school to attract quality teachers and pay them competitively. It affects whether students at a school have access to computers and/or the Internet. It affects the amount and quality of curriculum materials. It also affects curriculum content, which goes directly to the issue of social bias. Morris continues: Historically, if the push was for black children to attend schools with white children, the chances for black children and their culture to be totally ignored in the curriculum and in the ethos of the school were great. . . . On the other hand, if one chose the alternative of a black school, there were concerns about the lack of resources, lack of exposure to rigorous academic curriculum, and lack of facilities (Morris, 1999, p. 320). Multimedia and the Interent are features of computer use in classrooms and may add variety to curriculum content. However, there is a "digital divide" between urban (poorer) and suburban (wealthier) schools, as indicated in the chart (Longeran, 2000). The relative richness of curric
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Source Longeran, Board Education, , Source Secada, Department Education, Multimedia Interent, Maryland Whereas, Statistics Statistics, Morris JE, Clearing House, social bias, suburban schools, curriculum content, school districts, urban schools, haberman 2000, white flight, public education, department education, urban education, clearinghouse urban education, eric clearinghouse urban, schools situated economically, york eric clearinghouse, et al 1998,
Approximate Word count = 1576
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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