<p>Here’s a rather one-sided account of the Tuscaloosa educational system. I thought it was a shame that none of the outreach programs run by the Honors College at UA were mentioned.</p>
<p><a href=“Segregation Now -- How 'Separate and Equal' is Coming Back - The Atlantic”>http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/04/segregation-now/359813/#disqus_thread</a></p>
<p>I agree!</p>
<p>Outreach programs are at best a band aid to the real problems.</p>
<p>Why do you believe it was one-sided? What other info would have been brought into the article if was more even-handed?</p>
<p>A few things that struck me. The story focused on Central High which has a completely African American student population without mentioning other High Schools in Tuscaloosa are such as Hillcrest and Northridge which are much more integrated. The author mentioned the incident when Judge England’s step-grandaughter was turned down by sororities at UA, but didn’t mention how President Judy Bonner had followed up by making it clear that racism was totally unacceptable and how the sororities were now integrating. No mention was made of efforts by UA and the honors college to outreach to the community including the Alabama Action programs and UA honors students who help students in schools with their AP coursework.
I am very much against racism, but this article offered no real solutions. Are schools like Central High lacking funding? Could extra tutoring from kindergarten onward to help students like D’Leisha succeed? These are the issues I would have liked to have seen addressed.</p>
<p>PLUS, the ugly implication is that Alabama is once again enforcing segregation. The reality is far more complex. Racial segregation is now voluntary. White flight in the late 60s was clearly a largely racist reaction while that of today could be the response to legitimate concerns for discipline problems in inner city and predominantly Black government schools. </p>
<p>Having worked for many years as a substitute teacher in both inner city Alabama and South Central LA, I can assure you that the behavioral issues are quite shocking. I blame govt policies that have eliminated positive social incentives for strong families. </p>
<p>You can’t force integration. And segregation is not being forced! I wonder how many elite journalists who constantly wring their hands about the South’s racial issues send their kids to predominantly Black public schools.</p>
<p>Two NPR pieces on this story:
<a href=“Six Words: 'Segregation Should Not Determine Our Future' : NPR”>Six Words: 'Segregation Should Not Determine Our Future' : NPR;
<a href=“Probe: Gains Of Integration Eroded, Especially In The South : NPR”>Probe: Gains Of Integration Eroded, Especially In The South : NPR;
<p>I see that NPR talks about “under-resourced” Tuscaloosa schools. Anyone who thinks funding is the biggest contributor to the deficiencies of the Tuscaloosa school system needs to explain why Washington DC schools are such failures. DC has the most highly funded schools in the nation. And there are many examples of school districts with relatively low funding that have many high performing students. NPR is statist propaganda.</p>
<p>Very true. Money isnt the issue…as Atlanta stated the obvious with the DC schools. Those kids should all be NMFs if money fixes these issues…lol.</p>
<p>BTW, unless we bring back (ugh!) busing, segregation in schools is going to exist everywhere. What state with a large URM population doesn’t have certain schools that are mostly AA or Hispanic? Certainly Calif does, so does NY.</p>
<p>As much as people may not like the fact that in this country there are neighborhoods that are largely minority populated, it’s not something that can change even with well-intentioned, but flawed and expensive remedies that fail.</p>
<p>and I really don’t believe that the schools here are underfunded. One thing that I noticed when I moved to Alabama from Calif is that Calif had way too many crappy-looking schools with leaking roofs and kids relegated to classrooms that were essentially trailer parks…lol…, while Alabama has largely very attractive-looking schools.</p>
<p>I am proud to say I am a product of the Tuscaloosa City School System. I have family members who are dedicated teachers in the system still.</p>
<p>AlbionGirl, Hillcrest High School is in the Tuscaloosa County School District, not the Tuscaloosa City School District which the article focuses on. Many Alabama Action projects have been in Tuscaloosa County Schools.</p>
<p>Random fact: UA routinely charters school buses from the Tuscaloosa County School District, but does not charter any from the Tuscaloosa City School District. </p>
<p>It’s not uncommon for UA faculty with children to commute to UA from Hoover, AL, which has an excellent public school system.</p>
<p>One thing the State of Alabama could do is to pass a law that requires all public schools to accept any student who wishes to enroll there, regardless of where the student may live and for free. Exceptions could be made for students with significant disciplinary problems or for schools which the state determines to be overcrowded (these exceptions would not apply when students are requesting to attend a school in the same district as their neighborhood school). Students whose neighborhood school is designated as failing would receive free transportation to their chosen school provided it’s within a certain radius, say 20 miles. </p>
<p>As is seen in some other states, the State of Alabama could also pay UA to teach high school juniors and seniors who have college level scores in math and English as determined by tests such as COMPASS or ACCUPLACER. UA could decide to provide additional academic support so students from Central High School could be placed in and succeed in college level courses. </p>
<p>A town of Tuscaloosa’s size has TWO school districts?! Therein lies the problem…</p>
<p>Interesting to read everyone’s comments. I have often thought, as someone non-native to the US, that much of what is perceived as racism here is actually an issue of class and income. For example, the NPR article mentions “bright flight” where middle class African American families depart for better schools and neighborhoods, I believe that SEA_tide alludes to this when he mentions that Hillcrest High which has successfully integrated is located in Tuscaloosa County which I presume (correct me if I’m wrong) is a wealthier area. If this is the case, race is not the issue but rather people with similar goals, education, perspectives, living together regardless of color i.e. a class issue. The question remains however how to improve things for the people left behind in poverty. Pulling out students with college level scores to be tutored at UA would help those most able, but still leave others behind. I think the solution lies in well paid vocational jobs like the one that enabled D’Leisha’s mother to buy her house while working at the Mercedes-Benz plant. If this is the case UA is the solution not the problem, educating engineers will attract companies who can provide well paid skilled labor jobs. High schools like this one in Georgia </p>
<p><a href=“http://mdjonline.com/bookmark/24185413-Trade-school-students-proving-their-metal-”>http://mdjonline.com/bookmark/24185413-Trade-school-students-proving-their-metal-</a></p>
<p>could train workers who would then be eligible for “stable, high-paying jobs with full benefits.” This seems to be what the leaders of UA have in mind and surely would benefit everybody in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>aeromom, the City of Tuscaloosa has one school district. Northport and all other parts of Tuscaloosa County have their own school district. The city school district has 3 high schools while the county school district has 6. </p>
<p>The city of Tuscaloosa has ONE school district.</p>
<p>The name Tuscaloosa is also the name of the COUNTY. So there is a county school district…this is rather typical.</p>
<p><<<<<
Students whose neighborhood school is designated as failing would receive free transportation to their chosen school provided it’s within a certain radius, say 20 miles.
<<<<</p>
<p>lol…spoken by a dear but young person who hasn’t yet felt the full impact tax-wise of something that would be outrageously expensive and very difficult to implement.</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more. When I was a young child there was one minority in my elementary school. We played together, ate together, and learned from the same teacher in the same classroom, but she was the only minority. Elementary school was k-6 and I attended University Place Elementary. Integration was in full swing by junior high on Queen City Avenue, and Tuscaloosa High became Central High School. I cannot speak for how the minority students felt but I really thought little about my new experience. We walked to school because they were truly neighborhood schools. Neighborhoods accepted ownership for their schools and took pride in them.
Correcting educational issues begins at home and money cannot fix it. I have confidence in our teachers and in our community. It isn’t perfect anymore than any other place, but I have confidence that this community does provide educational opportunities for those who want to learn. Like everything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. What I do not like is the mockery made out of the recent election that took on personal agendas above the interests of parents living here with children in school. That was a shame.</p>
<p>m2ck, the busing away from failing schools at the parent’s request is something that has been implemented in several states due to NCLB. In more populated areas, the distance is more like 10 miles. 20 miles in a rural area is often the shortest distance to get to another high school. Attending any public school in the state for free, albeit without free transportation, is something that’s been done in Washington since 1993 and has been extremely successful. Other states often allow for a charge to offset local funding, the charge being around $1-3k per student, per year. Local school funding in Alabama seems to be primarily funded by sales tax revenue, which a family with students in the local schools is likely to be paying, even if they don’t technically live in the area. </p>
<p>More funding is not always the answer. Parental involvement is key, hence why Utah is able to have the lowest per-pupil funding of any state. Due to its small size and large urban population, it’s somewhat misleading to compare DC as state rather than a large city such as Memphis, Detroit, New Orleans, NYC, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with bamagirls that the Tuscaloosa City School district has some excellent resources for students. The issue which arises is how much students are informed of said resources and are given the ability to use those resources. For example, some large high schools around the country were given private grant money to separate into smaller “academies” of 400-500 students. The issue which often arose is that it significantly limited course choices for many students. For example, those wanting AP and honors classes in all applicable subjects and a choice of more than 1-2 foreign languages would often need a number of waivers in order to take classes in other academies. </p>
<p>Upon reading this article, UA might wish to offer D’Leisha a spot in its provisional admission program and provide assistance, if needed, to complete FAFSA to get any needed grants, loans, and work study funding. UA already has programs to help people prepare their federal and state income tax returns, why not offer families of local high school seniors assistance in completing FAFSA? </p>
<p><<<<
Students whose neighborhood school is designated as failing would receive free transportation to their chosen school provided it’s within a certain radius, say 20 miles.
<<<<<</p>
<p>The potentially-outrageously expensive part of this idea is the “their chosen school.” Think about it…within one mere subdivision, there may be 50+ students who would normally be riding one bus to one location. Letting those same students “choose a school within 20 miles radius (a circular area of 40 miles by 40 miles) and provide their transportation,” could result in those 50 students choosing 20+ different schools…causing a logistical and financial nightmare getting them all to their destinations by 8 am. </p>
<p>It would be one thing if the students from a failing school were divvied up in a way that they sensibly could be bussed to a good school that has room to accept them (ex, all students from subdivisions A & B would go to good School X…and all students from subdivisions C & D would go to good School Y.) To allow 300 kids from poor school to choose any school within a 20 mile radius and PROVIDE transportation would cause 10+ buses to show up at one subdivision to then leave in various directions.</p>
<p>My husband was a graduate of Central High, back in the day, so this article was of great interest to us.</p>
<p>And the school district we live in now (in Colorado) allows students to “choice” to any school in the district. Transportation used to be provided - at one point there were several sets of buses on my street, taking kids to 3 high schools and as many middle & elementary school. It didn’t take long for the district to realize that was not financially sound. </p>
<p>The whole busing scenario relies on a small number of students switching schools and those that do switch schools only switching to a limited number of schools or providing their own transportation. Busing seems to be typically accomplished by taking the kids to their neighborhood school or the neighborhood high school (to accommodate the extra travel time) and switching to another bus going to their chosen school. In many cases, the school district is already running mini buses to meet ADA requirements that the students can take to their chosen school. </p>
<p>In the event transportation is not provided, some school districts tell students the location of the nearest bus stop(s) to their chosen school. Tuscaloosa City Schools could also partner with the Tuscaloosa County Transit Authority to provide free rides for students on selected routes which would take them to school. It’s not uncommon for [mostly urban] school districts to outsource middle and high school bus service to the local public transit authority which has the side benefit of giving students a free bus pass and education about how to use public transit, which is an important skill to have should they ever visit a major US city or foreign country.</p>
<p>colobamamom, I’ve often heard pre-2003 graduates of Central High School refer to themselves as having graduated from “Old Central.”</p>