The Problem We All Live With

         In episode 562: The Problem We All Live With of This American Life, Ira Glassman speaks with New York Times magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones about desegregation and the Normandy School District. Nikole did this radio segment so she could tell “the story of Michael Brown’s school district through the students who remain there. It is a story of children locked away from opportunity, what happens when those children are given a chance to escape failing schools and what happens to those children left behind. It is a story of how powerful people decided to do something only when the problems of the worst district in the state were no longer contained. And above all, it is a story of the staggering educational inequality we are willing to accept.” (NY Times Magazine-The Continuing reality of segregated schools)  The question Nikole proposes  and discusses is how do we cut the achievement gap between black and white students? The solution she believes is integration. In the prologue Nikole say, “ what integration does is it gets black kids in the same facilities as white kids. And therefore, it gets them access to the same things that those kids get-- quality teachers and quality instruction.”         In his article, Why our Schools are Segregated,  Rothenstein agrees that integration is also the solution to cutting the achievement gap between black and white students, “Integrating disadvantaged black students into schools in which more-privileged students predominate can narrow the black–white achievement gap.” He also goes on to discuss other benefits which include, “improved graduation rates, higher rates of employment, and higher earnings in adulthood, as well as avoidance of teen childbearing, delinquency, homicide, and incarceration.”

When the decision to integrate Normandy students into Francis Howell was made, the Francis Howell district had a town meeting to discuss it. During the recording, we heard many people make accusations against the students based on their race. One woman said “I'm hoping that their discipline records come with them, like their health records come with them.”  While another woman made comments about violent behavior and drug use among students. I think these adults need a lesson on color insight. They need to learn to “combat stereotypes by looking for the me in each individual.” (73). These parents made these points based on stereotypes without looking at the individual student. The students who chose to attend the Francis Howell school district were all truly invested in their education.

    The Normandy school district has been on probation for 15 years due to under achievement. They were the worst district in the state of Missouri. They had 10 points out of 140 for academic achievement, “English, zero; math, zero; social studies, zero; science, zero; points for college placement, zero.” They did not receive any points for academic standing. As I listened to these facts, I thought to myself, why did it take 15 years, for the state to finally come in and realize something had to be done. The education of many students could have been different if the problem had been addressed sooner. The state of Missouri let a whole generation down. The vice president for the Missouri Board of Education said, “the state owed students, quote, "a collective apology for failing to provide you with the education experience you should have.” They can apologize all they want but they can never make up for the disservice they did to the students. "Every day a student attends an unaccredited school, the child could suffer harm that cannot be repaired." (quote from the judge who sided with the parents during the ruling). Every day that they ignored the problem in Normandy, was another day a child suffered the disadvantage of not having a quality education.