Analysis Of Whitney M. Young

Whitney M. Young is a Chicago Public school in the city’s Near West Side neighborhood. Bordering that neighborhood is East Garfield Park, one of the most violent neighborhoods in the city and a neighborhood that saw three schools close in the massives school closing policy that included over fifty public schools in 2013. I attended Whitney Young and was privileged enough to be able to help a local elementary school in the Near West Side, Victor Herbert Elementary School. During an assembly where the topic of discussion was how to stay safe and out of trouble in the neighborhood. A question was asked the students to raise their hands if they knew someone affected by violence in their neighborhood. When nearly every student in the assembly
Goodman (2013) claims that “Rahm Emanuel actually does not have an educational plan, he has an economic development plan” (p.682). Goodman feels that this, “economic development plan will only further gentrify sections of the city, displacing and dispossessing mostly low-income community members as a consequence” (p.692). With cuts going to schools in the form of closings and $300 million going towards building Depaul a stadium the priorities of Rahm Emanuel are clear, the economy is more important than the future of the children. This is also clear evidence of poor budgetary spendings that Caref, Hainds, & Jankov (2014) further help prove by showing that “Within the attendance boundaries of closed schools, more money has been spent on incarceration ($2.7 billion) than on schools ($2.2 billion)” (p.3). Caref et al. (2014) continue to point out that, “Instead of closing neighborhood schools and opening charters, CPS needs to provide adequate social service supports in the schools” (p.3). This further shows the racial inequalities that CPS is putting their students through. Caref et al. (2014) further reinforces this with the fact that, “CPS needs to recognize that poverty and racism play a significant role in education” (p.3). That $300 million could easily be injected into the failing schools to improve them in the proper ways but instead
Arcello et al. states that “The educational policies had a tremendous impact on the experiences of black students, on school curriculum, and on student identity” (p.676). After closings led to over-crowding at schools on the west side policies were passed that had students only going to go to school for half the day. This is turn developed the alarming stat where 78% of African American children in Chicago were spending 40% less time in schools than students outside of minority communities. Curriculum had to be accelerated due to only half day hours leaving students behind their white peers by not being able to fully grasp concepts before moving on. Student’s identities felt lost because they were forced to leave their neighborhood schools. The use of statistics strengthens how students in poorer neighborhoods are discriminated against with school closings. A former student shared her experience from then, “I [spent] four years trying to figure out whether I’m a little white girl, or a little black girl; I struggled with my identity” (p.676). Again minority students were unfairly treated further contributing to the social inequalities that come from unjust educational