Inequality for Everyone…of Color

            It feels immoral to summarize observations that intimately dictate people’s lives. Most inhumane is the transformation of those observations into numbers. Numbers themselves, mean nothing truly but in contemporary society mean everything.  Unfortunately or otherwise, numbers are often easily understood and I will be providing them in order to summarize my research on persistently low-achieving schools. There were very many schools in the Bay Area classified as low achieving, which is disconcerting, but I focused on two schools specifically - Alliance Academy and Roots International Academy.

            Alliance Academy is a middle school in Oakland helping 344 students ranging from grades 6^th through 8^th. Alliance Academy’s student population is 72% Hispanic, 21% Black, 7% other and 0% White. 91% of the students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch program. One must apply for this program and in order to qualify the student’s parents must earn no more (annually) than 185% of the poverty threshold for reduced price and no more than 130% to qualify for free lunch. The poverty threshold is dictated by the U.S. Census and is based on annual salary. For a family of 2, the poverty threshold is $14937; for each additional family member add anywhere from $4000-5000 dollars plus or minus a few dollars. To clarify, 91% percent of the children come from families that barely make above the Poverty Threshold as defined by the U.S. Census. Alliance Academy is situated on 1800 98^th avenue Oakland, CA. From September 24^th to September 30^th of this year there have been 52 crimes in a 2-mile radius from the school. These crimes include but are not limited to: Theft, Burglary, Robbery, Vandalism, Drug and Alcohol Violations, and Assault (with and without dangerous weapons). If crime were to continue at a similar rate, in a month it will have been 260 crimes committed and in a year it will have been 3120 crimes committed.  Not in the city, mind you, just in the 2-mile radius from the school. What are the chances one of these crimes affecting one of the 344 students attending Alliance Academy? The progress of the school is measured through the use of standardized tests and the scores therein. These are then compared to the state average to determine academic progress and standing. The following numbers represent the percent of students that demonstrated proficiency in specific subject matter relative to their grade level in 2012. In 6^th grade, 20% of students were proficient in English and 6% in Math. In 7^th grade, 21% were proficient in English and 12% in Math. In 8^th grade, proficiency in English was 18%, in Math 20%, in History 13% and in Science 18%. The state averages were 60% in English, 46% in Math, 52% in History, and 67% in Science.

            Roots International Academy is another Oakland Middle School; it serves 361 students. The population at Roots is 63% Hispanic, 28% Black, 9% other and 0% White. 88% of the students are eligible for free or reduced priced lunch. To, once again, clarify this signifies that 88% of the families to whom the students belong to are living slightly above the Poverty Threshold as defined by the U.S. Census. Roots International Academy is located on 1390 66^th Avenue Oakland, CA. From September 24^th to September 30^th there have been 78 crimes in a 2-mile radius from the school. These include but are not limited to: Theft, Burglary, Robbery, Vandalism, Drug and Alcohol Violations, Assault (with and without dangerous weapons), Fraud, and Arson. If crime were to continue at a similar rate in a month the crimes committed would be 390 and in a year they would total 4680. Once again, these being committed in just a 2-mile radius from the school. Roots International Academy is held to the same standardized tests and quantifying methodology as Alliance Academy. The following numbers represent the percent of students that demonstrated proficiency in specific subject matter relative to their grade level in 2012. In 6^th grade, 34% of students were proficient in English and 20% in Math. In 7^th grade, 24% were proficient in English and 19% in Math. In 8^th grade, proficiency in English was 27%, in Math 6%, in History 31% and in Science 24%. The state averages were 60% in English, 46% in Math, 52% in History, and 67% in Science.

            It is easy to observe the parallels between the schools and the circumstances described, by Jonathan Kozol, in Savage Inequalities as to the two middle schools I researched. The schools both share a non-existent white population. An environment surrounds them both where crime is prevalent. That being stated there are a few dissimilarities. The schools in Savage Inequalities had very little to spend per student about, $2000 to $4000. The Oakland School District is allotted a budget of $12,946 per pupil. These statistics do not account for inflation, however. The two middle schools have smaller classes than those portrayed in Savage Inequalities but the Educational System still appears broken. Is it though? If so, how so? Why? What does it need to attain success?