Understanding Human Differences: Education 280



Olivia AveniPrivate Schools Lack of Diversity?University of Nevada, Las Vegas AbstractThe topic of this paper seems to reflect more of a common idea that more black students are located within public schools rather than private schools. A private school is mostly associated with white students. When discussed in my paper, private schools are being mentioned as “white” private schools. There are certain private schools that are charter private schools, and some private schools for black students. My question is why? African American students are just as smart as white students and can still hold intellectual conversations. This purpose of this paper is to explore the why aspect, with help from the sources provided. Private schools are not prejudice nor do they just turn a student down, so why is there barely any diversity? Most parents of a black family do not want their kid to be that “black” child in the room and to feel alone. Most parents cannot afford financially and physically private schooling, so they turn their attention to public schools. This paper will go beyond the reasons why there is less diversity in private schooling and more in public, and show how parents choose a school based on their economic status and not based on their educational needs.Why is it that there are less African American students than WhiteStudents in private schools?Set-up Walk into a public school, located within the inner-city streets and look around. Continue walking into a classroom and take note of the number of students, color of students, and color of the teacher. Now, switch gears and walk into a private school, located within a suburban area. Continue walking into a classroom, but this time compare the number of students, the color of students, and the color of the teacher. Note any differences?IntroductionAmong all the educational reforms, one problem of concern lingers from parent to parent regarding on the right school choice for their child. And in most school district, like our Clark County School District, students are assigned to chosen local public schools located within a certain distance from their house. The only exception to not going to a public school is to pay out of pocket for a private school. (Saporito, 2009, 172). Depending on the financial situation of parents, children may experience the public school system, which accompanies itself with diversity from both faculty and staff. These local public schools have a varied racial composition among students, sometimes making it hard for a student to concentrate because of how he or she was raised. The issue of diversity in public schools is not the point; the point is the lack of diversity when it comes to private school. If parents have the right to choose where their child goes to school, should they not choose a school that better suits their educational needs?Research and AnalysisBy definition of private school by Carol Asher from the Urban Review, it refers to “a school with an intended purpose for children of parents who can afford such a school; usually accompanies itself with white students and the best education for them…”. Here comes the basis of my why question; why is it that private schools have such a lack of diversity among student rates. Many people, who would have had the chance to enroll into a private school, definitely would take it. Today there are a lot of white students enrolled in private schools who intend to graduate from them as well. And looking at public schools, there is a mixture of minority groups and white students. Why? Specifically why do black parents tend to stay away from private schooling when they know the education provides a better outcome and the environment safer for their children? There is many a contributing factor as to why black families do not or cannot send their children to a private school. Some of the factors may range from physically demanding financial duties of paying mostly out of pocket for all expenses, to simply not being able to provide transportation every day. No matter the factor, the issue is still present at hand. According to Ascher (1986), “Nationally, black students represent around 18% of the total Private elementary school enrollment.” This proves the lack of diversity among private schooling because of certain instances that prevent black children from attending. Of that 18% of black students that are enrolled in private schooling, their parents had specific reasons for it. Maxwell (1996) found that “most black parents choose private schools because they want their children to receive the best education possible”. Sometimes, public school is just not the option parents want their kids to experience. Having their children grow up learning values and respect allows them to accomplish more in the world and to be more self-confident around others. Lowman (2009) stated, “Several decades of research have shown academic achievement is positively associatedwith educational expectations…”. Parents are the sole providers for their children, so better is not an option, but best is.With the economy facing more and more struggles daily, it is not a doubt that more families are finding it a hard time to worry about their child’s educational career, but how to pay their own bills. This tends to lead into the discussion that most black parents cannot afford private schooling because it is a non-governmental run school. Black parents that work, and depending on how many children they may have, might have a difficult time supporting private school and the benefits of it. They may have to send their kids to public school, just because of money that needs to be saved for something else. Fordham (1991) found that “parents of African American descent are paid less than the white man, unless they have certain connections to a well paying job.” And from reading the book, Understanding Human Differences, it is easy to figure out why; businesses affected by racism. The lower paychecks are, the less income there is for the family to rely on. Thus, indicating there is not enough money to cover all the needs private schooling costs every single month.Maryland State Department of Education (1999) found that “One reason why black parents do not send their children to private schools, is because of financial abilities…It is a perception among white parents that white people have better jobs than black people, having the ability to do whatever they please…” I find this to correlate with the information that I found because private schooling is expensive. Not saying that black parents would not be able to afford it, but there is some misconceptions that people have about jobs and who has better connections.Among financial duties for the school every month, another rising issue comes up. Public schools have access, from the Clark County School District, for their own busses and transportation system. Each child is given a bus stop close to home to meet in the morning and drop off times. This is a way black parents know their children are getting to school without conflicting with schedules. Well, one reason a black parent might not send their children to private school on top of the money predicament, is the lack of transportation available from the school to a desired public location. Private schools do not offer any ways of getting their students to the school; the schools feel that if the parents have enough money to pay the monthly fee, they are capable of driving and picking them up every day. Another exterminating factor most black students are not sent to private schools is because of the amount of space inside the school and classroom. “There is a limit of 35 students per classroom…” says Ascher (1986). Sometimes black students are overseen because white students’ parents have the money to reserve a seat for them. In a public school system, there have been problems with number size and quality of materials being used. Ascher (1986) found that “Usually, the public school system is three times the size of a private school.” So if black families cannot afford the private school budget, cannot get adequate transportation to and from school, and cannot reserve space for their children, the parents will choose a public school education for their learning.When people think of private schools, they think of Catholic educations and church. Yes, those two are mostly associated with private schools, but not all private schools are religious. For most black parents, they associate with the fact that if they are not religious themselves, then they do not want their children to attend a religious school. This is another factor of why there are not a lot of black students in a “private” school.To simply answer the question of why black students are not enrolled in private schools as much as white students relies heavily on the fact that black parents would not feel as comfortable having their kids participate in a school occupied with most white students. “It is considered a social norm, for white students in private school, and black students in a public school…” stated by Ashley (2009). Certain black parents want their children to be culturally diverse when it comes to where they study. Other white parents do not want them to experience such racial diversity within a classroom. Fairlie and Resch (2002) found that, “In both grades, private schools have lower minority representations than public schools attended by whites. The private schools that whites attend are also substantially less likely to have large concentrations of minorities than the public schools.” This quote would represent the expectation status of children based on their color. More white students are found to be in private schools because of their parent’s money, social class, and idea of a better education. Even though black parents may want the best for their children, and have money do not want their children to grow up snobby. From being in private schools over 18+ years, I have heard this term of “rich white kids” a lot. It is something that most white kids enrolled in private schools are called because minority groups did not have the opportunity to be enrolled like us. For our society, expectations and what is considered a social norm is everything. We see more black students in public schools than private schools mostly because it is not expected for black parents to afford private school education.From speaking to my interviewee, who is currently a private school teacher here in Las Vegas, she helped me gain an insider perspective of why there is less diversity within her classroom. “In my experience, most black families have more than one child per family and cannot afford to pay tuition for all of them. The more educated black parents, who valued their education and wanted the same for their kids, enrolled them in Chicago private schools. I think they are more white students in private schools because if their parents cannot pay the tuition, grandparents help out financially.” She continued on “I feel private schools are better suited for a child’s educational career because they are free from the control of the federal guidelines which I believe hinder creativity. On the flip side, private schools are expensive. And this is why I do not see so many black students in my classroom; simply because white parents always have the upper advantage.” And from here, I can refer this to a term known as white privilege, “a set of options, opportunities, and opinions that are gained and maintained at the expense of people of color.” (Koppelman, 2011, 205). Or in this case, at the expense of children of color for educational needs.Fordham (1991) states, “those private schools are not able to value African American cultures and thus “strip” away their true identity…” A private schooled education consists on a curriculum based off of the Essentialist way. They Essentialist way is a form of educational philosophy in which teachers only teach their students the core classes they need to know in order to pass the class and better their fundamentals. No much of a private school education consist of any classes or side classes, like Art and Music, to inspire people of color. Private school may in fact deteriorate the self-confidence a young black student may have of being a leader one day because not much is learned about African Americans, coming from a professional and personal perspective. There are private black schools that parents may have more of a lean towards because it is the best of both worlds, but the overall problem is tuition rates among social classes.OpinionLike stated earlier, coming from a private school education of 18+ years I have witnessed maybe 10 total black students from my elementary school. Graduating from high school, and walking onto the campus of UNLV I realized that there has not been enough diversity in my earlier years of school life to prepare me for my future, especially studying to be a teacher. There are many smart children out there who deserve to be placed in private schools because the education is at the top. I am not saying that public school is bad, but private school life is the only perspective that I have. When doing research on this topic, it was something that I was very adamant about. I always wondered why there was a diversity gap in private schools that mostly had white students. Just the overall message that came in my feedback from each source was of how much tuition was every month for people of color. Granted that minority groups do get more money than white parents when it comes to financial aid, but sometimes a little bit does not help. (Ascher, 1986, 31). The fact that there is no transportation available, other than carpooling, is going to turn down a parent who has a fixed schedule and/or other children to worry about.Conclusion Black students are expected to excel just as much as white students; however their efforts are outshined because they do not have an opportunity to achieve greater at a private school. Because a private school is a non-governmental run facility, they get their revenue from the tuition that they charge monthly. Each family is to pay every month the amount provided; if they miss a month or two, the child is either put on suspension or dismissed from school. Sometimes black parents do not have the option to send their children to private schools because of how they are defined financially and socially. In order to get into any type of private school, a sense money and time/effort for their children must be shown. Americans have an expectation that white kids go to private schools because their parents can afford that type of education, and black kids go to public school because their parents can afford that type of education. From researching, this proves somewhat true. Black parents may choose to send their children to private schools if the right conditions are met: religious or non-religious, financial aid is given, and diversity among faculty members. But sometime even when black parents want to send their children to private schools to better their education, they know they cannot because of the money issue, so they are enrolled in public school. Either way, the child is receiving the education that their parents believe is right for them. But Maxwell (1996) found a supporter raising a surprising question: “"How many more generations of black children's education are we going to allow to be destroyed . . . by an incompetent, costly, self-serving government education establishment, in which black parents can afford?"ReferencesAscher, Carol. (1986). Black Students and Private Schooling. The Urban Review, 18(2), 137-145.Ashley, L. (2009). Private Schooling in Less Economically Developed Countries: Asian and African Perspectives. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 39(2), 297-299Fairlie, R.W. and Resch, A.M. (2002). Is There “White Flight” into Private Schools? Evidence from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 84(1), 21-33.Fordham, S.S. (1991). Racelessness in Private Schools: Should We Deconstruct the Racial and Cultural Identify Of… Teachers College Record, 92(3), 470. Koppelman, K. (2011). Understanding human differences: Multicultural Education for a Diverse America (UNLV Custom Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson Allyn & Bacon.Lowman, Jennifer and Marta Elliot (2008). A Multilevel Model of Educational Expectationsof Secondary School Students in the United States. Sociology and Psychology of Education. 13(1), 77-110.Maryland State Department of Education, B.e. (1999). The Fact Book, 1998-1999: A Statistical Handbook. EBSCOhost.Saporito, S. (2009). School Choice in Black and White: Private School Enrollment Among Racial Groups, 1990-2000. Peabody Journal of Education, 84(2), 172-190. ................
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