The City Still Looks Stupid - YATW Blog post # 2

During my last post, the most I talked about was what exactly was happening in the education field with minorities, and inner city kids. I felt it appalling that the scores were so low and that there was nothing being done about it, not even a glimmer or speck of fixation. I went into this project wanting to know what the hell was happening, and what was going on. I wanted to understand why the city’s drowning in ignorance. Its really hard to deal with going into the project, being apart of the group and/or classification of people that I’m taking a look at (Inner city children and Minorities). Since my last blog post, I’ve been searching vigorously for more answers but have sadly come up short; perhaps the bulk of the information I’ve received recently, comes from the people I’ve talked to, along with my own perception.

For my original research, I decided to take it to the base of education that I know, an immediate source, my own principal, Mr. Lehmann. I decided to conduct a short interview on Mr. Lehmann asking him questions that get directly to the point. The basis of my questions was to make or ask Mr. Lehmann if he understood what the problem is. I asked him how should we go about the problem, and if given the opportunity how would he fix it. It feels wrong to say he didnt give me any straight answers because he did, I think he may have over explained himself to the point where It would get outside the point of the question.

Though, I received good feedback nonetheless. As far as results go, Mr. Lehmann blames the tests, saying they are ‘inadequate’, I could not agree more. His main argument was that a standardized test cant measure the level of someone’s intelligence. You can read more of the answers in my research notes here. The research really helped me understand the issue more, I felt like hearing these words from someone who was actually official helped with my comprehension and understanding of the problem.  Now that more research has been done and I received more knowledge than I had previously I finally have a chance to put my voice in things, my opinion. Honestly its tiring looking into my research because you can get so upset and distraught when there’s something, a problem, right in front of your face and you havent the slightest clue on how to fix it. It gets so frustrating looking into these things, because you receive way more questions than answers.

What would I do if given the chance? Im not sure, but what I do know is you cant blame the kids for this, nor their household. Blame the city. Blame the fact that there’s poor schools, and lack of education. Blame the fact that when there’s a problem the city doesnt try hard enough to fix it. Blame the fact that the lack of education in children is at the world’s fault. I’m not sure what else is need to be said, nor what needs to be done, but I do know what the problem is and I’d really like to fix it. For my agent of change portion, I have no clue what I’d like to do, though I’ll strive my best to contribute in any way possible, and think of something, anything to make it easier.