Activism

On my campus, I have read tons of article in the student paper and student magazine about activism and questioning whether or not activism is dead. When I ask people in my family, they just look at me with empty eyes. When I ask people outside of my college community, they reply with a cynicism I recall described by Robert Reich on his FB page.

In all, what I hear is: (1) we're trying and we need more people, (2) I don't know anything about that, and (3) there's not use trying. I add one more category to what Reich has because there are many who just have no idea what is going on and who have no clue that there is a problem and it's the reason they fell oppressed day in and day out.

On his Facebook page, Reich asks his audience which category they place themselves in. Naively, I was surprised to see so many write "cynical" (that would be number 3 in my categories). Why? Maybe I am more naïve that I thought and maybe I have no clue what is going on. So many of us in the country agree that the government more and more let's go of our well being, feeds us lies and drowns us into a deeper hole, economically, socially and morally. So, our answer is there's nothing we can do about it?

My answer is: There is power in numbers. I watched the documentary Ethos on Netflix a couple of days ago. Woody Harrelson narrated and at the end he gave the key to our power. Consumerism. We are consumers and we control capitalism. When we said we didn't want trans fat and GMOs in our food, we stopped buying the products and they had to make a change.

The Deal with Public Schools and Charter Schools

This is something that I constantly find myself absorbed in. I follow the recent news about charters being pushed out of public school building owned by New York City and am really trying to understand how the divide in education came to be what it is today. Personally, I favor public schools. I have no problem stating my preference. At the same time, if I am shopping for a new home, I heed what others have to say.

So far, I understand charter schools want to be recognized as public schools. I challenge this only because public schools are run by the DOE. Charter schools are not. So what makes a chsrter school a public school aside from its open enrollent? Even the open enrollment, however, it subject to lottery and contingent with good behavior by the student and ability to keep up with the curriculum.

Perhaps, I should take another route in explaining my concerns. When the Public School Society was first established, it was to educate blacks. It later expanded to serve orphans and the poor in general. Then ward schools were created to serve another population of orphans and poor children. In an article, The public school society ceases to exist the public and ward schools consolidated the combining of the free schools and ward schools is detailed from a law perspective (New York Daily Times, 1853). The information in the article outlines a law put into place because the lines were blurred between ward schools and public schools as described in The old public school society (New York Daily Times, 1855). This second article is also somewhat of a tribute to the founders of the Public School Society. In the last paragraph, the writers sarcastically tells those who are in favor of letting history die to stay home from a town hall meeting that would cover archiving the history of public schools (New York Daily Times, 1855).

So what does all of that mean? Well, I question what it means for the debate between charter and public schools. Will history repeat itself and combine the two "types" of schools? To what purpose? I appreciate the teachers union and the tight regulation the DOE has. It provides a sense of security for "Americans", as we are. More and more unions are being taken away and it takes with it JOB SECURITY. Then there is the issue of capitalism and where it has its hand in education. Why should big business run our schools instead of "we the people of the United States..."?

I guess my first question was, why not just invest into the NYC DOE's public schools to support teachers in implementing structure that will allow for every child to succeed and in the tools necessary to make that happen. As Ms. Reiter (a wonderful woman who my siblings know well) said "The success of children comes from good teaching". Thank you Ms. Reiter.

Social Justice and Social Welfare Policy

Suppes and Wells (2013) define poverty as lacking resources to live comfortably (p. 73). The Department of Agriculture created a budget for food consumption and multiplied it by three to determine the poverty line (Suppes & Wells, 2013, p. 79). The problem with the poverty line today is that it is outdated. It was created in the 1960s and today only inflation is considered. For social justice to be attained, the poverty line should be updated to reflect changes in society over 50 years later. Another problem is the difference in the budget for the elderly and for younger people; younger people are given a slightly larger budget. Suppes and Wells (2013) believe the number of older people living in poverty would increase if the poverty line was adjusted (p. 79).

 

In addition to the poverty line being outdated, there is the issue of the term feminization of poverty. Due to the wage inequality, the term unfairly produces stereotypes about women. Decades ago, women stayed at home as caregivers. Today, women work in every profession imaginable yet are paid significantly lower wages than men. Suppes ad Wells (2013) state, “the average woman worker in 2009 earned only 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man with similar work efforts” (p. 77). At the same time, women are often still primary caregivers in the home and for this reason are more likely to have certain jobs, such as receptionist or teacher. The feminization of women affects children because they are at greater risk of living in poverty. Child care is an underpaid profession but overall expensive for parents. Children are the most vulnerable because they rely on their caregivers to provide food, shelter, and other necessities of life.

               

The growing amount of poverty among women, children, and older adults is “due to deliberate social policies at the national level justified by conservative ideology” (p.89). It is the result of discrimination and wage inequality