Siyu Liu

Sociology 1
2/13/15
Savage Inequalities
Irl Solomons history class is filled with kids that have a hopeless picture on life. Mr.
Solomon is a history teacher that actually does his best to teach students but he is hampered by
the lack of enthusiasm from students. For example, he says that he has about four pregnant
students in his home room. The girls say they got pregnant because there is not much they can do
with an education from their school. The girls have basically bought into the idea they will never
be able to get out of the social class they are stuck in. The students in the class also state how
they want to study all these different subjects like physics and Latin but the school does not have
the resources available to provide these classes or the materials needed to learn.
Jennifers views toward the poorer schools of the Bronx and East St. Louis are that of
indifference. Being from the Bronx herself, Jennifer believes that she nor her parents have any
duty to go back and help the people from there. She thinks that the only reason people are still
there is because they do not have the drive to leave the area. She also thinks that the only reason
people do not get a good education there is that they truly do not want to get a good education.
Jennifer also believes that it would be unfair to pay more taxes to help the schools in the poorer
areas because, I dont see how that benefits me. Jennifers attitude comes off as that of a
person who would rather keep the status quo and allow people to fend for themselves. Also her
statement about everyone being allowed to take the same courses does not come off as genuine
due to her following statement about helping the poor not benefiting her.
The gap between the wealthy and poor is shown through the high schools that the
children attend. In East Saint Louis, the school is broken down and was once full of sewage. The

faculty and students do not have adequate restroom facilities. Classroom sizes in the area are also
too large for teachers to give one on one attention. The teachers there do not have the plumbing
to have running water for their physics classes. In East Saint Louis there are students that want to
take different courses such as Latin but cannot due to the school not being able to afford the
teachers needed to teach that subject. Also, a lot of the students at this school do not have any
basic knowledge such as time keeping. In some cases some students do not even know if they are
citizens of America or East Saint Louis. On the other hand, the school in Rye, New York gets
private donations to upgrade the facilities around the school. The teachers are well paid and the
students are offered a lot of advance placement courses. Students at this school also have smaller
classes, which allow for more one on one interaction with their teachers. The students at the
school are also well spoken, educated and display critical thinking capabilities. One thing that
stands out is that a majority of the kids interviews believe that the helping the poor would have
no benefits because they think the poor children would not want the resources that they have.
I think a lot has changed in the educational system during the past several years. I have
never been to or seen a school that is rundown like the schools in East Saint Louis. I do think that
education is becoming more of a focal point in America today. More parents are encouraging and
doing their best to get their kids to focus on education. Some parents encourage their kids to use
their athletic abilities to get scholarships. This article did give me some perspective into
becoming more appreciative of the schools and teachers Ive had. Before I thought the schools
Ive been at were ghetto but in reality they were not too bad. I also believe that more people
care about children gaining an education and we are on the right path to educational equality.