The Right Answers

The Right Answers

Today, education is the most important factor in people’s lives. Without a proper education, it is very hard to get a well-paying job. It is extremely important for kids to develop a passion to succeed in life. The New York Times posted an excerpt from the book A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind. It outlines the everyday school life of Cedric Jennings. Cedric is an African-American student at Frank W. Ballou Senior High in the heart of Washington D.C. Cedric is one of few people at Ballou that actually tries in school. In fact, Cedric is looked down upon by his gang-member peers. He is even threatened for being smart. Violence plays a big role in the success of students in urban schools. Another problem urban schools face is the lack of well-dedicated teachers. The dropout rate at Ballou High School is fifty percent. That is unnecessarily high. Part of the problem is also the lack of supplies the students have available. In my opinion, it is unacceptable for schools like Ballou to let these problems go on. I believe these problems are caused by lack of funding. If urban schools could get more funding from the government, they would be able to stop all of these problems.

Urban schools like Cedric Jennings’ have a big problem with crime and violence. This only gets in the way of academics. “Hot topics of late include a boy shot recently during lunch period, another hacked with an ax, the girl gang member wounded in a knife

fight with a female rival, the weekly fires set in lockers and bathrooms, and that unidentified body dumped a few weeks ago behind the parking lot. Their daily lesson: distinctiveness can be dangerous, so it’s best to develop an aptitude for not being noticed.” (Suskind 2). High schools should not be like this, yet there are hundreds of schools like this in our country. A student should not have to be quite in class because he fears the other kids might kill him if he is smart. The students do not care about school because no one believes in them. I think with more funding, the students would have a better experience in school and would be more confident about their future.

Another problem urban schools are faced with is the lack of well-dedicated teachers. I am sure it is very hard for a teacher to want to teach violent and stubborn kids, but if the teachers were paid more, they would stick around longer. “Ballou is attempting a sort of academic triage that is in vogue at tough urban schools across the country. The idea: save as many kids as you can by separating out top students early and putting the lions share of resources into boosting as many of them as possible to college. Forget about the rest” (Suskind 6). The last line of that excerpt makes me angry. They should never give up on the kids. All they need is more dedicated teachers to guide them. More government funding would allow the possibility of hiring teachers that are more dedicated.

Sometimes, for one reason or another, a student will drop out of college. In schools like the ones most of the middle class society went to, there were only a few dropouts that can be remembered. At Ballou, however, the dropout rate is fifty percent ( Suskind 2). Half of the students drop out. Something must be done about this. High

school kids are America’s future, and if fifty percent of our future is dropping out of high school, that increases poverty. One reason I think students drop out is that they feel that they do not have a chance. Every one has given up on them. Even their teachers hardly stay for one year before giving up on them. There is also little parental support for these kids because most of their parents also dropped out of high school. In addition, the kids that are doing well in these schools are just getting beat up, shot, stabbed, threatened, and sometimes killed. No person wants to face that risk. There is something wrong when kids are dropping out to avoid death. Once again, the solution to this problem would indirectly be more funding. When the violence stops, and when these schools have well dedicated teachers, then the dropout rate will lower.

One thing that is crucial to the success of students is supplies. They need books to learn, chalk boards, desks, and so many other things. Without proper funding, it is impossible to afford all of these