1991 Articles

Can Poor Schools Look to the Court?

Leonard, Mark

"The educational system in the United States deprives poor and minority children of an equal opportunity to succeed. In many states, districts with low property values cannot adequately provide for their students; they cannot afford textbooks, maintain school buildings, or recruit capable teachers. The classrooms are overcrowded; the libraries are empty; the faculty is either uninterested or overworked, and often unable to keep track of all its students. America's drop-out and illiteracy rates have reached staggering heights in districts such as the North Bronx, Selma, Camden, East St. Louis, and South Chicago. Inadequacies in the educational system reinforce the already strong link between race and poverty, deprive some children of opportunities, and predetermine class by residency. Despite the many pleas to elevate educational standards, both the state and federal governments continue to buy America's prosperity from the future and to neglect large segments of the youth."--from page 14