Thoughts on Education

I am now pursuing a Master’s degree.  This important step in my life took many years and of course much procrastination to finally reach.  Not only am I receiving an education, I am teaching education, as a substitute teacher, which gives me the opportunity to work with so many different children from diverse backgrounds.  Many urban and rural school districts have a disproportionate number of students from families living at or below the poverty level.  With such a large diversity of minority students and a prevailing gender gap in the school districts, the benefits have been proven of providing scholarship opportunities for young women and minority children who may not otherwise have the opportunity to attend college.  Many children’s hopes for a hot breakfast before going to school is slim and they do not even see a future including higher education.

So now, here we are 50 years after Affirmative Action was signed into law and there is now a fight to keep it on the books.  Affirmative action, the very act that focuses on improving employment and educational opportunities for people in minority groups and women is included the Oklahoma state ballot.  The state question for Oklahoma voters to decide is if the Republican-backed proposal should pass to wipe out affirmative action programs in state government.  The racial tensions that are already boiling over are being stirred even more.  Many white people have declared reverse racism due to affirmative action and feel that ending it will help the state move past racism.

State officials say even if the proposal passes, it won't have an impact on any state hiring or bidding practices, although it could eliminate some scholarships at state universities.

The prevailing stereotypes place obstacle after obstacle in the way of success.  One republican representative from Oklahoma raised a question regarding the high percentage of blacks in prison.  She said are they in prison just because they are black or because they don’t want to study as hard in school?  It is time to stop these stereotyping and labeling and offer encouragement to each student and teach each student.

The purpose of education is to prepare our children to succeed in life and without investing in their education, we continue to fail.

SharB~TTSD
#TakeTheScaffoldingDown