Eric CavittMy name is Eric Cavitt. I am a licensed social studies teacher working at Loring Nicollet Alternative School (LNAS) in Minneapolis. LNAS is a small high school that serves youths ages 14-21. I also teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to adult immigrants through the Saint Paul Pubic School System. I am in the process of completing a Masters in ESL Education at Hamline University.
I understand that the economic hardships I encountered as a youth in Minneapolis were the result of my mother's "situational poverty." I also understand that I receive numerous privileges for being a white, English speaking, American male. However, I feel that my personal experiences as an urban learner and teacher are of relevance to this conference.
“economic and social problems in my community... served as a barrier to my education.”
As a child, my single mother moved into one of the few communities in Minneapolis she could afford: a low-income, predominantly African-American and Native-American community. There were (and continues to be) high levels of unemployment, persons living in substandard housing, drug use, drug dealing, and prostitution. Many of the adults in my neighborhood never graduated from high school. Illiteracy was common.
Like many of the lower-income and poor children I attended school with, I had problems learning to read, problems with completing school work, and, above all, economic and social problems in my community that served as a barrier to my education. The public school system in Minneapolis failed to provide myself, my family, and the people in my community access to appropriated education. In my case, the school system: 1) failed to develop my literacy skills, 2) failed to prepare me for high school (I am a high school dropout), and 3) failed to validate the experiences of myself and the people around me. Like myself, the majority of the people in my community did not graduated from high school. In addition, a significant number did not obtain a level of literacy needed to function in the modern world.
My college education and career path have been very "non-traditional." I did not read a book on my own until I was 16 years old-while serving a week in juvenile detention. Some fairly inspiring teachers at LNAS had sparked my interest in reading. I was also encouraged by family members who had had access to quality education and economic opportunities. I firmly believe that if my family were experiences ongoing, "generational" poverty, instead of decades long "situational poverty," and if I had not been positively affected by a few individual teachers, I would not have become a literate person. Without a foundation in literacy skills I would have never become a teacher.
My experiences as youth, as an adult pursuing literacy skills, and as a teacher have led me to strong conclusions regarding what is wrong with public education in the United States. The first issue is that schools have been fashioned in a "factory style" model conceived during the late 1800's. This model assumes that students are similar to factory workers who will quietly work for 6-7 hours at a time. This model is seriously flawed in that: 1) it makes schools very large, impersonal places where teachers and students have limited meaningful interactions, 2) it does not allow adequate time nor opportunities to give individualized attention to students in need, 3) does not allow teachers adequate time to manage an incredibly complex and demanding occupation, and 4) does not provide adequate time nor resources to maximize the assets of the surrounding communities.
I believe the second issue is the complexity of American society itself. In the United Sates affluent communities are bestowed with more economic resources, better teachers, more community support, and young people who believe their educations will lead somewhere. Poorer communities in the United States have less economic resources, lower quality educators, and generally less community support.
More importantly, lower-income students throughout the United States are in greater needed than students in higher-income schools. They need schools that will provide students with breakfast and lunch programs so that hunger won't prevent them from learning. Students often need more social workers and community liaisons who can assist students and families experiencing the hardships of homelessness, domestic abuse, who are moving from one place to another in order to find secure housing, or who are dealing with the general drama that is such a part of urban living in United States. These students are also in need of more literacy support and study skills instruction than their more affluent peers in order to obtain an education.
The third issue facing public education is that a large number of lower-income students, especially in communities of color, have developed an oppositional stance towards public education and academic success. Decades of discrimination, limited economic opportunities, biased curriculum, and lack of validation have fostered a culture of resistance to schools. Many lower-income and/or impoverished youths simply do not see public education as being of value to their lives.
The fourth and most important issue facing public education in America is not the lack of research. It is not poor test scores or lack of state standards. It is not that most educational thinktanks don't know that smaller schools and learning communities are better than large, "factory model" schools. It is not that educators are unaware that there is a widening education gap between poorer, generally urban schools, and more affluent ones. It is not that educators and educational researchers don't recognize that lower-income and poor communities are in greater need. And it is not a lack of understanding that many youths are simply not buying into a substandard education system. The primary issue with public education in the United States is that most of the above issues require money to help alleviate. All the talk of improving education and closing achievement gaps is meaningless in a country with the financial means to invest heavily in public education, but the lack of commitment and values to actually do so.