Benefits and Disadvantages of Labor Unions to Workers

-Labor unions important for fair wages and benefits, healthy and safe work
environments, and other forms of worker advocacy. Unionized workers tend to have
higher earnings, better insurance, pension benefits, and more paid time off.
-Labor unions also achieve better worker conditions. United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW), the countrys largest union representing poultry-processing formed
an OSHA rule that established a federal workplace potty policy governing when
employees can use the bathroom on the job.
-One disadvantage of unions: members must pay dues and other fees and these
dues rising. Union leaders make high salaries. Another disadvantage is loss of
individuality---majority rules and this may conflict with specific employees needs.
Declining Union Density
-Strength/membership declined in U.S. Union Density the percentage of workers
who belong to unions, grew in 1930s peaked 1940s/1950s---35% unionized. But
2010 only 12% unionized.
-Reason for decline is loss of manufacturing jobs, which tend to have higher rates of
unionization. Job growth in high tech/finance jobs where unions have little presence.
Globalization led to layoffs/plant closings at unionized work sites since companies
moved to other countries to find cheaper labor. Corporations take active measures
to keep workers from unionizing, and weak U.S. labor laws fail to support and
protect unionization.
Corporate Antiunion Activities
-1960s/60s U.S. corporations attacked labor unions tame them or maim them.
Corporations hired management consultants to help them develop and implement
antiunion campaigns. They threatened them with decertification, fired union
leaders/organizers, and threatened to relocate plants.
-Each year at least 23k workers fired/discriminated against because of their union
activity.
-Antiunion strategies of employers: (1) firing pro-union workers (2) threatening to
close a work site when workers form union (3) coercing workers into opposing
unions with bribery or favoritism, (4) hiring high-priced union-busting consultants to
fight unions (5) forcing employees to attend one-on-one antiunion meetings with
supervisors.
Antiunion Legislation
-Walker signed legislation to weaken unions representing state and local
government employees. The legislation prohibited collective bargaining by most
public workers for issues beyond wages, required unions to hold annual votes on
whether they should remain in existence, and increased workers contributions for
pensions and health care.
Weak U.S. Labor Laws
-1935 National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is the primary federal labor law in the
United States. NRLA guarantees the right to unionize, bargain collectively, and to
strike against private-sector employees, excludes agricultural and domestic
workers, supervisors, railroad and airline employees, and independent contractors.
-Changes in U.S. labor law have eroded workers rights to freedom of association.
Originally labor law required employers to grant a demand for union recognition if a
majority of workers signed a card indicating they wanted a union. Since 1947,
employers can reject workers demands for unionization and force a National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) election which requires about 1/3 of workers to petition for

the board to hold the election. (company uses election time to focus against union
formation)
-In U.S., NLRB and courts play important roles in upholding workers rights to
unionized and sanctioning employers who violate these rights. NRLB can issue job
reinstatement and back-pay orders or other remedial orders to workers wrongfully
fired or demoted for participating in union-related activities. It is illegal to fire
workers for engaging in union activities, but there are a few consequences for
employers that do so. Penalties for violating U.S. labor law are so weak that many
employers consider them as a cost of doing business and a small price to pay for
defeating workers attempts to organize.
-If you get fired for unionizing, you can apply to NRLB. If NRLB finds you were
illegally fired, the employer gives back pay minus any money at another job you
got. Most people get another job so sometimes no compensation at all. Then
employer just has to say he wont do it again on bulletin board. So there are no real
sanctions and it is the employers interest to fire people (not many consequences
and powerful message to employees that you will lose job for organizing).
-There is a backlog of many cases of unfair labor practices by employees and
workers wait years from the filing of charge until NLRB resolves a case (discouraging
workers from filing in first place).
Labor Union Struggles Around the World
-1949 International Labour Office made the Convention on the Right to Organize
and Collective Bargaining (half of worlds workforce lives where this convention not
ratified, including China, India, Mexico, Canada, U.S.)
-International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) publishes Annual Survey
of Violations of Trade Union Rights, which describes severe abuses of workers rights
in countries around the world. This documents lack of workers rights and abuses of
governments and employers in the suppression of workers rights. Many trade
unionists killed, sentenced to prison terms, beaten in demonstrations, tortured,
many workers lose their jobs for organizing.
-Colombia is most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. Some cases
families of unionist murder victims killed, most cases of trade union assassinations
are not properly investigated and murderers not caught/punished.
*Strategies for Action: Responses to Problems of Work and Unemployment
-Government, private business, human rights organizations, labor organizations,
college student activists, and consumers play important roles in responding to
problems of work and unemployment.
Reducing Unemployment
-Efforts to reduce unemployment (1) workforce development programs (2) programs
and policies that create and save jobs.
Workforce Development
-1998 Workforce Investment Act (WIA) provides a wide array of programs and
services designed to assist individuals to prepare for and find employment, like:
assessment of skills and abilities, access to job vacancy listings, job search and
placement assistance, individual career planning and counseling, resume
preparation, English as second language instruction, computer literacy, wage
subsidies for on the job training, support services like transportation and child care
to enable individuals to participate in WIA programs.
-Some programs focus on improving employability of hard-to-employ individuals
through interventions like substance abuse treatment, domestic violence services,

prison release reintegration assistance, mental health services, and homelessness

services, in combination with employment services.
-Efforts to prepare high school students for work: establishment of technical and
vocational high schools and high school programs and school-to-work programs--partnerships between business, labor, government, education, and community
organizations that allow high school students to explore different careers, provide
job skill training, and work-based learning experiences.
-Educational attainment---path to employment/economic security. But more than 2/3
of jobs in U.S. require little education; important that jobs pay a living wage---so
having a job does not necessarily mean economic self-sufficiency.
Job Creation and Preservation
-1 in 4 Americans said best way to create more U.S. jobs is to keep manufacturing
jobs in the U.S. and stop sending work overseas (both democrats/republicans
agree). Republicans also favored reducing taxes and limiting government
involvement in regulating business while Democrats favored using government to
create jobs through infrastructure projects.
-Obama made American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which provided
an economic stimulus package of $787 billion to create and save jobs and to
reinvigorate the U.S. economy. Also included measures to increase or extend
benefits under Medicaid, unemployment insurance a federal state program that
temporarily provides laid-off workers with a portion of their paychecks, and nutrition
assistance programs to help most affected by economic downturn/unemployment
rates.
-Obama signed Small Business Jobs Act , which provides tax breaks and better
access to credit for small businesses so that small businesses can create new jobs.
-Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) act provided tax incentives to
companies that hired employees who had been looking for work for 60 days or
more. Obama launched National Export Initiative to support new jobs through
doubling exports.
Efforts to End Slavery and Child Labor
-UN had said slavery and slave trade should be prohibited, yet slavery persists.
-One strategy to fight slavery is punishment. Slave trafficking is prosecuted and
treated as crime; Many traffickers avoid punishment because government officials
in many countries assist, overlook, or actively collude with traffickers. In many
countries, the justice system is more likely to jail or expel sex slaves than to punish
traffickers.
-In U.S., the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act protects slaves
against deportation if they testify against their former owners; convicted slave
traffickers can be imprisoned.
-U.S. corporations also held accountable for enterprises that involve forced labor
and other human rights and labor violations. Unocal oil company was first
corporation to stand trial in U.S. for human rights violations abroad.
-Convention on the Rights of Child ---asserts the right that children should not be
engaged in work deemed to be hazardous or to interfere with the childs education
or to be harmful to the childs health. International Labour Office enforces rights of
children. However, some countries exempt sectors where child labor is high and so
child labor laws sometimes weak/unenforced.
-Education is a primary means to combat child labor. Children with no education
have no choice but to enter labor market. Education is expensive and parents who
cant afford for children see their childrens labor as a source of income in
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household. Promoting Education for All---a global movement advocating that every
child has access to free, basic education (crucial to reduce child labor).
Responses to Sweatshop Labor
-Fair Labor Association---coalition of companies, universities, and nongovernmental
organizations that works to promote adherence to international labor standards and
improve working conditions worldwide. Includes inspecting overseas factories for
labor standards, not requiring workers to work more than 60 hours a week. More
than 200 colleges and universities require their licensees to participate in FLA
monitoring system.
-FLA criticized for allowing firms to select and directly pay their own monitors and to
have a say in which factories were audited. Also criticized for having low standards
in allowing below-poverty wages and excessive overtime and for requiring that only
a small percentage of a manufacturers supplier factories be inspected each year.
Also critics say companies use their participation in FLA as a marketing tool.
Student Activism
-United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) is a grassroots organization of youth
and students who fight against labor abuses and for the rights of workers around
the world (campus workers and garment workers). Affiliate with Worker Rights
Consortium (WRC) which investigates factories that produce clothing and other
goods with school logos to make sure that the factory meets the code of conduct
developed by each school. Contract with school will be terminated if working
conditions at factory will not be improved.
-Sodexo serves food to more U.S. college students than any other company. Low
wages and interfered with workers attempts to form union. Students concerned of
its labor practices.
Legislation
-Most effective strategy against sweatshop work conditions is legislation.
Sweatfree procurement laws prohibit public entities from purchasing uniforms and
apparel made under sweatshop conditions.
-Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act---proposed to prohibit the
import, export, or sale of sweatshop goods in U.S., not passed.
-Establishing and enforcing labor laws to protect workers from sweatshop labor
conditions is difficult in a political climate that offers more protections to
corporations than it does to workers. Corporations have intellectual and copyright
laws to defend their products. Yet corporations would not extend laws to protect
human rights to child laborer because it would be impediment to free trade. Thus
the label and not the human is protected.
Responses to Workplace Health and Safety Concerns
-Protecting Americas Workers Act (PAWA) not passed but would strengthen OSHA by
extending coverage to uncovered workers, enhance whistleblower protections so
that workers who report workplace safety violations have job protection, and
increase penalties for serious and willful violations and in cases of worker death.
-Other legislation would strengthen OSHAs authority to shut down operations that
pose an imminent danger to workers, require large corporate employers to provide
regular reports to OSHA on work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, mandate
OSHA to issue a standard on safe patient handling to protect health care workers
from injuries, issue a standard to protect workers from explosions and fires.
-Efforts also made to strengthen Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to
give it more authority to close down mines in violation of safety standards and to
prevent black lung disease.
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-These and other initiatives to strengthen workplace health and safety are opposed
by industry groups and Republicans in Congress who are against government
regulations argue that excessive regulation is burdensome to business, hampers
investment, and hurts job creation.
-One victory in legislation was James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act--establishes a health monitoring, treatment, and compensation program for the
many 9/11 responders and others who became ill as a result of exposures at the
World Trade Center.
-In developing countries, governments fear that strict enforcement of workplace
regulations will discourage foreign investment. Investment in workplace safety in
developing countries far lower than that in rich countries. Low unionization rates
and workers fears of losing their lives if they demand health and safety protections,
--- leave most workers powerless to improve working conditions.
Behavior-Based Safety Programs
-direct attention to workers behavior rather than to work processes and conditions
as health and safety problem. Most job injuries and illnesses are caused by workers
own carelessness and unsafe acts. Teach employees and managers to identify
discipline and change unsafe worker behaviors that cause accidents and encourage
a work culture that rewards safe behaviors.
-Critics say these divert attention away from employers failures to provide safe
working conditions. Also say that the real goal of these programs is to discourage
workers from reporting illness and injuries (fear of being labeled unsafe worker)
Work Life Policies and Programs
-help women and men balance work and family responsibilities: work-family, worklife, family-friendly policies
Federal and State Family and Medical Leave Initiatives
-Clinton 1993 first national policy to help work-life: The Family and Medical Leave
Act (FMLA) requires all public agencies and private-sector employees (with 50 or
more employees who worked at least 1,250 hours in the preceding year) to provide
up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave so that they can care for a seriously
ill child, spouse, or parent; stay home to care for their newborn, newly adopted, or
newly placed foster child; or take time off when seriously ill. A 2008 amendment of
FMLA requires employers to provide up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to employees to
care for a seriously ill or injured family member who is in the armed forces including
National Guard or Reserves
-But nearly 40% of employees not eligible for the FMLA benefit because they work
for companies with fewer than 50 employees or they work part-time. Some
employees dont comply with FMLA because they are unaware of their
responsibilities under FMLA or because they are deliberately violating the law, lack
of awareness; many eligible workers do not use FMLA benefit because they cannot
afford to take leave without pay, and/or they fear they will lose their job if they take
time off.
-Only some states provide paid leave programs that provide eligible workers a
family leave benefit with a portion of their salary for up to six weeks. Family Leave
Insurance Act would provide 8 to 12 weeks of partially paid leave for FMLA
purposes, paid by employer and worker contributions.
-U.S. employers are not required to provide workers with any paid sick leave, and
nearly half of private-sector workforce has no paid sick leave. Health Families Act
would require employers with at least 15 employees to provide 7 days of paid sick
leave annually for full-time employees who work at least 30 hours per week;
5

Employees could take benefit if they or a family member is sick; Supporters say that
when sick employees go to work because they cannot afford to take unpaid sick
days, or fear losing their job by taking a sick day, they risk spreading infectious
diseases at the workplace; And sending children to school because their parents
cannot afford to take unpaid sick days to stay home with them risks spreading
infectious diseases at school. HFA act proposes to establish a federally mandated
paid sick day policy.
Employer-Based Work-Life Policies
-Some corporations have family-friendly work policies and programs, including
unpaid or paid family and medical leave, child care assistance, assistance with
elderly parent care, and flexible work options like flextime- a work arrangement that
allows employees to begin and end the workday at different times so long as 40
hours per week are maintained, compressed workweek a work arrangement that
allows employees to condense their work into fewer days, and telecommuting a
work arrangement that involves use of information technology that allow employees
to work part-time or full-time at home or at a satellite office.
-Flexible work arrangements reduce work-life conflict and increase job satisfaction.
-Best Buy made Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), which allows employees
and managers to control when and where they work as long as they get the job
done.
-Flexible work arrangements also benefit employers in reducing absenteeism,
lowering turnover, improving the health of workers, and increasing productivity. Yet
less than 1/3 of full-time workers report having flexible work hours and only 15
percent report working from home at least once a week. Between 1998 and 2008,
some employer-provided work-life benefits increased, whereas others decreased.
-More than half of employers that offer maternity leave provide at least partial pay
to employees on maternity leave, whereas only 16 percent provide any pay for
paternity leave.
Efforts to Strengthen Labor
-About half of U.S. adults say they have a favorable opinion of labor unions; 39
percent have unfavorable. Viewed as problematic to corporations, employers, some
governments; such efforts can remedy many of the problems facing workers.
-Some labor unions have merged with one another; this increases membership
numbers, increases the unions financial resources to recruit new members and
withstand long strikes. Unions must cross national boundaries to build international
cooperation and solidarity because of globalized economy.
-Strengthening labor unions requires combating the threats and violence against
workers who attempt to organize or who joins unions. One way is to pressure
governments to apprehend and punish perpetrators of such violence. Another way
is to stop doing business with countries where government-sponsored violations of
free trade union rights occur.
-Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to sign a card stating that they want
to be represented by a union. If majority signed card, company would have to
recognize the union and bargain over terms and conditions of employment. If the
company does not negotiate a first contract in timely manner, EFC act requires
binding arbitration. It would also strengthen U.S. labor law enforcement by
increasing penalties for violations.
The Global Jobs Pact
-improving workers lives and the economy as a whole requires a coordinated and
comprehensive effort
6

that combines goals and strategies. 2009 International Labour Organization adopted
a Global Jobs Pact
guide national and international policies aimed at stimulating the economy, creating
jobs, and providing protection to workers and their families.
-Calls for a wide range of measures to retain workers, sustain businesses, create
jobs, and provide social protections to workers and the unemployed, stringent
supervision and regulation of financial industry so that it better serves the economy
and protects individuals savings and pensions.
-urges for (1) a shift to a low-carbon, environmentally friendly economy that will
create new jobs (2) investments in public infrastructure (3) increases in social
protection and minimum wages (to reduce poverty, increase demand for goods, and
stimulate the economy). The Global Jobs Pact provides a vision for a healthier
economy that meets the needs of workers and consumers. The hard work of
translating the Global Jobs Pact into reality falls to employers, trade unions, and
especially governments.
Understanding Work and Unemployment
-1948 General Assembly of UN adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and
favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone,
without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who
works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his
family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by
other means of social protection. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade
unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation
of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
-Workers still fighting for rights laid out by UN.
-Occupy Wall Street began with a few demonstrations in front of NYSE, and has
spread to cities across the country. Participants include students, the unemployed,
union members, professionals, and others who are fed up with corporate greed and
the widening gap between the rich and the poor. They are frustrated by high
unemployment and the erosion of workers salaries, benefits, and rights.
-Under federal law, willful violation that results in a workers death is a
misdemeanor with a maximum prison sentence of 6 months.

CH. 8 PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION

-School violence, high school graduates unable to solve math or write proper
sentences, college grads ill prepared for corporations that demand literate,
articulate, informed employees; teachers leave job because of uncontrollable
7

discipline problems, inadequate pay, overcrowded classrooms; students and

teachers dumbing down, lowering their standards, expectations, and role
performances to fit increasingly undemanding and unresponsive systems of
learning.
-Education panacea? Institution is riddled with problems so how can it be solution to
other social problems.
*The Global Context: Cross-Cultural Variations in Education
-In reality, many societies have no formal mechanism for educating the masses: 1 in
5 adults cannot read or write---2/3s are women.
-Education at a Glance---a publication of the Organization for Economic Cooperation
(OCED) reports education statistics on over 35 countries. In general, education
levels are rising but large numbers (35%) do not graduate from tertiary institutions
(less than 10% in Luxembourg to over 60% in Finland). There is a clear link between
education and income, and between education and employment. The more
education people have, the higher their income and the greater the chance of
employment. Spending on students increases in general and differs by country. U.S.
spends most per-pupil out of all OCED countries. The average student-teacher ratio
in elementary schools is 22:1. Teachers salaries have increased with the greatest
increases in Finland, Hungary, and Mexico. Teachers in U.S. work more hours than in
any other OCED country.
-Educational attainment is increasing worldwide. High school degree is the norm.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures how well
students who are nearing the end of compulsory education are prepared to meet
the challenges of todays knowledge societies (literacy). The highest average
science/reading scores were Finland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and Canada. Also
these 5 except New Zealand were top math performers. The U.S. scored below the
OCED average in science and in mathematics, but slightly above the OECD average
in reading.
Sociological Theories of Education
Structural-Functionalist
-educational institution serves important tasks like instruction, socialization, sorting
individuals into various statuses, and provision of custodial care.
-Many social problems like unemployment, crime and delinquency, and poverty, can
be linked to the failure of the educational institution to fulfill these basic functions.
-Examine reciprocal influences of the educational institution and other social
institutions, including the family, political institution, and economic institution.
Instruction
-teach students the knowledge and skills that are necessary for future occupational
roles, self-development, and social functioning. Some homeschooled, but most rely
on schools to teach children. Many U.S. students display low level of academic
achievement. Failure of schools b/c of social problems.
Socialization
-teaching students to respect authority---behavior that is essential for social
organization.
-Socialize youth into dominant culture: instill and maintain norms, values, traditions,
and symbols of culture; require students to speak and write in standard English;
display American flag; discourage violence, drug use, and cheating
-As minority groups increase, should public schools promote only one common
culture or should they emphasize diverse cultural traditions?

-Multicultural Education education that includes all racial and ethnic groups in the
school curriculum; promotes awareness and appreciation for cultural diversity.
Sorting Individuals into Statuses
-provide credentials for individuals who achieve various levels of education at
various schools within the system. Schools sort individuals into professional statuses
by awarding degrees in various fields. The higher ones education, the higher ones
income (prestige)
Custodial Care
-providing supervision and care for children and adolescents until they are 18 years
old.
-Some school districts are increasing the number of school hours and days beyond
traditional schedule. 2006 Expanded Learning Time Initiative adds an additional
300 hours of learning over the course of a school year by having longer and more
school days. (Parents sue over mandatory year round schedules). 2009 North
Carolina Supreme Court held that a school system does not need parental
permission to assign students to year-round schools.
Conflict Perspective
-the educational institution solidifies the class positions of groups and allows the
elite to control masses.
-Although the official goal of education in society is to provide a universal
mechanism for achievement, in reality, educational opportunities and the quality of
education are not equally distributed.
-The socialization function of education is really indoctrination into a capitalist
ideology. Students are socialized to value the interests of the state and to function
to sustain it (begins in kindergarten).
-Kanter coined term organization child---refers to the child in nursery school who is
most comfortable with supervision, guidance, and adult control. Teachers cultivate
the organization child by providing daily routines and rewarding those who conform.
In essence, teachers train future bureaucrats to be obedient to authority.
-Education serves as a mechanism for cultural imperialism or the indoctrination
into the dominant culture of society. When cultural imperialism exists, the norms,
values, traditions, and languages of minorities are systematically ignored.
-Learning is increasingly a commercial enterprise as corporations anxious to
bombard students with advertising and other procapitalist messages fund necessary
financial support for equipment, laboratories, and technological upgrades.
(Molnar)The economic recession of the last several years appears to have resulted
in intensified corporate marketing efforts in schools, as parents, teachers, and
administrators welcome partnerships that they think may help avoid program
cuts.
-(Kozol) called saveage inequalities in education that perpetuate racial disparities.
Kozol documented gross inequities in the quality of education in poorer districts,
largely composed of minorities, compared with districts that serve predominantly
white middle-class and upper middle class families. Schools in poor districts tend to
receive less funding and to have inadequate facilities, books, materials, equipment,
and personnel.
Symbolic Interactionist
-micro-level examination of education: individual and small-group issues, such as
teacher-student interactions and self-fulfilling prophecy.
Teacher-Student Interactions

-Ways that students and teachers view and relate to each other. Children from
economically advantaged homes may be more likely to bring to the classroom social
and verbal skills that elicit approval from teachers. Teachers like to teach middleclass children, fun and easy, they grasp material quickly and do their homework and
value the educational process. Children from disadvantaged homes bring fewer
social and verbal skills and teacher disapproval may lower self-esteem of
disadvantaged.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
-occurs when people act in a manner consistent with the expectations of others.
Teacher may act to make student perform at lower level.
-Rosenthal and Jacobsen---provided empirical evidence of the self-fulfilling prophecy
in the public school system. Because the teachers expected the spurters to do
well, they treated the students in a way that encouraged better school performance.
*Who Succeeds? The Inequality of Educational Attachment
-Educational inequality is based on social class and family background, race and
ethnicity, and gender. Each of these factors influences who succeeds in school. Most
people have high school completion.
Social Class and Family Background
-One of the best predictors of educational success is socioeconomic status. Children
of middle and upper socioeconomic brackets are more likely to perform better in
school and to complete more years of education than children from lower
socioeconomic statuses. Using fathers education as a proxy for socioeconomic
status, global statistics indicate that students are more likely to attend college if
their fathers graduated from college---more than twice as likely in Austria, Germany,
France, England.
-Socioeconomic status predicts academic achievement. On standardized tests,
children from low income families have the lowest average test scores, with an
incremental rise in family income associated with a rise in test scores.
-Muller and Schiller reported that students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds
are more likely to enroll in advanced courses for math credit and to graduate from
high school.
-Students from high income families (compared to low and middle) are more likely
to attend college and complete it.
-Poor children who attend high-quality preschools are less likely to drop out, repeat
grades, or need special education and as adults are less likely to commit crimes,
more likely to be employed, and likely to have higher earnings. (But wealthier are
more likely to access preschool).
-Low income families have fewer resources to commit to educational purposes---less
money for books or computers or tutors. Disadvantaged parents are less involved in
learning activities. As parental education and income increases, likelihood of parent
taking child to library, play, concert, show, art museum, etc increases. Further,
parents who have less education and lower income are less likely to be involved in
school activities.
Head Start and Early Head Start
-Head Start; began to help preschool children from most disadvantaged homes;
provides an integrated program of health care, parental involvement, education,
and social services. Graduates score better on intelligence and achievement tests,
health status is better, and have socio-emotional traits to help them adjust to
school.

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-Early Head Start---program for infants and toddlers from low-income families;
children perform better in cognitive, language, and social-emotional development;
impacts on aspects of parenting and home environment; supported parents
progress toward economic self-sufficiency.
-Federal stimulus dollars increased funding for education (but cant entirely
compensate). Most state revenues remain lower than in pre-recession years. The
result is cuts in state education budgets.
-Local dollars (47% school funding) varies by socioeconomic status of the district.
Ex. Local expenditures on schools come from taxes (property) and as housing prices
decline, property taxes decline.
-Consequences of U.S. system of decentralized funding for schools: (1) School
districts with low socioeconomic status are more likely to be in urban areas and in
inner cities where the value of older and dilapidated houses have depreciated; less
desirable neighborhoods hurt by white flight, with the result that the tax base for
local schools is lower in deprived areas. (2) School districts with low socioeconomic
status are less likely to have businesses or retail outlets where revenues are
generated; such businesses have closed or moved away. (3) Because of their
proximity to the downtown area, school districts with low socioeconomic status are
more likely to include hospitals, museums, and art galleries, all of which are taxfree. These properties do not generate revenues. (4) Neighborhoods with low
socioeconomic status are often in need of the greatest share of city services; fire
and police protection, sanitation, and public housing consume the bulk of the
available revenues. Precious little is left over for education in these districts. (5) In
school districts with low socioeconomic status, a disproportionate amount of the
money has to be spent on maintaining the school facilities, which are old and in
need of repair, and on free or reduced-priced lunches, so less is available for the
children themselves.
-Although states provide additional funding to supplement local taxes, this is not
always enough to lift schools that are poor to wealthy standards. Leandro v. State
---held that the state constitution required that all schools must provide adequate
resources to fully educate disadvantaged students, those who are poor, in special
education, and have limited English skills. Yet schools do poor job educating.
Race and Ethnicity
-1989-2009 percent of minorities increased in public schools. Hispanic students are
the fastest growing minority in U.S. schools.
-Compared to whites, Hispanics and blacks less likely to succeed in school at almost
every level. Although educational attainment has increased over time, racial and
ethnic disparities remain. The high school graduation gap between ethnic groups is
narrowing; the college gap is getting wider with whites and Asians on one side and
Hispanics and Blacks on the other.
-Socioeconomic status interacts with race and ethnicity. Because race and ethnicity
are so closely tied to socioeconomic status ( i.e. a disproportionate number of racial
and ethnic minorities are poor), it appears that race or ethnicity determines school
success. Although race and ethnicity may have an independent effect on
educational achievement, their relationship is largely a result of the association
between race and ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
-In addition, there are reasons why minorities have academic difficulty. First, they
might be English language learners (over 75% Spanish). ELL students core below
non-ELL students on standardized tests. -Bilingual education teaches children in
both English and their non-English native language; results in better academic
11

performance of minorities by exposing them to different languages and cultures,

and enhances the self-esteem of minority students. Critics argue that it limits
minority students and places them at disadvantage when they compete outside the
classroom, reduces English skills of minorities, costs money, and leads to hostility
with other minorities who are also competing for scarce resources. Second, many
tests used to assess academic achievement and ability are biased against
minorities (usually white middle-class majority culture questions appear). Third,
overt racism and discrimination takes form of unequal funding, racial profiling, and
school segregation, which all hinder performance.
-Minority students (blacks) may be victims of learning while black. Many
suspended in school and more so than whites/Hispanics. Differences in discipline
patterns are not necessarily a consequence of racism; they may reflect differences
in behavior.
School Desegregation
-Brown v. Board of Education ruled that segregated education was unconstitutional
because it was inherently unequal. Equality of Educational Opportunity---revealed
that almost 80% of all U.S. schools attended by whites contained 10% or fewer
blacks and that with exception of Asian Americans, whites outperformed minorities
on standardized tests. Coleman emphasized that the only way to achieve quality
education for all racial groups was to desegregate schools (integration hypothesis
advocated busing to achieve racial balance).
-Still, public schools remain segregated. Most black and Hispanic U.S. students
attend schools that are predominantly minority in enrollment. Desegregated schools
have no negative achievement effect on whites, tends to have positive effects on
black and Hispanic students in terms of learning and graduation rates.
-2007 Supreme Court said that public school systems cannot seek to achieve or
maintain integration through measures that take explicit account of a students race
(socioeconomic/income based integration rather than race-based.) Kahlenberg liked
this approach: (1) socioeconomic integration more directly and effectively achieves
the first aim of racial integration: raising the achievement of students. (2)
Socioeconomic integration, because of the relationship between race and income,
achieves racial integration and racial integration in turn fosters racial tolerance and
social cohesion. (3) Unlike race-based integration that is subject to scrutiny by the
government, school assignments based on socioeconomic status are perfectly legal.
But many schools remain under federal oversight as required by old racial
desegregation cases.
-Despite desegregation, some school districts are reverting to traditional methods of
student assignment (neighborhood schools) (NAACP has acted to prevent this)
Gender
-Women comprise 2/3 of worlds illiterate; girls comprise more than 70% who dont
attend school. Progress in gender gap being made but gender parity in primary and
secondary schools has not been achieved. Globally only 2/3 countries achieved
gender parity in primary schools and less than 40% have achieved gender parity in
secondary schools.
-Historically, U.S. schools have discriminated against women. Before 1830s U.S.
colleges accepted only male students. 1833 Oberlin College first to admit women.
-1960s womens movement sought to end sexism in education. Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972 states that no person shall be discriminated against
on the basis of sex in any educational program receiving federal funds. These were
designed to end sexism in the hiring and promoting of teachers and administrators.
12

This also sought to end sex discrimination in granting admission to college and
awarding financial aid. The title also called for an increase in opportunities for
female athletes by making more funds available to their programs.
-Although gender inequality continues to be problem worldwide, the U.S. has had
considerable effect. In 1970, nearly twice as many men as women had four years of
college or more; both increased later to about 30% men and women having four
years of college or more; Scores on the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) exam indicate that the gender gap in both math and reading scores
has decreased over the last few decades. Where differences exist, boys outscore
girls in math, girls outscore boys in reading. On SAT, males outperform females,
with the largest achievement gap on the math portion.
-Traditionally, gender gap in achievement has been explained by differences in
gender role socialization. But recently, popular portrayals of male and female
differences in achievement have been attributed to hardwiring as though there
are pink and blue brains. Eliot---the gaps vary by age, ethnicity, and nationality. In
PISA, reading gap is more than twice as large in some countries as in others; for
math, the gap ranges from a large male advantage in certain countries to
essentially no gap in other countries or even reversed in girls favor. PISA showed
that higher female performance in math correlates with higher levels of gender
equity in individual nations.
-Most research on gender inequality in schools focuses how female students are
disadvantaged. But what about males? Although they often achieve higher scores
on standardized tests, boys are more likely to lag behind girls in the classroom, be
diagnosed with ADHD, have learning disabilities, feel alienated from the learning
process, and drop out or be expelled from school. Also, black males compared to
white males score lower on NAEP, are less likely to take AP classes, and more likely
to be in special education classes, and are less likely to graduate from high school
or college.
-The problems boys have in school may require schools to devote more resources
and attention to them but not always possible due to economic crisis.
*Problems in the American Educational System
-What grade to give nations public schools? C! Just averageEducational Research
Center (ERC) annual assessment of U.S. education---76.3%. Many problems include
low academic achievement, high dropout rates, questionable teacher training,
school violence, and challenges of higher education.
Low Levels of Academic Achievement
-ERC uses three indicators to measure achievement in public elementary and
secondary schools: current levels of performance, improvement over time, and
achievement gap between poor and nonpoor learners. Average grade for nation was
68.7% (D+), ranging from a high of 85.0 (B) for Massachusetts, and a low of 55.3 (F)
for Mississippi.
-One way to measure performance is to look at the results of the National
Assessment of Education Progress, the nations report card on public and private
school student performances. Math scores for 9/13/17 year olds have increased.
-Even statistically significant increases (right step) may mask poor performances
-U.S. students are also outperformed by many of their foreign counterparts
something troubling in a knowledge-based global economy. Based on Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA), U.S. 15 year olds perform below the OECD
country averages in both science and math. The U.S. average high school
graduation rate is also below the average high school graduation rate for OECD
13

countries. The international achievement gap widens the longer children are in
school and is not merely an issue for poor children attending schools in poor
neighborhoods; instead, it affects most children in most schools. The international
achievement gap affects individuals and communities and costs the economy
millions of dollars in lost human potential.
School Dropouts
-The status dropout rate---percentage of 16 to 24 year olds that are not in school
and have not earned a high school degree or its equivalent. In last several decades
the status dropout rate has declined. Status dropout rates were higher for Hispanics
than for blacks and whites. Dropout rates vary by race and ethnicity and nativity
and gender. Males have higher dropout rates than females.
-Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who have only one parent in the
home and who have changed schools frequently are more likely to drop out. Bill
Gates found that major reasons for dropping out included: (1) classes were not
interesting (2) missed too many days and cant catch up (3) spent time with people
who were not interested in school (4) had too much freedom and not enough rules
(5) was failing in school.
-Former students asked what could be done to improve a students chances of
remaining in school. 81% responded opportunities for real world learning to make
classrooms more relevant and better teachers who keep classes interesting.
Other responses were smaller classes and more individual attention, better
communication between parents and schools, and increased supervision at home
and at school to ensure students attend classes.
-The economic and social consequences of dropping out of school are significant.
Many children drop out of high school every year, reducing tax revenues and
increasing societal costs for public assistance, crime, and health care. Some
programs are successful in reducing dropout rate. Successful dropout prevention
programs share these in common: (1) management of students (2) mentoring (3)
family involvement (4) curricular reform (5) contending with out of school problems.
-Second-chance initiatives such as General Educational Development (GED)
certification allow students to complete their high school requirements. Or early or
middle-school college programs allow dropouts to enroll in community colleges or 4
year degree programs; there they receive a secondary school education, earn a H.S.
diploma and get college credits.
-Stereotype threat tendency for minorities and women to perform poorly on highstakes tests because of the anxiety created by fear that a poor performance will
validate negative societal stereotypes.
-Exit exams caused lower achieving students to have higher dropout rates and the
negative effect of exit exam was stronger for minority and female students than for
nonminority and male students, even when levels of academic achievement were
held constant.
Crime, Violence, School Discipline
-The chance of a student dying at school is quite rare (1 homicide/suicide per 2.5 mil
students). Students feel 93% safe at school.
-85% of schools in 2007/08 report at least one violent crime. In the nation, the
number of school-related nonviolent offenses exceeded the number of schoolrelated violent offenses. Nearly half of all schools reported a theft (1 mil. thefts in
all). Schools that experienced higher-than-average rates of school related violent
crime were disproportionately public versus private schools, in poor urban
neighborhoods, and were more likely to have gang-related activity.
14

-Discipline problems such as verbal abuse of teachers, disorder in classrooms,

disrespect for teachers, fighting, insubordination, and use of drugs/alcohol are of
concern. Suspension lasting more than five days, expulsion, and transfer to an
alternative school are the most serious disciplinary actions available. In 2007-2008
46% of public school principals reported at least one serious disciplinary action
against a student.
-Bullying has become focus of research and legislative action. Safe Schools
Improvement Act would require states and school districts to clearly articulate
policies that prohibit bullying, develop bullying prevention programs, and maintain a
bullying database of recorded bullying incidents. Much of the impetus for new
policies came from recent suicides of bullying victims.
-Bullying imbalance of power that exists over a long period of time between two
individuals, two groups, or a group and an individual in which the more powerful
intimidate or belittle others. May be direct or indirect and may be considered a type
of aggression. Can also be called cyber-bullying, where it takes place remotely
through electronic devices.
-In 2007 about a third of students between 12 and 18 were bullied.
-Students who bully often perform poorly academically, have high dropout rates,
and are more likely to get into fights, drink alcohol, vandalize property, and be
truant.
-Victims of bullying report, in order of frequency, being the subject of rumors, being
pushed, shoved, tripped, spit on, being threatened with harm, and being
intentionally excluded from activities.
-Most bullying takes place inside the school building and is more often directed at
females than males.
-Being bullied is associated with low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, alcohol/drug
use, running away, and suicide.
-In response to crime, violence, and other disciplinary problems, schools throughout
the country have police officers patrolling halls, require students to pass through
metal detectors before entering school, and conduct random locker searches. Video
cameras deter some school violence. The alternative school deters disciplinary
problems while providing low-achieving students with the remedial help they need.
Concerns about alternative schools include the disproportionate number of
minorities who are transferred to such facilities for discretionary rather than
mandated reasons.
-prevalence of bullying highest in ninth grade, highest rate of victimization in 6 th
grade, lowest rate of victimization was among 11 th and 12th grades. Males and
females equally likely to be bullies, victims, and bully-victims. Blacks compared with
Hispanics, were more likely to be bullies, victims, and bully-victims. Upsetting
students for the fun of it was most common kind of bullying activity. Males more
likely to participate in harassing and teasing behaviors than females. Victims say
that most common form of bullying was name calling. Males more likely to be hit
than females. Blacks more likely to be victims than Hispanic counterparts. 11 th and
1th grades more likely to be picked on or made fun of than students in other class
levels. Intervention should be in middle school as behaviors peak at high school.
Teasing and name calling most prevalent so reduce these. Future research should
concentrate on the role of race and ethnicity in prevalence of bullying and
victimization. Racial and ethnic differences impact content of bullying behavior.
Inadequate School Facilities and Programs

15

-American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has documented many troubling conditions

in U.S. schools.
-Older schools need more help than newer ones and often they are located in
disadvantaged neighborhoods. Courts said that the quality of building facilities is
part of equal educational opportunities resulting in government monitoring of state
spending on infrastructure needs to ensure equitable distributions of funds.
-There is evidence that documents the relationship between school environment
and academic achievement. Milkie and Warner---conclude that students stress
levels are negatively impacted by deteriorated school facilities. Tanner---controlled
for socioeconomic status and found that school environment affects a childs ability
to learn, a teachers ability to teach, and a staff members ability to be effective.
-Green Schools education buildings that operate in harmony with natural
environment; they reduce energy use by using natural and solar light; they
conserve water and use recycled materials; reduce air pollution and excessive
noise; enhance indoor climate control. Such innovations reduce absenteeism,
increase student performance and teacher retention, and save money.
-Special education programs pose another problem for school systems. Before 1997
when Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA) was adopted, more than 1 mil.
students excluded from public schools. With implementation of IDEA in 2004, more
than 6.5 mil. children and young people with disabilities, ages 3 to 21, qualified for
educational interventions under IDEA. Pursuant to mandates from IDEA, public
school education programs are now required to provide guaranteed access to
education for disabled children. These programs structured to meet unique needs of
each child at no cost to the parent. If the school district cannot meet unique needs
of the child, by law, it becomes the school systems fiscal responsibility to pay for
the childs education in an appropriate private school placement even if the child
never received special education or related services through the public schools.
-Although number of special education students in private settings is estimated to
be just over 1%, financially strapped school districts may find it difficult to afford
high costs of private school placement for these students. Also, Black American
students (males) are disproportionately placed in special education programs that
contribute to their comparatively low high school graduation rates. Many teachers
are opting to leave special education classrooms for traditional classrooms or to
pursue different fields entirely. With lack of certified teachers in this area, a
shortage has occurred in nation and this affects the quality of special education.
-All students, whether in regular or special education classes, are required by law to
have a free and appropriate education. This means special education classes
receive a higher quality/more individualized education than mainstream students in
overcrowded classrooms.
Recruitment and Retention of Quality Teachers
-School districts with inadequate funding and facilities, low salaries, lack of
community support, and minimal professional development have difficulty
attracting and retaining qualified school personnel. U.S. Dept of Education says the
number of schoo lteachers leaving the profession has increased over last 20 years.
Teachers leaving tend to be at either end of the experience curriculum (less than 3
to 20+ years).
-High teacher turnover is problematic because: (1) newer teachers are less
experienced and often less effective (2) teacher turnover contributes to a lack of
continuity in programs and educational reforms. (3) recruiting and training expenses
in addition to the time and effort devoted to replacing teachers is considerable
16

-Bill Gates concludes that the key to a good education hinges on the quality of
teachers in the classroom. But in the U.S., qualified/experienced teachers are not
equally distributed across all school districts. Since teacher salaries are the largest
component of a school districts costs, poor school districts have less money to
compete for qualified teachers. Thus, they are more likely to employ beginning
teachers with less than three years of experience and are more likely to assign
these teachers to areas outside their specialty. Knowledge of subject taught is one
of the key characteristics of an effective teacher. Further, students in poorer school
districts are twice as likely to be taught by substitute teachers, and have less
effective teachers than students in more wealthy districts.
-Recruiting/retaining teachers in poverty-level school districts is crucial to the
success of its students. Hanushek says if a child from a poor family has a good
teacher for five consecutive years, the achievement gap between that child and a
child from a higher income family would be closed. Because minority students
disproportionately populate poor school districts, it is also important to recruit and
retain teachers who meet the needs of children from diverse backgrounds and of
varying abilities. The number of minority teachers who can serve as role models,
have similar life experiences, and have similar language and cultural backgrounds is
far too few for the number of minority students.
-Recruiting and retaining quality teachers may be more difficult with recent
emphasis on accountability and value-added measurement (VAM) the use of
student achievement data to assess teacher effectiveness. States are required to
use VAM to receive Race to the Top funds from the federal government. Some say
quantitative measures of accountability are an evil in time of budget shortfalls;
Critics of VAM also say that assessing teachers based on student performance
assumes all else constant and ignores the reality of student differences in nonschool
factors, like family, life, poverty, emotional and physical obstacles, etc. Further,
there are concerns that teachers, fearing for their jobs and concerned about meritbased pay, may begin teaching to the test.
-60 percent of parents believe that the primary purpose of teachers evaluations is
to help them improve their ability to teach
-Even experienced teachers may not be competent or effective. Those who choose
teaching as a career, on average, have lower college entrance exam scores than the
average college student. The lower the college entrance scores for a teacher, the
higher the probability of that teacher still teaching 10 years postbaccalaureate.
-There is some evidence that quality of teachers is improving. Both teachers and
principals, when asked about the qualifications and competence of new teachers,
were more likely to rate them as excellent compared with teachers and principals
ratings 20 years ago.
-To place quality teachers in the classroom, many states have implemented
mandatory competency testing. The need for teachers who are officially classified
as highly qualified is tied to federal mandates that place an emphasis on the
importance of having licensed teachers in the classroom. Also, teachers who have a
bachelors degree and have been in the classroom for three or more years are
eligible for national board certification. Some studies show that students of highly
qualified teachers and/or board-certified teachers perform better on standardized
tests and have greater testing gains than students of teachers who are not highly
qualified/ board-certified. There is no single variable that consistently predicts
success in the classroom.

17

-To meet demands of placing teachers in classrooms while facing teacher shortages
due to baby boomer retirements, states now allow skilled professional who have an
interest in teaching but did not receive a teaching degree to enter the teaching
profession (lateral entry)---allows the person to obtain a lateral entry teaching
license while actually teaching in the classroom. More than half of states have
adopted alternative certification programs ---college graduates with degrees in
fields other than education can become certified if they have life experience in
industry, the military, or other relevant jobs.
-Teach for America (TFA) is an alternative teacher education program with the aim of
recruiting liberal arts graduates into teaching positions in economically deprived
and socially disadvantaged schools. Critics of TFA argue that it may place
unprepared personnel in schools. But an analysis of TFA teachers vs. traditional
teachers concludes that TFA teachers are more effective in the classroom than
traditional teachers as measured by student achievement.
The Challenges of Higher Education in America
-higher education = 2,4, year, public/private degree granting institutions. Between
1994 and 2008, enrollment in degree-granting institutions increased by 34%.
Because of unemployment rates and the increase in college-age population,
enrollments expected to grow another 17% by 2019. Full time students (women,
younger students, minorities, and students enrolled in 4 year schools) have
disproportionately contributed to the dramatic enrollment growth.
-Over the last decade, there has been a significant decrease in full-time tenured or
tenure track faculty, once the core of academia, and significant increases in
noninstructional staff and nontenure rack, part or full time instructors. A survey of
college and university presidents reveals that only 24% would prefer that most of
their faculty be tenured, the majority wishing to rely rather on annual or long-term
contracts.
-As number of students attending college has increased, so have the costs
associated with getting a college degree. About 65% received aid. Full time students
attending 4 year private doctoral-granting institutions were the most likely to
receive student aid, and federal and state grants and student loans comprise the
largest proportion of student aid. 2010 Obama signed into law a bill that eliminates
fees paid to banks as student loan intermediaries and expands the number and
maximum amount of Pell Grants.
-Access to and completion of higher education among minority or low income
students is problematic. Minority representation at 2 year institutions is higher than
at 4 year institutions. A fairly high proportion of all black students attend historically
black universities and colleges.
-Racial and ethnic minorities, although varying by state, are also less likely to
graduate from college than their white counterparts. In part, their lower graduation
rates can be explained by parents education, one of the best predictors of student
outcomes, including educational achievement and attainment. College completion
rates at all degree-granting institutions have decreased over time, leading to
concerns over U.S. competitiveness in global markets, particularly labor markets. Of
concern is whether the U.S. is training a sufficient number of graduates in STEM
occupations.
-To address some issues of higher education, some policy changes adopted.
Community colleges---the nations unsung heroes of the American education system
are now awarding bachelors degrees in 17 states. Some bachelors degreegranting institutions are now offering three year degree programs. Critics argue that
18

economic considerations should not drive economic policy; proponents argue that
an economic crisis must be met with innovation.
-The present administration has made a commitment to several higher-education
programs. Pell Grants, First in the World Program---helps ensure that U.S. has
highest proportion of college graduates of any country in the world by 2020,
strengthen HBCU, and money to enhance academic quality, institutional
management, fiscal stability, and self-sufficiency of colleges and universities that
enroll large percentages of Hispanic students.
*Strategies for Action: Trends and Innovations in American Education
-improving education as a top priority. Recent attempts to improve: raising
graduation requirements, barring students from participating in extracurricular
activities if they are failing academic subjects, lengthening the school day,
prohibiting dropouts from obtaining drivers licenses, implementing year-round
schooling, and extending the number of years permitted to complete a high school
degree. Educational reformers on both sides of the political aisle continue to call for
changes that go beyond these get-tough policies that some say simply maintain the
status quo.
National Educational Policy
-Obama, a quarter of American students arent finishing high school, math and
science in U.S. lags compared to other nations, America has fallen to 9 th in the
proportion of young people with a college degree. There is evidence of both
significant changes and things as they were politics.
No Child Left Behind
-NCLB act federally funded plan was organized around 4 principles: (1)
accountability for learning outcomes (2) flexibility in funding (3) expanding school
options for parents (4) use of sound teaching methods, highly qualified teachers.
-Implementation of NCLB was problematic. Accountability efforts required that to
make adequate yearly progress (AYP), the factor by which a school is measured, all
student groups must attain a set level of achievement in reading and math. If one
student group does not reach the set levels, the entire school receives a failing
grade and is in danger of being severely sanctioned. Because of disparities between
student groups, the NCLB regulations were changed to allow for alternative testing
of students who were disabled or had limited English proficiency; deadlines for
making AYP in reading and math were extended to 2014 for all states. Critics also
argue that it unfairly burdens the states, which must absorb the financial cost of its
provisions. The National Education Association, the largest organization of teachers
in the nation, joined schools in several districts to bring the first federal lawsuit
against the U.S. Dept of Education for failing to provide funding for NCLB initiatives.
The U.S. Court of Appeals held in favor of the government, finding that whether
one is a school district, teacher, principal, or state education agency, one cannot
lawfully refuse to comply with NCLBby arguing there are insufficient federal funds
to meet the requirements of the law.
-Empirical tests of NCLB are mixed. Hall and Kennedy indicate that overall
achievement gains were found in elementary schools. But picture in middle and
high schools less clear: although minority and low-income students showed
achievement gains, whites and higher-income students showed more dramatic
gains, thus increasing the achievement gap between the two. Braun, Chapman, and
Vezzu conclude that the black-white achievement gap remains considerably large
and has only modestly been reduced by the mandated high-stakes testing of NCLB.
Demarest observes that over the decade that NCLB was law, that test scores in the
19

U.S. have not significantly improved in recent years, the achievement gap has not
closed, and other developed nations have continued to build their educational
capacity and surpass U.S. performance on international assessments.
-2010 Obama issued his blueprint for educational reform, which includes
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Comparing
NCLB to the ESEA indicates: Greater flexibility for state and local education leaders
to institute needed changes; less of a punitive focus on testing and accountability
and a greater emphasis on student growth and school progress; greater
acknowledgement, support, and investment in teachers; more attention to funding
equity and investment in low-performing schools; greater use of data-driven,
evidence-based interventions and instructional models; increased standards to
ensure a complete education for all children.
National Standards
-The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers
have led the move to adopt a common set of academic standards (Common Core
Standards). The initiative was motivated by concerns that students in different
states were not equally being prepared for postsecondary education and/or jobs in
the global workforce.
-States that have adopted the common core standards are eligible to receive funds
from the Race to the Top initiative, part of a funding scheme under the federal
stimulus package. Member states of the National Common Core State Standards
Initiative are drafting English and math standards.
Fiscal Stabilization
-Although the American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009 provided needed
funds for fiscal stabilization, they were not without strings. To receive the funds
states had to show improvements in 4 specific areas: low-performing schools, data
systems, teacher effectiveness, and standards and assessments (these four areas
are called the four assurances- a states commitment to improving teacher quality,
raising academic standards, intervening in failing schools, and developing
assessment databases in return for federal dollars).
-The first annual report of fiscal stabilization funds reveals several results. (1) School
districts spend most of their stabilization funds on salaries and employee benefits
(69%). (2) The second largest pool of stabilization fund spending was classified as
other expenses, including everything from paying utility bills to buying textbooks
and computers (20%). The remaining two categories included carrying over funds to
the following school year and construction, modernization, and infrastructure
repairs (1%). Despite stabilization efforts, budget shortfalls in many states and
school districts have lead to teacher layoffs, increased class sizes, canceled capital
improvement projects, and the elimination of needed programs.
Character Education and Service Learning
-Cheating is a fairly common event among students in the U.S.
-Character Education emphasizes the moral and ethical aspects of an individual;
ability to develop just and caring relationships, contribute to the community, and
assume the responsibilities of democratic citizenship. Despite academic
achievement, knowledge without character is potentially devastating.
-Obamas educational reform policy includes dollars for expanding and redefining
character education. Government analyses of research on established character
education programs indicate that classroom activities designed to teach core
values are relatively ineffective in producing the desired student outcomes. Federal
funds have been redirected to a more broadly conceived notion of character
20

education administered through the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities
National Programs.
-Service learning programs, one type of character education, are increasingly
popular at universities and colleges nationwide. They are community-based
initiatives in which students volunteer in the community and receive academic
credit for doing so. They increase academic performance, promote hands-on
learning, enhance civic engagement and moral reasoning, reduce the likelihood of
risky behaviors, and increase self-esteem.
-Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act 2009---creates several programs to increase
student participation in service activities, and is hoped to increase the participation
of volunteers in AmeriCorps and similar programs. Summer of Service pays middle
and high school students $500 toward college tuition for 100 hours of community
service, and Youth Engagement Zones, which partners schools and community
organizations to facilitate community service by secondary school students.
Use of Computer Technology and E-Learning
-Computers in class allow students to access large amounts of information.
Proliferation of computers may mean that teachers will become facilitators and
coaches rather than sole providers of information. Computers allow students to
progress at their own pace. Computers are not equally accessible to all students
and access varies by parents education, income, and race/ethnicity. Some research
indicates that having a computer in the home decreases student math and reading
scores.
-Obama: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology--outlines his administrations national education technology plan. The goals of edtech are to increase student achievement using technology and to create
technologically literate students by the end of 8 th grade. It also integrates
technology into the classroom through both teacher training and curriculum
development to establish innovative, research-based instructional methods that can
be widely implemented.
-E-learning separates the student and the teacher by time and/or place. They are
connected by some communication technology though. Some classes have blended
learning---a mix of online and traditional face-to-face learning. In 2008, over a
million K-12 students took online courses; 75% of the school districts offered online
or blended courses; school districts depended on multiple online service providers;
online learning meets specific needs of students; online learning provides courses
that simply would not be available to students otherwise (most important last two
statements)
-Although low in rank, financial considerations were identified as a benefit of online
education and may increasingly be so in the face of funding cuts.
-Online education often serves a segment of the population that would not
otherwise be able to attend school---older, married, full-time employees, and people
from remote areas. Thus, the number of public school online course offerings is
higher in rural areas than in towns, cities, or urban areas. Some research suggests
that online learning benefits those who have been historically disadvantaged in the
classroom. Denuei and Dodge indicate that females in a blended course were more
likely to use a learning management system than males, and to significantly
outperform them as measured by final grades in an introductory psychology class.
The Debate over School Choice
-Traditionally, children have gone to school in the district where they live. School
vouchers, charter schools, private schools, and home schooling provide parents with
21

alternative school choices for their children. School vouchers are tax credits that
are transferred to the public or private school that parents select for their child.
Vouchers in general are opposed by Obama administration.
-Proponents of voucher system argue that it increases the quality of schools by
creating competition for students. Those who oppose the voucher system argue that
it will drain needed funds and the best students away from public schools. Forster
concluded that vouchers improve pubic schools; no empirical studies find that
vouchers harm public schools.
-Opponents argue that vouchers increase segregation because white parents use
the vouchers to send their children to private schools with few minorities, and that
the use of vouchers for religious schools violates the constitutional guarantee of
separation of church and state. The U.S. Supreme Court, in reviewing the voucher
program in Cleveland, Ohio, held that the use of tax dollars for enrollment in
religious schools is not unconstitutional.
-Vouchers can be used for charter schools originate in contracts, or charters, which
articulate a plan of instruction that local or state authorities must approve. Although
foundations, universities, private benefactors, and entrepreneurs can fund charter
schools, many are supported by tax dollars. 2000-2009 the number of students
attending charter schools increased. Over the same time period, number of charter
schools whose student bodies were at least 75% poor increased from 13 to 30
percent. In contrast to traditional schools, over half of charter schools are in large
cities.
-Charter schools, like school vouchers, were designed to expand schooling options
and to increase the quality of education through competition. Like vouchers, charter
schools have come under heavy criticism for increasing school segregation,
reducing public school resources, and stealing away top students. Proponents
(Obama and Duncan) argue that charter schools encourage innovation and reform,
and increase student learning outcomes.
- A recent analysis of NYC charter schools indicates that when compared to
traditional public schools, charter schools disproportionately underserved Hispanic
and immigrant children, special education students, English language learners, and
children from the lowest socioeconomic classes. Because charter schools in NYC can
be run by for-profit firms, the report also notes that management fees and charges
far exceed those of traditional public schools. The report concludes that the growth
of the charter sector will only exacerbate existing inequities.
-Another school choice parents can make is to send their children to a private
school. The primary reason parents send their children to private schools is for
religious instruction. The second most common reason is the belief that private
schools are superior to public schools in terms of academic achievement. Contrary
to expectations, there is evidence that public school students fair as well or better
academically as private school students. Lubienski and Lubienski, using National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data, report that math scores for public
school students were higher than mathematics scores for private school students.
Parents also choose private schools for their children to have greater control over
school policy, avoid busing, or to obtain a specific course of instruction, such as
dance or music.
-Some parents choose not to send their children to school at all but to teach them at
home. 2007, 1.5 mil. were homeschooled, majority 77% were white. The three most
common reasons given by parents for homeschooling include the need for religious
and moral instruction, avoidance of the negative environment of public schools, and
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concerns over the quality of instruction in public schools. Some evidence suggests
that homeschooled children perform as well as or better than their public school
children counterparts.
-Arum and Roska conclude that almost half of college students made no significant
improvement in a variety of academic skills including critical thinking, complex
reasoning, and writing. (fail to learn)
*Understanding Problems in Education
-Century ago, U.S. had no systematic public education system at all (factories and
farm work; whatever education they received was from family or religious
institution)
-mid 1800s Horace Mann advocated mandatory education for all U.S. children. 1852
the first compulsory education laws in the U.S. were passed, requiring school-aged
children to attend 12 weeks of school each year. By World War I, every state
mandated primary school education and by World War II, secondary education was
compulsory too.
-Horace Mann dreamed of education as balanced wheel of social machinery,
equalizing social differences among members of an immigrant nation.
-Like Big Macs, children are begin packaged in one-size-fits-all wrappers--- with
learning to think, explore, question, and debate being replaced by worksheets and
standardized tests. Kohn, pedagogy of poverty or McEducation of the Negro
(Hopkinson). Ravitch notes the present reform movement that once was an effort to
improve the quality of education has turned into an accounting strategy.

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CH.9- Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration

-The election of Barack Obama represents a milestone in U.S. history, has ushered in
a new era of hope for minorities. Also, Sonia Sotomayor sworn in as first Hispanic
Supreme Court Justice. But U.S. continues to be a nation where racial and ethnic
minorities, as well as mixed couples, are treated unfairly.
-minority group category of people who have unequal access to positions of
power, prestige, and wealth in a society and who tend to be targets of prejudice and
discrimination. Minority status is not based on numerical representation in society
but rather on social status. Although Hispanic individuals outnumber non Hispanic
whites in California, Texas, and New Mexico, they are considered a minority because
they are underrepresented in positions of power, prestige, and wealth, and they are
targets of prejudice and discrimination.
-We focus on prejudice and discrimination, their consequences for racial and ethnic
minorities, and strategies to reduce these problems. Also we look at issues of U.S.
immigration, because immigrants often bear the double burden of being minorities
and foreigners who are not welcomed by many native-born Americans. We begin by
examining racial and ethnic diversity worldwide and in the U.S., emphasizing first
that the concept of race is based on social rather than biological definitions.
*The Global Context: Diversity Worldwide
-Like apples, humans can be similar on the inside but they are often classified into
categories according to external appearance. After examining the social
construction of race and ethnicity, we review patterns of interaction among racial
and ethnic groups and examine racial and ethnic diversity in the U.S.
The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity
-Marger---race is one of the most misunderstood, misused, and often dangerous
concepts of the modern world. The term race has been used to describe people of a
particular nationality, religion, skin color, and even the entire human species.
Confusion around the term race stems from the fact that it has both biological and
social meanings.
Race as a Biological Concept
-Race refers to a classification of people based on hereditary physical characteristics
like skin color, hair texture, size/shape of eyes, lips, and nose. But there is no
scientific basis (no blood test or genetic test) that reveals a persons race. There are
also no clear guidelines for distinguishing racial categories on the basis of visible
traits. Skin color is not black or white but rather ranges from dark to light with
different shades. Noses are not broad or narrow but come in a range of shapes.
Physical traits come in an infinite number of combinations.
-Another problem with race as a biological concept is that the physical traits used to
mark a persons race are arbitrary. Races are not scientifically valid because there
are no objective, reliable, meaningful criteria scientists can use to construct or
identify racial groupings.
-The science of genetics also challenges the biological notion of race. Geneticists
have discovered that the genes of any two unrelated people, chosen at random
from around the globe, are 99.9% alike. Most human genetic variation (85%) can be
found between any two individuals from the same group (racial/ethnic/religious).
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Thus, the vast majority of variation is within-group variation. Classifying people into
different races fails to recognize that, over the course of human history, migration
and intermarriage have resulted in the blending of genetically transmitted traits.
-To summarize, races are unstable, unreliable, arbitrary, culturally created divisions
of humanity. This is why scientists have concluded that race, as scientifically valid
biological divisions of the human species, is fiction, not fact.
Race as a Social Concept
-Idea that race is socially created is important in understanding race from a
sociological perspective. The social construction of race means that the actual
meaning of race lies not in peoples physical characteristics, but in the historical
treatment of different groups and the significance that society gives to what is
believed to differentiate so-called racial groups. The concept of race grew out of
social institutions and practices in which groups defined as races have been
enslaved or otherwise exploited.
-People learn to perceive others according to whatever racial classification system
exists in their culture. Systems of racial classification vary across societies and
change over time.
-Incorporating both biological and social meanings of race, we define race- category
of people who are perceived to share distinct physical characteristics that are
deemed socially significant. The significance of race is not biological but social and
political, because race is used to separate us from them and becomes a basis
for unequal treatment of one group by another. Despite the increasing acceptance
that there is no biological justification for the concept of race, its social significance
continues to be evident throughout the world.
Ethnicity as a Social Construction
-Ethnicity refers to a shared cultural heritage, nationality, or lineage and is also in
part socially constructed. Can be distinguished on the basis of language, forms of
family structures and roles of family members, religious beliefs and practices,
dietary customs, forms of artistic expression, as well as national origin or origin of
ones parents.
-Person can say they are Hispanic----socially constructed ethnicity
Patterns of Racial and Ethnic Group Interaction
-When two or more racial or ethnic groups come into contact, one of several
patterns of interaction occurs; these include genocide, expulsion, segregation,
acculturation, pluralism, and assimilation. Not all patterns of interaction between
racial and ethnic groups are destructive, but Prechtel says Every human on this
earth, whether from Africa, Asia, Europe, or the Americas, has ancestors whose
stories, rituals, ingenuity, language, and life ways were taken away, enslaved,
banned, exploited, twisted, or destroyed.
-Genocide the deliberate, systematic annihilation of an entire nation or people.
-Expulsion a dominant group forces a subordinate group to leave the country or to
live only in designated areas of the country.
-Segregation the physical separation of two groups in residence, workplace, and
social functions. Can be de jure (by law) or de facto (in fact). De jure segregation is
illegal in U.S., but de facto segregation still exists in the tendency for racial and
ethnic groups to live and go to school in segregated neighborhoods.
-Acculturation adopting the culture of a group different from the one in which a
person was originally raised. May involve learning the dominant language, adopting
new values and behaviors, and changing the spelling of the family name.

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Sometimes could be forced. stolen generationchildren of mixed descent (halfcaste) had been stolen from their families and their culture.
-Pluralism refers to a state in which racial and ethnic groups maintain their
distinctness but respect each other and have equal access to social resources.
-Assimilation the process by which formerly distinct and separate groups merge
and become integrated as one. Primary assimilation occurs when members of
different racial or ethnic groups are integrated in personal, intimate associations, as
with friends, family, and spouses. Secondary assimilation occurs when different
groups become integrated in public areas and in social institutions, such as
neighborhoods, schools, the workplace, and in government.
-Assimilation is sometimes referred to as the melting pot whereby different groups
come together and contribute equally to a new, common culture. Although the U.S.
has been referred to as a melting pot, in reality, many minorities have been
excluded or limited in their cultural contributions to the predominant white AngloSaxon Protestant culture.
*Racial and Ethnic Group Diversity in the United States
-The first census in 1790 divided the U.S. population into 4 groups: free white males,
free white females, slaves, and other people (including blacks and Indians). To
increase the size of the slave population, the one-drop rule specified that even one
drop of negroid blood defined a person as black and therefore eligible for slavery.
The one-drop rule is still operative today: Biracial individuals are typically seen as a
member of whichever group has the lowest status.
-1960 the census recognized only two categories: white and nonwhite. In 1970, the
census categories consisted of white, black, and other. 1990, U.S. Census
recognized 4 racial classifications: white, black, American Indian/Aleut/Eskimo, and
Asian/Pacific Islander, and other. In 2000, the census had racial categories
expanded to include Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and also allowed
individuals the option of identifying themselves as being more than one race rather
than checking only one racial category.
-Although U.S. citizens come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, the largest
ethnic population in the U.S. is of Hispanic origin. The Census Bureau began
collecting data on the U.S. Hispanic population in 1970.
-The use of racial and ethnic labels is often misleading and imprecise.
U.S. Census Data on Race and Hispanic Origin
-U.S. is becoming increasingly diverse: From 2000 to 2010, percent of population
that is non Hispanic white declined from 69 percent to 64 percent. From 2000 to
2010, the percent increase in minority populations has increased significantly more
than the increase in the white population.
-In 2010, 16% of U.S. population was Hispanic, with majority being Mexican. More
than half of the growth in the total U.S. population between 2000 and 2010 was due
to the increase in the Hispanic population. More than half of the U.S. Hispanic
population lives in just three states: California, Texas, and Florida.
-The current Census Bureau classification system does not allow people of mixed
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity to identify themselves as such. Individuals with one
Hispanic and one non-Hispanic parent still must say that they are either Hispanic or
not Hispanic.
-One of the most common misunderstandings about Hispanic origin is the belief that
Hispanic is a race. Hispanic origin is not a race---it is an ethnicity. In 2010 census,
more than half of Hispanics identified their race as white. Despite the fact that the
2010 census included a new instruction that stated, for this census, Hispanic
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origins are not races, many Hispanics identified their race as Latino, Mexican,
Puerto Rican, Salvadoran or other ethnicity or national origin. Responses to the
census race question that reflected Hispanic origin were classified in the category of
Some Other Race.
-Currently, racial and ethnic minority populations outnumber non-Hispanic whites in
four statesCalifornia, New Mexico, Hawaii and Texas. In these states, Hispanics are
the largest minority group, except for Hawaii, where the largest minority group is
Asian American. And in 10 states, racial and ethnic minority youth outnumber nonHispanic white youth.
Mixed-Race Identity
-2010 census data found that only a small percentage of U.S. population identify
themselves as being of more than one race. But in 10 year period between 2000
and 2010, the mixed-race population has grown 32 percent. Among U.S. children,
the multiracial population has grown almost 50%, making it the fastest-growing
youth group in the country.
-The multiracial population has grown as mixed-race marriages have increased over
recent years. Until 1967, 18 states had antimiscegenation laws banning interracial
marriage. Loving v. Virginia declared these unconstitutional later on. In 2008, one in
seven new marriages in the U.S. was between spouses with different racial or ethnic
identities. This increase is due to the weakening of cultural taboos against mixed
marriages, the increased independence that adult children have from their parents
and communities of origin, and the influx of Latin American and Asian immigrants
over the last several decades.
-Although most Americans---more than 6 in 10---say it would be fine with them if a
family member married outside of his race or ethnicity, 15% of U.S. adults
disapprove marriage between blacks and whites.
Race and Ethnic Group Relations in the U.S.
-Race and ethnic group relations continue to be problematic. The racial divide in
U.S. sharpened in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which left victims
(predominantly black and poor) waiting for days to be rescued from their flooded
attics or overcrowded shelters. After this crisis, a national survey found that most
blacks (77%) (compared with 17% whites) believed that the governments response
to the disaster would have been faster if most of Katrinas victims had been white.
-In response to a question asking whether relations between blacks and whites will
always be a problem for the Unite States or whether a solution will eventually be
worked out, more than a third (38%) of U.S adults said that race relations will
always be a problem. Relations between various racial and ethnic groups are
influenced by prejudice and discrimination. Race and ethnic relations are also
complicated by issues concerning immigration.
-If blacks and whites honestly expressed their true feelings about race relations,
more than half said this would bring races together.
*Immigrants in the United States
-immigration and higher average birthrates among minority groups contributes
growing diversity in U.S.
-Immigration results from push and pull factors. Adverse social, economic or political
conditions in a given country push some individuals to leave that country,
whereas favorable social, economic, or political conditions in other countries pull
some individuals to those countries.
U.S. Immigration: A Historical Perspective

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-First 100 years of U.S. history, all immigrants were allowed to enter and become
permanent residents. The continuing influx of immigrants, especially those coming
from nonwhite, non-European countries, created fear and resentment among nativeborn Americans, who competed with immigrants for jobs and who held racist views
toward some racial and ethnic immigrant populations.
-Americas open-door policy ended in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act, which
suspended the entrance of the Chinese to the U.S. for 10 years and declared
Chinese ineligible for U.S. citizenship. The Immigration Act of 1917 required all
immigrants to pass a literacy test before entering the U.S. And in 1921, the Johnson
Act introduced a limit on the number of immigrants who could enter the country in a
single year, with stricter limitations for certain countries (including those in Africa
and the Near East). 1924 Immigration Act further limited the number of immigrants
allowed into the U.S. and completely excluded the Japanese. Other federal
immigration laws include 1943 repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1948 Displaced
Persons Act (which permitted refugees from Europe), 1952 Immigration and
Nationality Act which permitted a quota of Japanese immigrants).
-In the 1960s, most immigrants were from Europe, but most immigrants today are
from Latin America (predominantly Mexico) or Asia. In 2009, one in eight U.S.
residents was born in a foreign country.
Guest Worker Program
-U.S. has two guest worker programs that allow employers to import unskilled labor
for temporary or seasonal work: the H-2A program for agricultural work and the H2B program for nonagricultural work. H-2 visas generally do not permit guest
workers to bring their families to the U.S.
-Guest worker program constitutes a modern-day system of indentured servitude
Guest workers often incur debts ranging from $500 to more than $10,000 to pay for
visas, travel costs, and recruiter fees. When they arrive at their jobs, their
employers often take their identity documents (passport and Social Security Cards)
to ensure that workers do not leave before their contract is fulfilled. Guest workers
are often paid substantially less than the minimum wage and are rarely paid
overtime pay, despite working over 40 hours a week. Although guest workers
perform some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in America, many who are
injured on the job are unable to obtain medical treatment and workers
compensation benefits. Although employers hiring H-2A workers are required to
provide them with free housing, the quality of housing is often substandard, even
dangerous, and located in isolated rural areas where workers are dependent on
their employers for transportation to work, grocery stores, and banks (for which
employers often charge fees). Sometimes guest workers are literally locked up in
their living quarters. Immigrant women working at low-wage jobs are often targets
of sexual violence; 3/4 Latinas in the South view sexual harassment as a major
workplace problem. Unable to obtain legal assistance, guest workers who are
abused and denied their legal rights must endure the abuse or try to escape in a
foreign land without passports, money, or tickets home.
Illegal Immigration
-occurs when immigrants enter the U.S. without going through legal channels such
as the H-2 visa program, and when immigrants who were admitted legally stay past
the date they were required to leave. Although the term illegal immigrants is
commonly used, we prefer the terms unauthorized immigrants and undocumented
immigrants, used interchangeably.

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-The majority of undocumented immigrants (62%) are from Mexico, El Salvador,

Guatemala, Honduras, and the Philippines.
Border Crossing
-U.S. Customs and Border Protection has more than 20,000 border patrol agents
who are responsible for patrolling 6,000 miles of Canadian and Mexican borders and
more than 2,000 miles of coastal waters around Florida and Puerto Rico. These
agents, along with a fence at the U.S.-Mexico border, are not able to prevent people
from illegally crossing the border to get into the U.S.
-Some people cross the U.S.-Mexican border with the help of a coyote---a hired
guide who typically charges $3,000 to $5,000 to lead people across the border.
Crossing the border illegally involves a number of risks, including death from
drowning or dehydration. Border crossers also risk encounters with members of
nativist extremist groups organizations that not only advocate restrictive
immigration policy, but also encourage their members to use vigilante tactics to
confront or harass suspected undocumented immigrants. Some nativist extremist
groups include Minute Man Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) and the Federal Immigration
Reform and Enforcement Coalition (FIRE), Ranch Rescue.
-Undocumented Immigrants in the Workforce
-Maril said the vast majority of illegal immigrants leave their home countries to work
hard, save their money, and then return to their homeland. Virtually all
undocumented men are in the labor force. Their labor force participation exceeds
that of men who are legal immigrants or who are U.S. citizens because
undocumented men are less likely to be disabled, retired, or in school.
Undocumented women are less likely to be in the labor force than undocumented
men because they are likely to be stay-at-home mothers. Undocumented workers
often do work that U.S. workers are unwilling to do---they routinely work 60 or more
hours per week and earn less than the minimum wage with no paid overtime and no
benefits.
Policies Regarding Illegal Immigration
-1986 Congress approved the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which made
hiring illegal immigrants an illegal act punishable by fines and even prison
sentences.
-Concerns about terrorism and drug trafficking have led to stepped-up efforts to
apprehend illegal aliens. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 authorized the
construction of a 700 mile fence along the U.S-Mexico border to prevent
unauthorized immigrant workers, as well as drug dealers and terrorists, from
entering the U.S. Critics of the fence argue that this barrier---miles of double chain
link and barbed wire fences with light and infrared camera polesis expensive and
ineffective in stopping illegal immigration, disrupts the environment, harms wildlife
along the border, increases the risk and danger to immigrants trying to cross the
border, and damages diplomatic relations with Mexico.
-Several states, cities, and counties, have passed laws and ordinances related to
illegal immigration. 2006 Hazelton, Pennsylvania became the first city to take
business licenses away from employers who hire undocumented workers and to fine
landlords $1000 a day for renting to illegal immigrants.
- 2010 Arizona passed the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods
Act, known as SB1070, one of the toughest illegal immigration bills in the country.
Federal law requires that legal immigrants carry registration papers with them at all
times. Arizonas SB 1070 makes failure to carry registration documents a state
crime, and requires police to verify the legal status of a person during traffic stops,
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detentions, or arrests if the police suspect that person is in the country illegally. In
response to criticism that the law would lead to racial profiling among police, the
Arizona law was modified to specify that law enforcement officials may not use race,
color, or national origin as the basis of implementing the law. SB 1070 criminalizes
anyone who transports undocumented immigrants, which, according to the law,
constitutes smuggling of human beings. This provision not only affects employers
who transport undocumented day laborers to the worksite, but also church
members who transport immigrants to church. Thus, a local church that transports
an undocumented immigrant for Sunday service could be charged with a
misdemeanor and have their church van impounded. A church volunteer who
transports a group of 10 immigrants could be classified as a felon and incur a $1000
fine for each immigrant in the van
-Although 6 in 10 adults approve of Arizonas SB 1070, lot of public opposition seen
by protests and boycotts. A lawsuit filed by U.S. Dept of Justice argued that SB
1070 interferes with federal immigration regulations. Judge Bolton granted an
injunction blocking key provisions of SB 1070 from going into effect, including the
mandate requiring police to check the immigration status of those apprehended or
arrested. Arizona has tried, unsuccessfully to date, to reverse the injunction and
Arizona sued the federal government for failing to secure the border against the
continued influx of illegal immigrants.
-South Carolina enacted SB 20, which states that if a law enforcement officer stops,
detains, arrests, or investigates someone for a criminal offense and has a
reasonable suspicion that the person is not in the U.S. legally, the officer must ask
for proof of citizenship in the form of identification and documentation.
-Arizonas and South Carolinas immigration laws require local and state police to
play an increased role in immigration enforcement. Tramonte says most state and
local police do not want to be put in the position of identifying non-criminal
immigrants for deportation because they believe doing so would make it more
difficult for them to earn the trust of immigrant residents and protect the entire
community from criminals. In contrast to states that have take a hard-line approach
to illegal immigration, more than 70 cities have policies that prohibit police from
asking local residents who have not been arrested to prove their legal immigration
status.
-Churches, synagogues, and other religious institutions have also played a role in
assisting undocumented immigrants. Arellano took refuge in church but was
deported.
-Debate concerning immigration policies involving illegal immigrants whose children
are U.S. citizens. Worksite raids and home raids by immigration officials have
resulted in the arrest, detention, and deportation of thousands of immigrants,
leaving tens of thousands of children, including children who are U.S. citizens,
separated from their parents or effectively deported with their families.
-In a country that emphasizes the importance of family unity in the socialization and
upbringing of its children, an immigration system that promotes family separation is
a broken system. Some parents even lose legal custody of their children.
-Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) introduced in
Congress in 2009, would provide a path to legal status for undocumented
immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. If passed, the DREAM act
would permit certain immigrant students who have grown up in the U.S. to apply for
temporary legal status and to eventually obtain permanent status and become
eligible for U.S. citizenship if they go to college or serve in the U.S. military. The law
30

would also eliminate a federal provision that penalizes states that provide in-state
tuition to undocumented immigrants.
-Immigration policies will continue to be hotly debated. Although most Americans
(78%) support stronger enforcement of immigration laws and border security, the
majority (72%) also favors creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants
currently in the country.
Becoming a U.S. Citizen
-2009 of all foreign born U.S. residents, 44% were naturalized citizens immigrants
who applied and met the requirements for U.S. citizenship. Requirements to become
a U.S. citizen for most immigrants include (1) having resided as continuously as a
lawful permanent U.S. resident for at least five years (three years for a spouse of a
U.S. resident) (2) being able to read, write, speak, and understand basic English (3)
being a person of good moral character (cant have a record of criminal offenses
such as prostitution, illegal gambling, failure to pay child support, drug violations,
and violent crime) (4) demonstrating willingness to support and defend the U.S.
constitution by taking the Oath of Allegiance (5) passing an examination on English
(speaking, reading, and writing) and U.S. government and history.
Myths about Immigration and Immigrants
-Many foreign born U.S. residents work hard to succeed educationally and
occupationally. The percentage of foreign-born adults (age 25 and older) with at
least a bachelors degree matches that of native-born U.S. adults (28%). Despite the
achievements and contributions of immigrants, many myths about immigration and
immigrants persist, largely perpetuated by anti-immigrant groups and campaigns.
-Most academic economists agree that immigration has a small but positive impact
on the wages of native-born workers because although new immigrant workers add
to the labor supply, they also consume goods and services, which creates more
jobs. Immigrants also start their own businesses at a higher rate than native U.S.
residents, which increases demand for business-related supplies and service
providers.
-Unauthorized and temporary immigrants are ineligible for major federal benefit
programs, and even legal immigrants may face eligibility restrictions. Two benefit
programs that do not have restrictions against unauthorized immigrants are the
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and
the National School Lunch Program.
-Regarding public education, Plyer v. Doe held that states cannot deny students
access to public education, even if they are not legal U.S. residents. The court ruled
that denying public education could impose a lifetime of hardship on a discrete
class of children not accountable for their disabling status. Children of unauthorized
immigrants, 73% of whom are U.S. citizens, comprise only 6.8% of students in
elementary and secondary schools, although the percentage is much higher in
communities with large immigrant populations.

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