Almugoter

Fatimeh Almugoter

Comp 105-10

WA#5- Talking about Sustainability

November 13, 2017

How to Make Detroit Schools Sustainable

Education systems have been around since the 19th century, allowing people all over the

world to have a chance to learn and build up their knowledge. Over the course of time, thousands

had to fight for their right to be educated, and soon enough, everyone was given an opportunity

to learn. Before school systems were established, only the privileged were given this window of

opportunity, but as years progressed it was recognized as an important aspect to life and was

given to everyone. However, what seemed to have been solved many years ago has now become

an issue again in the 21st century. The less privileged have once again fallen back and are unable

to gain what seemed to be opened for everyone. Detroit schools are being shut down leaving

hundreds of children without an education. There have been around thirty-eight schools in

Michigan on notice to be shut down and twenty-four of them are in the city of Detroit; it

shouldnt be acceptable to shut these schools down as it will sever the childs education and

social interactions (Einhorn).

The city of Detroit is already struggling financially, causing more difficulty towards the

education system, thus leading to low grades/ scores on standardized tests. These low scores led

to the States Reforming Officer to come to the decision to shut these schools down. Slowly, one

by one, schools have been shutting down all throughout Detroit without informing parents

beforehand. These schools in particular have been placed in the bottom five percentile for years

now due to these low scores (Einhorn). Although they have been put on notice, Detroit schools
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were still unable to bounce back up as they were unable to pay for the necessary materials

needed for an effective learning environment. The question that has caused debate is whether or

not shutting down these schools will really improve the situation.

Coming to the conclusion of shutting the childrens only source of education will only

lead to more consequences. These issues will mainly target the children as they would be the

most affected. They will struggle to find new schools outside of Detroit which will most likely

interfere with the parents work/everyday schedule. Transportation will also become an issue as

some of these students either carpool or walk to school, and moving to a different school will

lead to more financial problems within the family (Butrymowicz). As expectations vary from

school to school, exchange students will have difficulty keeping up to these new standards and

will eventually be held back due to these higher expectations. Detroit schools are not struggling

because of the students, but because the school itself isn't giving the best education to these

children. In other words, these schools are not paying teachers enough to do their jobs thus

having them quit, leading to inexperienced workers taking their place. The aftermath is obvious:

these students fall back in their education due to the constant replacement of teachers and

substitutes. Bushra Albojawad, a substitute teacher that I interviewed said that she worked for

two weeks in a class and then was switched to a different class in the same school since the limit

for a substitute is two weeks per class at a time (Albojawad). Even when she was switched out of

these classes, the students still had not received a teacher. Instead they just got new substitutes

each time. While working as a substitute, she stated that she was required to give students busy

work and has emphasized it as meaningless work. This meaningless work is the reason why

these students are not receiving an education or high-test scores.

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Many might even argue to just shut these schools down as there is no hope for these

students to improve. As the State School Reform Officer, Natasha Baker, said because we want

all kids to have a good life after high school, our office is responsible for taking action when

schools have been chronically failing for several years (Einhorn). But the action the state is

taking will only lead to more failure for these students as they will be moving from school to

school resulting in a step backward for them. In spite of what many might say about these

children, claiming that its their fault for not being able to catch up, their schools were unable

to receive the proper materials in order to teach them.

America is supposed to be the land of opportunities but these children are not getting an

education because they arent privileged, they have no teachers, books or even a clean

atmosphere to learn, said by Bushra Albojawad. Subsequently, she said that she started denying

job offers from Detroit schools because the schools are unorganized and not very clean in

comparison with Dearborn schools. After all, these schools were on a low budget and are

incapable of reaching the level of expectations of a proper school (Higgins). Considering this,

should the state shut these schools down? How can we make them sustainable? Or make the

childrens education and future consistent?

Thousands contend that shutting these schools down is the only option. Rather than to

completely shut down these schools, the state officials should work alongside the schools in

order to help rebuild what was lost. The resolution to this issue begins only when attention has

been given to the problem. In other words, these schools need money to buy necessities needed

for these students. The closure of schools will only result in ignorance towards them. The state

can help renovate the area in hopes of a clean environment where students are able to learn

properly. In order to improve the education within these schools, students should be given a
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well-developed curriculum that should be taught yearly. As a result, students will have the

opportunity to boost their grades up and will reach the level that is expected of them.

Although it is difficult for schools to get an experienced teacher for the job, the school

board should train these substitutes in the particular subject theyre asked to present. The

government should take action in this matter and create a law that allows substitutes to remain

more than two weeks at a class and to be able to teach these children once theyre trained for that

subject. Substitutes nowadays are there just to babysit students and to keep them quiet

throughout the day and in the end, neither the substitute nor the students get anything out of it as

no new material is presented. Enforcing a law that would train inexperienced workers for a

particular subject will benefit both the school board and the children. Contrarily, many people

dont believe its fair that substitutes are being trained to do an actual teachers job without the

degree in that profession/subject. However, in the remaining time of finding a teacher, substitutes

can take their place and teach students the material that was missed in order to keep these

children caught up to the states requirements.

Overall, in order to make the schools, education, and these childrens future sustainable,

the community has to put in the effort in rebuilding these schools. Instead of completely shutting

these schools down they should try to fix them. In the long run, the ones most affected will be

the students as they will be missing the opportunity of a lifetime. These students are the next

generation. This generation's problems must be dealt with immediately because sooner or later, it

will affect the future. These children are the future of technology and innovation. Depriving them

of their right to learn will result in economic and social failure as they are our future. To achieve

their goals and dreams they need to be sheltered in a good community that gives the right to an
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education. When the schools become sustained the future for these children will improve and

they will possess the opportunity to move forward and progress.

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Works Cited

Albojawad, Bushra. Personal Interview. 11 Nov. 2017.

Butrymowicz, Sarah. Detroit Public Schools: The Plan to Woo Middle-Class Parents. Time,

Time, 25 Nov. 2014, time.com/3602587/Detroit-public-schools-bankruptcy/. Web. 11.

Nov. 2017.

Einhorn, Erin. These 38 Michigan Schools Could Be Shut down for Poor Performance in

June. Chalkbeat, 1 Oct. 2017, www.chalkbeat.org/posts/detroit/2017/01/20/these-38-

michigan-schools-could-be-shut-down-for-poor-perrformance-in-june/. Web. 11. Nov.

2017.

Higgins, Loria. Michigan Names 38 Schools That Could Close over Academics. Detroit Free

Press, Detroit Free Press, 20 Jan.2017,

www.freep.com/story/news/education/2017/01/20/michigan-schools-close-

reform/96805844/. Web. 11. Nov. 2017.