Creating a Level Playing Field for Wisconsin Education Essay Example for Free

Creating a Level Playing Field for Wisconsin Education Essay It is a well known fact that the educational outcome of our children is either boosted or hindered by their families’ socioeconomic backgrounds, and while this fact is hardly fair to those underprivileged students, (and despite a few halfhearted but well-meaning policies against it), this inequality is likely to persist. (Wisconsin 2006). Although the rates for high school completion between whites and minorities seem to be slowly equaling out, a 1999 report from the U. S. Department of Education showed that nationwide while 27. 5% of whites had received a Bachelor’s degree, only 12. 2% of blacks had attained that same level of education (Wisconsin 2006). In the State of Wisconsin, 15. 8% of whites have a Bachelor’s Degree, while only 6. 9% of blacks have the same, only about half of the nationwide percentage for blacks. (Demographic Profile 2004). In the Wisconsin school districts, the most important reason for the disparity in education between blacks and whites seems to be centered once again on socioeconomic ills. In 1954 the U. S.   Supreme Court unanimously agreed that segregating schoolchildren by race was unconstitutional, however fifty years later, while the ideas and decisions of 1954 seem fairly straightforward, the reality of the situation is a little less clear. In the Milwaukee area, the portion of the population that is black or Hispanic is rising, and the gap between black and white in Wisconsin as a whole is among the largest in the United States. (Borsuk 2004). Wisconsin has struggled with the task of overcoming that particular stigma and in education at least has made some inroads, but much work remains to be done. The difference in test scores on a recently released federal government report between white and black eighth graders was larger in Wisconsin than in any other state in the United States. (Borsuk 2004). Keep in mind that white students in Wisconsin are on par educationally with the rest of the United States, yet a higher percentage of black eighth graders from Wisconsin scored below basic—the lowest category. Previous studies also confirm that Wisconsin again takes the lead in the gap between incarceration rates between blacks and whites, and that â€Å"racial separation is the predominant pattern for neighborhoods. † (Borsuk 2004). If racial separation is considered â€Å"normal† or usual in the average neighborhood, then changing that in the schools systems represents a huge obstacle. When the desegregation plan went into effect the Milwaukee Public School system was 60% white, and now it is about 15% white, but there are few schools that have substantial enrollment of both black and white students. This means that the white children are leaving public schools to attend private schools, which helps very little in the overall desegregation efforts. Elizabeth Burmaster, Wisconsin’s state superintendent of schools says, â€Å"I believe that in Wisconsin the gap is very directly correlated to economic disadvantage. † (Borsuk 2004). Low income kids, as we all know, do not do as well in testing areas or graduation as do children from higher economic families. Because the lower income students are more likely to be black, the success rate of the black students, particularly in Wisconsin, are at very unhealthy rates, a problem that has been addressed by both Chapter 220 and the voucher system, with some small successes, but nothing to write home about. The white children are more likely to have parents with higher levels of education, leading to more economic advantage, while the black children are more likely to have parent’s with less education, leading to lower paying jobs. It becomes a vicious cycle as the black children don’t seem to be receiving the same education as the white children which will in turn cause them to work at low-paying jobs creating yet another generation of the disadvantaged.

Studt guide :: essays research papers

Unit #4- Study Guide, Chapter #3 Answer the following questions, IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Of course, this is an â€Å"open book† assignment. 1. Everyone who lives in the United States lives in the same society and, also lives in the same culture. These concepts refer to different aspects of the United States. Using the United States as an example, explain the differences between the concepts of â€Å"society† and â€Å"culture.† Society sets boundaries for our lives. The United States has set out laws that we must abide by and follow. The United States is not different from other countries because of our social status, roles, groups, social institutions, and everyone's surrounding areas has established beliefs or values. Our cultures are ver different because of our languages, mannerisms, values, norms and religion. It is difficult for a foreigner to come to the United States and learn new mannerisms, norms, and a new language. A foreigner now has to adapt to a custom he sees totally different from what might have been normal to him back at his native country. 2. Explain the differences between innovations, discoveries, inventions and diffusion. Give examples of each of these concepts in order to clarify the differences between them. There are all different but somewhat similar. One can't really work without the other in life. Innovations are ways to achieve a certain goal. An example is money. Drug dealers use illegitimate ways to achieve this goal. In the long run they will discover that they reap what they sow. Meaning that they might end up in jail and arrested. Discoveries are a new way of seeking reality as a second process for change. Inventions are combinations of existing elements and materials to form new ones. People invent new drugs for the sick or some people combine drugs just to get a fix or high. The diffusion is that later on in their lives it will affect them greatly or other people might learn for them. 3. Although it would seem that symbolic interactionists would be more interested in language than the proponents of structural functionalism and conflict theory, each of the perspectives has an interest in this important cultural component. Explain why language is important to symbolic interactionists and elaborate on the interest that the other two perspectives would have in language. Language is a system of symbols that can be strung together for the purpose of communicating abstract thought.

Hamlet’s Delay Essay

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character continually delays acting out his duty of avenging his father’s murder. This essay will discuss how Hamlet’s nature and morals (which are intensified by difficult events) prevent him from carrying out the task. In the opening scenes of the play, the Ghost of Hamlet’s late father reveals to him the true means by which King Hamlet died. The Ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius pouring poison into his ear caused his father’s death. He exhorts Hamlet to avenge the murder. Hamlet’s initial response is to act on the Ghost’s exhortation quickly. Hamlet says; â€Å"Haste me to know’t that I with wings as swift†¦May sweep to my revenge, (Roberts, pg. 1370).† Yet by the end of the same scene, his reluctance to murder King Claudius is evident. Hamlet says; â€Å"This time is out of joint, O cursed spite, that I was ever born to set it right, (Roberts, pg. 1374).† Hamlet is like a soldier that is thrown into a war where he has to do some things he rather would avoid doing, but under the given circumstances he bites his teeth and carries himself well (Stratford, 128). In this war, the circumstances brought on by Claudius’s murdering of King Hamlet are Hamlet’s enemy. His dead father is the destroyed country, painful truth that leaves so much hatred and resentment in his heart. Being a loyal prince and son, and one whom entire kingdom respected, he should seek revenge and bring justice back in the royal court. Many theories have been put forward as to the reasons for Hamlet’s delay in avenging the King from hereon in. One theory suggests that Hamlet wished to determine the nature of the Ghost before acting, for he says in Act II: Scene 2 that â€Å"The spirit I have seen may be a devil.† However, even after the ‘play within a play’ through which Hamlet has obtained his ‘proof’ as to the nature of the Ghost and confirmed that Claudius is guilty, Hamlet says † I’ll take the Ghost’s word for a thousand pound,† but fails to act and can only contemplate the event. Similarly, when Hamlet stumbles upon Claudius praying, he does not take the  opportunity to kill the King, rather he makes excuses, saying he does not want Claudius to go to heaven. However, this is little more than a delay tactic, and Hamlet also does not make any further plans to kill the King, for we seem to be puzzled by it (if we were in the audience, the whole scene would have lasted only moments, but as readers, we have the freedom to ponder about it). At least so was Professor Dowden, to name one critic, who holds that Hamlet â€Å"loses a sense of fact† because he puts every event through his mind, filtering it until every deed seems to have an alternative – in not doing the deed, but evaluating it even more (Bloom, pg. 66). In addition, Hamlet was a philosopher rather than a man of action, unlike Claudius and Laertes. He himself sees that one of his problems is to â€Å"think too precisely on the event.† He is intellectual and reflective, preferring to ponder rather than take action. Hamlet is very brave and impulsive Prince, but the plot seems to prevent him from finding an â€Å"external model or a simple solution for conduct,† so that he must depend more on thinking, and less on acting (Stratford, 105). He realizes that killing a King is a great crime The most plausible explanation is that Hamlet’s own nature and values continually hindered him from performing the task. Hamlet is a sensitive, introverted young man, who is naturally prone to melancholia. Coleridge and Goethe would agree with this, holding that Hamlet’s soul is too philosophical and it lacks ability to instinctually act on impulse, and that he is â€Å"too sensitive to avenge himself,† (Grebanier, pg. 159). But if one only reads what goes on in the play, Hamlet could by no means be called too sensitive or passive. The Ghost’s revelation and also the fact that his mother has remarried to King Claudius, intensify his already melancholic disposition. His mother’s remarriage is an abomination in Hamlet’s eyes. This is because the marriage was soon after his father’s death; King Hamlet was â€Å"But three months dead.† This shows little sensitivity to those who are grieving and also implies that their relationship was initiated before King Hamlet died. Secondly, the marriage was against canon law, which made it a sin. Hamlet says to his mother in Act III: Scene 4, â€Å"Have you not eyes? You cannot call it love. O shame! Where is thy blush?† These successive shocks  deepen Hamlet’s depression. In Act II: Scene 2 Hamlet says to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, â€Å"I have of late†¦lost all my mirth.† He falls deeper and deeper into the slough of fruitless brooding. In his first soliloquy he says; â€Å"O that this too solid flesh would melt.† Thus, the task is too onerous for the fragile, melancholic Hamlet. Hamlet also delays killing the King because he is unsure of the morality of carrying out such a task. This factor is important, as Hamlet is a very idealistic and moralistic person. Revenge was prohibited by ecclesiastical law, but the duty of ‘personal honor’ prevalent in Elizabethan times often won through. In the play, Hamlet debates the morality of revenge, saying that â€Å"Is’nt not perfect conscience and isn’t not to be damned to let this canke of our nature come in further evil.† At this stage it is clear that Hamlet is having serious doubts about killing the King. After all, to kill an anointed King, even in an act of revenge, was considered a serious offence. Furthermore, as Hamlet points out in the above quote, he would be carrying out the very act he was condemning. In addition, in regards to his mother’s sin, the ghost had told Hamlet to â€Å"leave her to heaven.† This creates a moral dilemma for Hamlet because if it is God’s duty to deal with his Mother’s sin, surely the same applies to Claudius. In conclusion, Hamlet delays in killing the King because of his own character; he is a philosopher and is of a melancholic disposition. External events in the play do not contribute to Hamlet’s delay, but are rather used to Hamlet’s advantage as excuses to further delay avenging his father’s murder. Works Cited Grebanier, Bernard. The Heart of Hamlet, The Play Shakespeare Wrote. New York:Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1960. Hamlet. Editor Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, a division of MaineLine Book Co., 1990. Hamlet. Stratford-Upon-Avon Study. London: Edward Arnold Ltd., 1963. Roberts, Edgar V. and Henry E. Jacobs. Literature: An Introduction to Readingand Writing, (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 2001),pgs. 1349-1451.

Life and Work of Joan Miró, Spanish Surrealist Painter