The Great Divide

    Viewed by many New Trier High School students as the test that determines the future. The ACT is Stressed over, analyzed, and even trained for. When it comes down to it, New Trier's 2011 class averaged a composite score of 27.5, compared to the national average of 21.1, and the Illinois average of 20.9. Why is it that New Trier High School students exceed the national and Illinois averages by over an incredible 6 points? We recently discussed in class the trends in education between the rich and poor, but what exactly is the reason students from New Trier do substantially better than students from say, East St. Louis? (These statistics can be found on the ACT website by clicking on the following link) http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2011/states.html

"Competition is the lifeblood of New Trier"- Jonathan Kozol

     I believe that a major reason for the divide in education between affluent school districts such as New Trier and Lake Forest, and impoverished East St. Louis comes down to the spending per pupil. Walk into any New Trier classroom and you will find a clean room with nice desks/tables, chalkboards, and more recently fantastic projectors. Walk into any East St. Louis classroom and you will find otherwise. In Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities he goes deeply into the issue regarding divisions between the rich and poor focusing on East St. Louis and even our very own New Trier High School. Written in the early 90's Kozol walks into an East St. Louis science classroom where he notices that pipes are missing in the lab stations. When asked, Physics teacher John McMillen exclaims that, "It would be great if we had water"(27). This passage shocked me as I realized that in some schools having something as simple as running water in a science classroom would be a pleasing entity. This then led me to realize all of the supplies and materials we have available to us at New Trier. In a society where most are destined to be college bound, it is hard to imagine a place just the opposite. According the book during the 90's New Trier's district provided $340,000 worth of taxable property per child. A figure that incomparably exceeds the property per East St. Louis child. These savage inequalities have aided in the great divide still prevalent in education today.

How might we close this gap between the rich and poor, specifically in Education?
What other reasons can explain these savage inequalities?