Sunday, March 27, 2011

This is what inequality looks like

As much as the New York Times drives us crazy, occasionally they do some good reporting. Today the Times compared a rich school district with a poor school district, and explained what state budget cuts meant to each.

In the case of the poor school district, near catastrophe. In the case of the rich school district, practically no impact at all.

In Ilion, the poor school district in upstate New York,
The only short-term way for Ilion to cut costs is to lay off teachers while savaging academic programs that are already inadequate.
In Syosset on Long Island, the cuts will mean nothing to a school district where
...College-bound students, which is to say, just about everyone at the high school, have access to a dazzling array of almost 30 Advancement Placement classes that include different levels of calculus, physics, economics, environmental science, music theory and studio art.
It's a microcosm of what's happening all over the country. Read the whole thing here.