Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Campbell, Doug. "Academic Alternatives." Region Focus Vol. 11, No. 2. Spring 2007: 12-19. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 01 May 2012

The article “Academic Alternatives” by Doug Campbell is about school choice and how money can affect your school choice. It talks about a program which includes vouchers for the parents with not a lot of money. These vouchers cover the full cost of tuition, and the money used to pay for them follows students to their schools. Most of these programs in the United States are small; many are just getting started.

I chose this article because it not only talks about the how money affects your school choice but it also talks about one possible solution which would help parents to pay less for tuition and the money used to pay for them follows students to their schools.

Conan, Neal. "Low-Income Students and College Education." NPR. NPR, 15 Apr. 2004. Web. 9 May 2012. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1838668>.

The podcast “Low-Income Students and College Education” by Neal Conan is about that College costs a lot of money and it is impossible for low-income families to afford college nowadays. 1965 they tried to make College affordable for everybody and created some programs. Some schools like Harvard still have programs for poor families. In the interview they talk about how the US should refocus on class and not just on racial issues. Since 1965 the number of low-income students attending college has increased a lot but the number of middle class students attending college has decreased. From the students that are going to college today are 3 percent low-income students and 45 very rich students, so it is more likely to run into a very rich student at colleges than into a poor student.

This interview is worthwhile because the guests all know what they are talking about and it is very interesting to see different views from inside. It also gives facts about how many low-income students actually go to college and how many rich students do. It talks about special programs that should help poor families but they also say that it does not really work.

Wakefield, Julie. "Learning the Hard Way." Environmental Health Perspectives. June 2002: A298-A305. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 01 May 2012.

The article “Learning the Hard Way” by Julie Wakefield is about how many schoolchildren in the United States have to go to a certain school because they do not have enough money to go somewhere else. At that school they are then exposed on an almost daily basis to environmental hazards including volatile organic chemicals, airborne lead and asbestos, and noise pollution while they are at school. This article shows that your income does not only affect your education since it is almost impossible to concentrate and to learn in a school like that but it also shows that it can be unhealthy. Few federal laws currently protect students from such threats but several states have adopted measures that address these issues. Studies have shown that students concentrate less in an atmosphere like that.

The article “Learning the Hard Way” shows how extreme some problems in some schools are and how they affect a student’s education and his or her health. This example is one of the worst case scenarios. But this article makes you think about how many problems in this country are not solved and in some states there are not even laws against something like that.

Walters, Pamela Barnhouse, Jean C. Robinson, and Julia C. Lamber. "In Search of Equality in School Finance Reform." Dissent. Fall 2011: 28-33. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 01 May 2012.

The article “In Search of Equality in School Finance Reform” from Pamela Barnhouse Walters, Jean C. Robinson, and Julia C. Lamber is about the large differences in per-pupil spending money among school districts in the same state. It talks about how states are trying to equalize school financing. It also says that that does not work out really well, especially because some states and certain schools have ignored the rulings outright. The result of that is that there are still large differences and now there are “good” and “bad” schools. School finance reform would have dismantled this system that typically relegates children from poor communities and, as is less publicly recognized reserves the best public school for children in affluent communities. It talks about how there has to be a change because student’s education in poorly funded public school districts are getting affected. This article discusses the origins and current state of school finance reform.

I chose this article because it talks about that a person can get a different education depending on what school he or she is going to and how much money the school or the person has. It is also about how the United States tried to solve the problem but that there are still large differences between the different schools. 

Whyte, Chelsea, et al. "Charter Schools Graduate into Mainstream of US Education." McClatchy - Tribune News Service. 02 Oct 2011: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 May 2012.

The article “Charter Schools Graduate into Mainstream of US Education” by Chelsea Whyte is about Charter schools and if the education in those school is as good as in a public or private school. A charter school is a school which receives money from the government and therefore there are a lot of students that do not have a lot of money. In this article they talk about the fear of the parents which is that charter schools as an alternative to an education system is not good for the education of their children.

I chose this article because it shows alternatives for students that do not have a lot of money. And it talks about if those alternatives are good or not. Charter school are becoming more popular and in some parts of the US they are considered a mainstream form of education.