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Class Action
September 2007 E-news:
Class and Education
1. Back to School, by Felice Yeskel
2. Class Action Trendspotter Zoe Greenberg on High School Musical I & II.
3. Roosevelt Institute Publishes piece by intern Rachel Rybaczuk
4. Social Class And Higher Education, from Jen Duffy
5. Resources on Class and Education
6. Class Action Resources for Educators
7. Book of the Month: Tearing Down the Gates
8. September Survey Question
9. Action of the Month
10. Open House September 25th 5-7 p.m.
11. Get active with Class Action: internships and volunteer activities
12. Please help us decorate our new office!
1. Back to School by Felice Yeskel
Today was the first day of school in our town and I marched around the elementary school with my daughter’s 3rd grade class, all the other classes, teachers, staff, and other parents the excitement hung in the air. Although the days are still hot and the leaves here in New England have not started to turn, fall is in the air. For many of us, September and the start of the new school year will forever seem like a new beginning, like the start to the year.
As I looked around at the smiling faces of the kids in my daughter’s school, I was reminded that although they were starting school together, they were not all starting on the same starting line. Education has long served as the access channel to upward mobility, to a “better” life; unfortunately our educational system grows more inequitable by the day. Despite our stated desire “to leave no child behind,” many are left in the dust, and others start half way down the field. That is why Class Action has chosen education as one of our priority areas for dealing with the evils of classism.
September’s E-News focuses on education. The issues related to class and education are varied including: school funding, educational access, expectations, role models, parental involvement, high stakes testing, including class in the curriculum, the emergence of working class studies, access and affordability, college loan scandals, educational advantages and wealth, private vs. public, and more. Educational inequality is thriving, but so are books and articles that alert us to the many nuances of the problem. What follows is a small sampling of what we’ve developed and looked at.
2. Class Action Trendspotter Zoe Greenberg on High School Musical I & II.
I recently read an article in Rolling Stone that discussed the possibility that 1 in 3 American teenage girls have a poster in their room of Zac Efron, the charismatic star of Disney’s made-for-TV movie High School Musical (1 and 2). Read More...
3. Roosevelt Institute Publishes piece by intern Rachel Rybaczuk
From our Summer Intern Rachel Rybaczuk we have a proposal, submitted and accepted by the Roosevelt Institute and published in it’s 25 Ideas for Socioeconomic Diversity in Higher Ed (2007) .
4. Social Class And Higher Education: The Widening Gaps in Educational Opportunities From Guest Editor, Jen Duffy
American higher education takes pride in bringing together and educating students with myriad experiences and viewpoints and in upholding the ideals of merit, social justice, and inclusiveness. Under-representation of qualified students from lower-income backgrounds limits the country’s talent pool and constrains its future civic, economic, and political growth. America’s lead on educational attainment is at risk. Read More...
5. Resources on Class and Education
Books
Home Advantage: Social Class and Parental Intervention in Elementary Education by Annette Lareau, Roman and Littlefield, 2000
Late to Class: Social Class and Schooling in the New Economy by Michael W. Apple, George W. Noblit, Jane Van Galen, SUNY Press, 2007
Click here to read a complete list of books on Class and Education
Articles
Social Class and Student Learning by James Rhem
College and Social Class: The Broken Promise of America by John Raines with Charles Brian McAdams
Against Schooling: Education and Social Class by Stanley Aronowitz
Links
Public Education Network
National Access Network
College Affordability Now
The Center for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown State University
Institute for Policy Studies on Education
6. Class Action Resources for Educators
Class on Campus: Schedule speakers or workshops at your school. Click here to read more.
Enough DVD and Curriculum:
In 11 minutes 13 year old filmmaker Zoe Greenberg opens a window into our society’s teenagers relationships with class. Class Action has developed curriculum to accompany this DVD. It contains information and activities to further explore the issues of class, race and inequality with middle and high school students. Click here to read more or to order.
7. Book of the Month
Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education by Peter Sacks, University of California, 2007.
Reviewed by Felice Yeskel
If anyone wonders why Class Action has chosen education as one of the areas on which to focus in achieving our mission of ending classism, they only need read Peter Sacks’ recently published Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education. Utilizing individual students’ stories and analyzing hard numbers, Sacks provides a critical analysis of the role of colleges in maintaining the class structure of the U.S.
Read more...
8. Survey Question of the Month
How did (or does) your social class impact your educational experiences?
Let us know at our survey page.
9. Action of the Month
Congress is back in session and moving quickly on important
legislation! Throughout the past year, students have been mobilizing
to improve access and affordability of higher education for all and
the time has come. If passed, The College Cost Reduction Act (H.R.
2669) promises the largest increase in student aid in over 60 years!
Go to our Action of the Month page....
10. Open House & 3rd Birthday Party - October 25th 5-7 p.m.
Come join Class Action at our new offices: 104 Russell Street (Route 9) in Hadley. (We’re now on the Hadley Common, kitty-corner from Esselon Café.)
To read more about the party or to RSVP click here. You can also call Sarah at 413.585.9709 ext. 201 or email her.
11. Opportunities to get active with Class Action: internships and volunteer activities
Fall is here. Whether or not you are heading back to school, now’s a great time to get involved with Class Action. We’re looking for interns to help with marketing, communications, administration and program work. Click here for details. If you’d like to volunteer, please fill out a volunteer form, or just come by the office and fill one out. We’d like to meet you and find ways for you to get involved!
12. Please help us decorate our new office!
We could still use floor and desk lighting, desks, chairs, plants, bookcases, a vacuum cleaner, a couch and a comfy chair. If you are getting rid of any of these items, please call Sarah at 413.585.9709 ext. 201. Thank you!
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