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Chapter 3

ON EDUCATION; A District Coming to Terms with the American Swirl

ON EDUCATION; A District Coming to Terms with the American Swirl

This activity contains 3 questions.

	What are the sources of diversity in the Greenwich High School?   "...racial gap in academic achievement." "Stereotypes aside, Greenwich High School now stands at 22 percent nonwhite, with students from 54 foreign countries as far-flung as Turkey, South Africa and Nepal. (The nonwhite figure in superficially comparable school districts like Wilton and New Canaan is roughly 5 percent.) Greenwich High's largest influx has come from Central and South America." "Even as Greenwich remains one of the wealthiest communities of its size (61,000) in the country, with a median household income of nearly $100,000, and even if it has such a concentration of money and privilege that a burglary ring once used the Social Register to select its victims, the public schools have grown racially, ethnically and economically varied." "Many of those families live in the working-class district...or in the public housing projects...Hispanics have been drawn here by ample work in service to the affluent as cooks, maids, landscapers and construction workers." "The number of Hispanic students in the school this year, 392, has more than doubled from 188 in 1993."

	What are the sources of conflict in among the Greenwich High School Students?   Rumors "... wild rumors were flying of Hispanic gangs planning drive-by shootings in retaliation..." Lower income families have to contend with frequent moves because they are driven out from their homes by "rising rents, filthy conditions or exploitative landlords." Ignorance and underlying tensions from above differences and disparities ".... there is a level of ignorance, from both whites and Latinos. There was a hidden tension. You can tell how radically different the lifestyles are. You'll hear a white kid say to a Latino kid, 'Hey, when's your father coming over to mow the lawn?' And the hard part is, it's true. It's a true statement. But nobody wants to admit it. So maybe this has been a wake-up call for diversity.'' Apparent economic and opportunity disparities that show up when..."Latino classmates who ride bikes to school instead of BMW's, who hold after-school jobs as stock boys or baby sitters, who will not be able to openly or affordably attend college because as illegal immigrants they cannot be officially employed or receive in-state tuition."

	What interventions has the school instituted or planned to institute to address the growing diversity and conflict in their school?   "...Hispanic students needed to be recruited in greater numbers for honors and advanced-placement classes." "...sent student volunteers like Valentina into homerooms to conduct wide-ranging discussions on the reasons for the racial friction and the ways to solve it." "An existing program that teaches students about damage caused by stereotyping, which has been required only of freshmen, will be extended next year to those in all grades." "...the school now is festooned with signs listing what to ''start doing'' (respecting one another, being open to differences) and what to ''stop doing'' (name-calling, rumors, blowing events out of proportion)." "...existing force of security guards has been augmented by a plainclothes police officer specializing in youth issues.

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