Funding for Same-Sex Public Schools free essay sample

Funding For Same-Sex Public Schools Parents always want what’s best for their children, especially when it comes to education and furthering it. But what type of education/school is best for your child? What type of classroom setting better prepares your child for the future? After years of debate, the federal government has formally cleared the way for the funding of single-sex public schools throughout the country — a movement that supporters say will benefit poor and minority children but opponents argue is discriminatory under gender equality rules. Should the government fund same-sex public schools? Or schools for homosexuals? Americas schools have many problems, and there is no one solution. But if there is one suggestion that is likely to gain solutions, it is to allow experiments. Lets have coed schools and single-sex schools and see which works best. Most likely, one will work best for some kids, the other for other kids. In that case, society will function best if we  offer both opportunities and let the students choose. The same can be said for schools for the LGBT Community. Students who are comfortable enough with themselves to be out the closet, and want to be in a school where they don’t have to be ridiculed, teased and abused because of who they are, should have the option to go to a school that has students that identify as Gays, Lesbians, or Transgendered. As Written by Jessica Calefati for the US News education blog, â€Å"Gay students fend off bullies in schools across the country every day. Research published recently by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network found that 82 percent of students who identify themselves as other than heterosexual were verbally harassed at school in the past year, and other studies show gay students are more likely than their heterosexual peers to develop depression or have thoughts of suicide. Thirty-nine states lack laws that specifically protect gay students from harassment at school. In response to this grim reality, Alliance and New York Citys Harvey Milk High School opened their doors to give struggling gay students another option—the chance to attend a public school populated by students like themselves and an environment in which their differences are welcomed. But while these schools provide safer environments for gay students, they also reawaken the debate about school segregation. † In my opinion, as a gay student myself, having public schools that are strictly for gays would be great. I wish I could have attended such a school while I was in high school. High school is tough as is, but adding in the harassment you face from other students as a gay teen is very life altering and emotionally, sometimes physically effective. If the government funded a public school for students who identified as I think it would cut down on A LOT of teen suicide. Having a school where all the students are just like you would help a lot of gay teens. It would give them a sense of security, confidence, and they would have less peer pressure. The school could serve as a ground that gives them the strength to live a life of fulfillment. I have friends who wish they could have gone to a gay public school because the things they went through in a coed high school scarred them. They feel as though they aren’t the exact person they were meant to be because they had to hide who they were for so long it became part of them. It affects their lives now as adults, some even affecting their relationships with others. I, myself didn’t have much of a problem. Since I didn’t mind telling people when they asked about my sexuality I didn’t get harassed as others would. I was actually kind of popular. I was smart, funny, informative, and unique. Girls loved to be around me and the guys felt I was their way in with the girls, but I still would have rathered to be part of a same-sex public school because I would have liked to hang out with others such as myself. Maybe I would have had a different outlook on life. The Department of Education published its proposed rules regarding the recent revision to Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, which outlaws federal funding for  education programs  that discriminate on the basis of gender. The revision clarifies the rules in which same-sex schools are concerned, and endorses such schools as long as there are equal funding opportunities for both sexes. The revisions were spearheaded by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and the final language was included in the No Child Left Behind  education bill signed by President Bush. Numerous lawmakers who spoke in favor of the revisions pointed to mounting evidence that some children will learn better in same-sex environments — benefiting from more rigorous academic routines, leadership opportunities, freedom from tereotypes and discipline. Single-sex schools can provide an important contribution and the people it will benefit the most are disadvantaged children, said Cornelius Riordan, a professor of sociology at Providence College and panelist at a conference at the American Enterprise Institute. Sometimes, in some circumstances we find that girls do better in a single-sex atmosphere and boys do better in a single-sex at mosphere, said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, in a hearing last year on the bill. Drop the barriers. Open the options for public schools. She was joined by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N. Y. , who pointed to the Young Women’s Leadership Academy in New York City. We know this has energized students and parents, she said in the same hearing. I believe public school choice should be expanded and as broadly as possible. But not everyone agrees. The American Association of University Women has consistently argued that Title IX prohibits single-sex schools and that the benefits of such an education have been exaggerated. While single-sex education experiments do produce some positive results for some students in some cases, much of the  research  indicates that the properties of a good education, not a sex-segregated environment, make the difference, the group said in a statement. Opponents also point to a California study released that found that gender stereotyping, harassment and other areas of concern in today’s co-educational environment do not necessarily diminish in single-sex schools. Rosemary Salomone, A professor of law at St. John’s University of Law who has written extensively in support of single sex schools, said that there is no clear evidence that single-sex schools improve achievement, and added that such schools are not an ideal way to prepare boys and girls for personal relationships. However, there is a growing body of evidence — both empirical and anecdotal — to suggest single-sex programs encourage student interest and empowerment, she said. Riordan, who has conducted  studies  on disadvantaged students in single-sex schools, said he has found empirical evidence. They do work to improve academic achievement – but it is limited to students of low economic status and those who are disadvantaged historically, he said. Nobody is saying we should require kids to be in same-sex classrooms. They are merely in favor of choice. Let the students choose whether or not they want to be in a certain type of classroom setting, especially if they have problems in the type of sc hool they’re in now. Its very possible that some boys will do worse at a boys-only school than at a coed school. But lets offer both options. If one option consistently works best, parents will choose it, and the other will be discarded. More likely, both options will find their market niche, and parents will move their children among them according to which option is best suited to their individual needs and talents. The opposition mainly feels creating same-sex public schools, or classroom settings will create inequality among the sexes in school. But the schools that provide such programs will benefit the sexes as they see fit. During my research on this paper I found that a lot of teachers preferred same-sex classes. They could teach in a manner they couldn’t if the classes were coed. Mr. Napolitano, a teacher who has a same-sex class, said he thinks of his students as â€Å"23 sort-of sons,† and engages them with Marvel Comics and chess. He proudly held up the book â€Å"Patrol Boy,† with a picture of a young man with a large tattoo on his back, as an example of material he would not have used in a co-ed class. â€Å"There’s an aspect of male bonding, a closeness that we wouldn’t otherwise have,† he said. I feel more like I am teaching them about right from wrong than I might have normally. † And he said he can â€Å"be a little more stern† with his students now. â€Å"If I get in the face of a girl, she would just cry,† he said. â€Å"The boys respond to it, they know it’s part of being a young man. † Effective teaching of childr en often depends on getting them engaged and excited about learning the material. And for that, the  teacher  has to work with the childrens motivations, including interests and preferences. If those differ by gender, then same-sex classrooms can sometimes be more effective than coed ones. All in all, the students should have some type of say in the way they feel is best for them to learn. If students feel more comfortable in a certain classroom setting let them make the decision to be in that environment. Let them test it out, see if that’s the type of setting they wanna be in. Don’t dictate what you feel is best without giving another option to choose from.