Systems in Need of Activism: Considering the Effects of Segregation and Policy on French and US Primary and Secondary Education

TY - JOUR

T1 - Systems in Need of Activism

T2 - Considering the Effects of Segregation and Policy on French and US Primary and Secondary Education

AU - Gorham, Julia A.

AU - Knisely, Kris Aric

N1 - Funding Information: Such a notion of education as a panacea for societal ills may seem upheld by the importance of equality as both a philosophical and an official mission in Western national education systems. Moreover, Ottaway emphasizes that because educational institutions are the product of the society in which they operate, they are considered to be founded upon and intended to reinforce the fundamental values of that particular culture (10; Carr and Landon 21). Such a statement suggests that the educational models of the United States and France—as Western democracies rooted in the principles of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and “liberty, equality, fraternity” respectively— would support these core tenets. This hypothesis is supported by the Funding Information: In particular, residential segregation engenders geographic disparities in population distribution based on socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity (Squires and Kubrin 348). This uneven repartition of residents is observed in both nations and is aggravated by local procedures dictating school funding and the geographic distribution of qualified teachers. Because schools in the US receive as much as 92% of their total funding from local sources, consisting primarily of tax revenues, institutions located in areas of reduced average income are underfunded and thus provide students with fewer educational materials and supplemental opportunities (US Department of Education; Semuels). A similar funding imbalance is observed in the French system despite increased financial support of académies by the Ministry of Education. Considerable inequalities in funds provided by regional communes offset the government’s uniform allocations, contributing to a paucity of resources and extracurricular activities supplied to students in the poorest areas (Zymelman 22).

PY - 2018/9

Y1 - 2018/9

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088983169&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85088983169&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1353/mml.2018.0019

DO - 10.1353/mml.2018.0019

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85088983169

SN - 0742-5562

VL - 51

SP - 183

EP - 221

JO - Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association

JF - Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association

IS - 2

ER -