I am reading an article titled "Still Separate, Still Unequal" by Jonathan Kozol (above). Currently I've been working for Writers in the Schools and looking for a teaching position in the Denver Public Schools, as well as in my hometown El Paso, TX which is on the U.S. Mexico border across from Ciudad Juarez. I have of course, also taught at CU Boulder and have seen a difference in the schools in let's say Boulder, or a wealthier area vs. a poorer area (Southwest Denver). I have been astonished at the differences in student bodies, student opportunities and faculty diversity or lack there of. It has long bothered me and left me feeling powerless, until I walked into public school classrooms this year. Yet the heavy air of bureaucracy has me weary, but doing something to chip away at the disproportionate educational opportunities interests me.

When I was in high school, in El Paso I was told I was not college material and put on the "vocational trek". And I think this is still happening throughout the educational system. So does one choose to fight a losing battle? Does one believe in the ability of education to open minds and open opportunities for America's poorest students and graduates? I think so. I think we try to educate the poor in face of an unjust educational system at all levels that is akin to "Apartheid" which Johnathan Kozol calls it in this article titled "Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Educational Apartheid."