What more evidence could one ask for to prove the inequalities and hypocrisies of America's social-educational system than the story that is to follow? Inequalities such as wealthy suburban schools squandering millions of dollars from an enormous annual budget; a budget that could make a major difference in the well-being of a few dozen poor urban schools.

According to a mainstream media source, the former assistant superintendent for business and the present school superintendent of a high school in a wealthy Long Island, NY neighborhood were under investigation for spending up to $8 million dollars of an $82 million dollar school budget on frivolous personal luxuries. The luxuries included houses, cars, gourmet meals, and a large dry cleaning bill.

The voters of the school district were "outraged" because of the scandal. And who would not be. However, who has more right to be upset than the voters of the school district? The residences of low-income communities all over the nation, that's who. When stories like this become public and make the news, it should raise a red flag, and many questions throughout the nation about the inequalities and hypocrisies of the not only the educational system, but American society.

While poor and low-income school districts struggle to educate their children on an average annual budget of nine - $11 million dollars, white-collar criminals extract three times as much from suburban residences and the government without any consideration for their own students, let alone the poor.

Why have not major news stations covered stories of this sort where it deals with social injustice, inequality, and crimes against the poor, instead of national coverage of a year-old murder trial? Why cannot politicians and lawmakers target the rich who use their wealth as the weapons of the masses destruction? Opportunity? This country offers opportunity? How can anyone compete in a society that allows greed to go unpunished?

Why criticize the abilities of and publicly proclaim the weaknesses of low-income students while protecting the criminal activity of white-collar scum such as these school superintendents? In addition, publishing studies on the underachievement of urban schools while not revealing just how much more money suburban and wealthy schools receive as funding? This is hypocrisy at its height.

There is no reason in a society such as this and as wealthy as this country claims to be, to have any poverty. With budgets of this sort allocated to certain schools based on property taxes, no wonder Black schools and communities fair far less than white schools, and no wonder studies always place Blacks at the bottom of the barrel. It is because they save all the money for themselves.

Source from: Associated Press @ http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-school-scandal,0,1227319.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

© 2003 by AfroStaff