Erasing the Opportunity Gap
The Challenge
There is evidence around the country to indicate that a resource disparity exists among schools within a single school district that may reflect the socioeconomic condition of the different neighborhoods within that school district. In other words, there is a concern that schools in relatively poorer neighborhood may have fewer and less adequate resources than schools in wealthier neighborhoods, such as fewer library books, fewer AP courses, and less experienced teachers.
Georgia Appleseed’s Role
As part of a national Appleseed initiative to evaluate this concern, Georgia Appleseed will assess non-monetary resources in schools in select “wealthy” and “poor” neighborhoods within the Cobb County School District, based on criteria established by the national study. Publically available information will be accessed to the extent possible, and follow up interviews initiated with district personnel.
The results of the analysis will be submitted to national Appleseed to be incorporated into a national report
- To provide findings and recommendations for improved policies/practices;
- To recommend advocacy efforts to help ensure equitable allocation of resources.
Future Georgia Appleseed involvement in the national project includes development of a matrix as a tool to be used by local districts to assess their allocation of resource patterns.
For further information, contact Rob Rhodes, Georgia Appleseed Director of Legal Affairs.
