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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Do students have a right to a free and public educaton?

How might NYC schools change if bussing is no longer supplied by the MTA for free?

24 comments:

adetayo o. said...

According to the constitution students don't have a right to free and public education with an exception of the disable, but I believe students do have a right to a free and public education because all the taxes that are paid. The residents of New York City pay some of the highest taxes compared to other states. With the payment of all these taxes, it's only right that the people gain the benefits by having their children receive a free education. The MTA free public transportation is another story. This I believe is a privilege to all students because giving us the opportunity to obtain a free education is enough and also a prize we all seem to take for granted. If the MTA would hinder the free transportation; the public school district would definitely have a different look and feel to it. As mentioned in class the public school would be filled with now more children for that zone school, because it would be easier on a parents wallet. The students would be able to walk or ride a bike to school, however I think this is also a hazard for middle school children who can't be walked to school by a parent or guardian. Moving along I just believe that the MTA is using a scare tactic to have the city continue to pitch in their pennies.

Elizabeth P said...

Yes students have the right to free and public education. I feel its shoud be free becuase the education the students learn will soon pay off in a long run when they make a difference in the world.
If bussing is no longer supplied by the MTA for free, then public school are most likely to have less students attending. Majority of the students in NYC communte long routes by bus. Students aren't going to want to pay for the MTA causing parents to find out ways to get their child to school as they struggle to keep their jobs in the economy. Students are most likely to not attend school if the MTA isn't for free.

Kendra D said...

I believe students do have the right to public education. If they are a citizen of the United States of American then they should be offered the opportunity to be guaranteed an education. If New York City schools start having the children pay for busses two options will occur one it will force all children to attend schools that are strictly in their zones. This can be a reason why schools will no longer be diverse, and may be a reason why due to a child’s environment they will not be able to succeed. Secondly I think if children don’t choose to go to their zone schools and decide to stay at their original school, many students will eventually stop coming to school, because they can not afford the bus toll.

Philip M. said...

I don’t think that students have a right to a right to free and public education. Public education is more of a privilege than a right. Education is an option that is offered to us, and those that go to school are the ones who took advantage of this opportunity. As what Adetayo said, there is nowhere in the Constitution that says that people, except the disabled, have a right to free and public education; although, education is a somewhat important part of the nation. With the exception of the people that became successful with little education, education is needed to fill in the positions that make the nation run.
If the MTA is not supplying bussing for free, a lot of change would happen. For NYC schools, there would be a drastic drop in the attendance rate of the school. Students wouldn’t be able to afford the transportation for school and would give them less of a reason to actually go to the school. For those that do chose to go to school, the students would either have to be dropped off, walk to school, or pay the money every day for the bus fare. No more free bussing for students would then affect the economy as a whole. The parents of the students would have less money to pay the mortgage or for gas, and the students that don’t go to school would affect the future of the nation, with less people working in the important jobs.

JASMINE p. said...

I believe that we as students have the right to a free public education. I had a conversation with my mom the other day and she said "You're going to school because I pay taxes." I feel that if MTA student metro cards were taken way from students that less children would come to school. Because children as young as 6th grade get free metro cards and parents work all different types of hours and cant take their kids to school, and not everyone goes to their zoned schools. And not everyones zoned school is necessarily in walking or biking distance. And because everyone isnt made of money paying to go to and from school really adds up at the end of the month and who can really afford that?

andre..owww said...

i think that students do have a right to a free education. according to many statements by former presidents education of the youth is the future. so educating them should be free. also the mta's cut of free and reduced metro card is absurd. The fact of stooping low enough to cut the funds of those who need it most is sickening. even though the idea of a cut is being used as a bargaining chip the thought that the mta threatned this shows that they only care about fixing thier pockets no matter what the cost.

m.karim said...

i believe that every child that has a social security card should have the right to a free and public education. i also think that if they stop giving out student metro cards out to public school kids, that the students will be given the option to go to there zone schools, or maybe forced to go there. if forced to go to there zone school or given the chance to stay at there current schools, i believe that either way, students will stop showing up to school. the zone schools will be of a less rank and current school will be costly to attend. basically the school system will sort of drop.

Shantel.Watson said...

I think all students do have the right to a proper education. If they are US citizens I don't see why they won't be given the chance for the education they deserve. I strongly believe if they start making students pay for bussing the attendance in schools will surely decrease. Most kids do not want to attend their zone schools for various reasons but mostly because of the schools' environent. Families are already facing economic problems and won't have enough money to send their child to school because it's so expensive. I think some private schools might also suffer because parents already have to pay for tuition and adding bus fair into the mix might become overwhelming for some. Zone public schools will become over crowded and a lack of space and teachers will create a new problem. I hope this is just for attention and they aren't serious with this plan.

D. Samuels said...

I believe that students do have a right to public and free. We as students are the future of this world and without the proper learning tools we won't be able to go anywhere in life. If free busing is no more in NYC then everything will be the opposite of what it is today. We will be a a society where there is going to be mostly black, white, chinese, etc schools. What I mean by this is that school will not be diverse and therefore everyone will go there zone school. But what if your zone school doesn't have as much opportunity as another school and you can't afford the bus fare to take 3 buses to that other school? I think the outcome will be that students will not be going to school and graduation rates might go down a bit.

Mr Tesler said...

This is an interesting topic, here. WB.

I'm doing "When the Levees Broke" with my Sr. Gov't class. Race and class played a huge role in who was/is still affected by the events of Hurricane Katrina.

Can a comparison be made between the effects of Katrina, and what could potentially be the effects of the city dropping the free Metro program? Can we say the same for the recent announcement of school closings?

Funny...I thought that Brown vs. Board was supposed to remedy this type of thing.

A.Tejada said...

Yes, I do agree with children having the right to free public education. The reason for that is because we are the ones making the future, why prevent us from not giving us the right of attending a public school. But however now I'm contradicting my opinion because I as well agree with Phillip, when he stated that free public education is a privileged to us not a right.
As far as the MTA goes with them wanting to take away transportation for students. This I do believe is a privilege to students because the government can take it away from us if they wanted it to. But, I highly doubt that they will, my reason for that is because if they take transportation away from students, the graduation percentage will decrease. Student will stop going to school. As we were talking in class, many student would have to go to their zoned school, which at most times your zoned school isn't the best school in the world. However, in class we also spoke about the media just putting it out there to get attention. I don't believe that the MTA will take transportation away from students.

Ana J. said...

The students do have a right to free and public education. If the student is an American citizen, why shouldn't they have the right? Right now, taxes that the New York residents pay, it all goes to education. With all those payments, kids do deserve to receive a free public education. Now, if the MTA decide to take away student metrocards, then the amount of students attending school will decrease drastically. What was the point of raising $2.25 on the bus fare? All of that money, where does it go? The MTA now has a $575 million debt which they have to pay in 2 years according to this article in the New York Post. It'd be crazy if the MTA has the dignity to raise the price again.

geneva b said...

Yes every students have the right to free and public education.I think it should be free because the edcation will pay off when we get college and when we find a good job in the furture. if the MTA make the students who don't have to pay to get on the buses but wants us to pay now. then some of the students will not attend school but some will attend school because they get ride by there parents if there parents don't have to go to work early then the time there child have to be in school. some students don't have zone school so it would be hard on them and there parents wallet. but it be very easy for the students who have zone schools. how will the people who disable and can't found there way out. how will they pay to get on the bus or get round.

Ashley A said...

While it may not be a right in the constitution, having free public education is the right thing to do. Although schooling may not end with every single child being a productive member of society, it is important to educate everyone and not deny them the chance because a few people take advantage of the system. If students had to pay for their own buses, many changes would occur. Many children would be forced to go to their zoned school, which may not be the best school out there and not even be in walking or biking distance. Schools would also be less diverse with only people from that area attending. Also even if some go to their zoned school or not, some students may just stop coming because they do not have the money to get there.

n.beckford! said...

Do students have a right to a free and public educaton?

How might NYC schools change if bussing is no longer supplied by the MTA for free?

Students do have a right to free and public education. I could've sworn that we are prime examples of that? :] As said in class, since we are citizens of the US, we should be able to receive a free education. I totally agree. But there is no way students will come to school if they had to pay to come to school. Students who live far from their school won't be in attendance. They would have to attend their zoned school which is a problem for most students, where Kendra brings up an excellent example. Schools won't be as diverse as they are now due to the neighborhoods. But I do believe that even the students who don't live as far won't come because having to pay bus fare everyday will add up and eventually empty their pockets. Nobody wants to be completely broke in this recession! hehehe

Hogan. said...

I do believe that students are entitled to the right of free and public education. I also agree with the statement Adetayo made about how much our parents pay taxes faithfully every year. We should gain privileges that would help ease the strain on tax payers pockets. If this plan is put to action our rights to free education starting with our free transportation would not matter at all. They would'nt care about the little child scare to death attending the same school of the bully down the block, because these cloe by schools will become a neighborhood school.
Parents will probably be force to transfer their children's schools because of the budget cuts.That means schools might become just like the area it is surrounded by.Hopefully this idea will be fully addressed for the future of the kids that are still searching to increase their scholastic understandings.(grades k-12)

Neal,B said...

I believe students do have a right to free education. I say that because giving students free education it only helps out the future of the United States. If the MTA takes away free student metro cards new freshman will have to go to there zone school and be force to be around there own social class and the same they been around for years so in reality they will not learn anything new about people in different social class. As for the people already in different schools some might not even come to school because it’s too expensive. I believe the MTA should not take away the student metro cards because New York wouldn’t be as versatile as it is now.

Tiffany H. said...

Students in my opinion DO or SHOULD have the right to free public education because the government should be pro-development, because if the state doesnt believe they have the duty to educate us to further help them or us as a whole to prosper then who's going to support our growth? They should feel happy to accomodate the educational system.

As far as what I think about what the outcome in students, and parents having to pay for the bus to get to school as a student I believe its unfair, and inethnical because of the fact that our economy is suffering as a whole, and people barely have the finances to pay for school lunch or their childs school supplies, and day to day needs, and to add even more of a montary burden for them to carry would only desolate the graduation rate. Students would either stop going to school most of the time because they wouldn't be able to afford to get there, or they would have to transfer to a local zoned school where the graduation rate is decreasing as of the past students, and they would be stuck with lesser learning advantages or less challenging caricular(?) lessons. MTA is becoming a monopoly which is documentadly illegal, they do NOT need the money, and will not inless the board of education stops funding them for their school metro cards, and the option of stopping the distribution of the metro cards is unjust.

Michelle D. said...

Education is the number one priority in our lives becuase it gives us knowledge and power to do what ever we put our minds to. Without education the world would be ludacris because we would be deralicts. .Thats why parents and teachers always say " Get your Education first". Having an education is the biggest most imprtant thing you have. If bussing is no longer supplied by the MTA for free, then public schools would not have much students coming because they cant afford transportation espically if the price is increasing.

J.Yang said...

According to all the comments above, everyone agrees that students have the right to a free and public education. Myself on the on the other hand don't think that students have the right to a free and public education. While it is nice being offered free education in NYC its not a right. People living in other countries have to pay for the education unlike us.
NYC schools might change if busing is no longer supplied by the MTA for free because students and parents might not be willing to pay for the transportation, this can lead to a lower attendance rate in schools. Another way that this can effect NYC schools is that schools will not be as diverse as they are now. People will attend schools that are in their area because they could easily walk there instead of spending money on buses.

ARiANNA :] said...

No students do not have the right to a free and public education- based on the constitution. But public education is paid for by taxes apparently. If the MTA doesn't offer free bus rides to students anymore, a few things would happen. Students would be forced to attend their zoned schools. Schools would be less diverse, and some schools would be a lot nicer than others, based on location. And students who don't want to go to their zoned school will be forced to pay bus tolls.

M. Shah said...

Like Adetayo said, “According to the constitution, students DON'T have the right to a free and public education”, yet, it is mandatory for kids to attend school, if they don't the federal government gets involved and goes to your homes and see's what’s happening.
In the United States it is believed that without a proper education, you are not going to be able to grow to the expectations that this country has from its future children, but it had never said that it merely a right, in fact it’s a privilege that we take for advantage, a privilege that comes with many benefits, one factor being “FREE METROCARDS”.

I don’t believe that being having metro cards is a right either, but it do believe that with them, our education systems would be totally different. Especially in New York City, where public transportation is such a big dependence to students, it would make a huge difference. First of, attendance rates would drop drastically. Second, if kids had to go only to their zoned schools many things would change, the diversity in schools would not exist because the kids wouldn’t be coming from different neighborhoods, and different experiences. The schools would just end up being a mirror reflection of the neighborhoods.

jasmyn. said...

I believe that students should have the right to a free education. This topic is controversial because there are students who want to learn and those who don’t. If we were to make students pay for their education, we would be punishing those who want to learn but can’t afford it. It wouldn’t be fair. Then again, having free education available to everyone makes it easy for students to take advantage. Many students don’t find school time worthy and would rather drop out. The fact that our education is free is one of the few attractive things about staying in school. If we had to pay for education there would be a lot less encouragement to go.

supreet singh said...

I believe that students do have the right to a free and public education. Our parents who live in New York pay taxes that go toward our school, so its basically not free, our parents pay for our education through taxes. As far as the MTA not providing busing to NYC school, I think that less students will show up to school. Some people abuse the metro cards that we get from the MTA. Instead of using them for school they use them for their own purposes.