Going to School in East Saint Louis

The article by Jonathan Kozol, "Savage Inequalities in America's Schools: Life on the Mississippi" was disturbing, to say the least. Our government leaders should be ashamed of themselves allowing this atrocity to happen to the American people of East Saint Louis. In a nutshell, the city is 98% black, has no obstetric services, few jobs, the majority live on $7,500 a month or less, no regular trash service and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development describes it as "the most distressed small city in America".

Public Schools in East Saint Louis
The problems on the streets of E. St. Louis creates problems in the public school system. The crime rate is very high, with homicide on top of the list. Martin Luther King Junior High School often is closed because of sewage backups. At East St. Louis Senior High school, sewage backups close the school several times a year. Some of the sickest children in America come from East St. Louis. On top of everything else, teachers have been laid off, class size has increased and the schools are running low on supplies. Governor Thompson acknowledges the problems but does nothing about it. So how are the people of E. St. Louis going to fix this situation? Without government aid, it will be impossible, so we need to start over again from scratch to solve these problems.

My Plan
First of all, these problems need to be addressed by a higher power. Our Federal Government should step in and replace the people that have done nothing, like the Governor and Mayor of the city. This area of the U.S. needs money to bring life back into the city. We send money all over the world to help other countries, so some of that money needs to be brought there. The first thing that needs to be done is a major city clean-up campaign. Bring back trash service. Bring teachers back on full salary. Allot funds to hire government workers to fix the sewage problems. Get the President of the United States involved with the project to clean up this city. It is a disgrace that it came to this to begin with.

The police department needs to be beefed up, a fire department needs to be added. With all of these changes being made, that will automatically increase job opportunities. If the music and sports programs at the schools are the major programs, then the uniforms and instruments and sports equipment needs to be updated. Maybe some commercial sponsors should come in promote the sports programs by donating some new equipment.

Obviously, healthcare needs to be addressed, too. If we can't bring new hospital facilities in, then we may be able to provide transportation to and from the nearest hospitals. Maybe bring in a few temporary medical facilities to help with healthcare until a hospital can be built. Every city needs a hospital facility. I feel this city should qualify as an emergency expense and FEMA and SBA Disaster teams should come in and offer low interest loans to help rebuilt or fix up their homes. It will not be an overnight miracle, but it would be a good start. The people in power need to start caring for this community and not dismiss it and go to where the money is. That is not right and it is definitely "Un-American". The government should step up to the plate and fix this. The community could be saved with some help by our leaders.

Conclusion
People should care about their community, but how is that possible when they have to live like they do, impoverished, in filth, undernourished and sick. People tend to take pride in their community when the conditions are humane. The first step would be a major clean-up campaign, creating temporary jobs for the people of the city. The temporary jobs may go on to become permanent if the need is met. If people live in filth and they feel like no one cares, they, in turn, will not care either, thereby resorting to crime. Crime will not end by any means, but it may diminish a little at a time, creating a safer environment. Children should not grow up like this, people should not live like this. This is the United States of America. We have to step in. We have to lend a hand. We have to help. The changes will be slow, but worth it. The people just need to know they are not disposable. No one in America should be without hope.

References
Anderson, Charles & Johnson (2003). The impressive psychology paper. Chicago: Lucerne Publishing.
Smith, M. (2001). Writing a successful paper. The Trey Research Monthly, 53, 149-150.