The "opportunity gap" in US public education -- and how to close it | Anindya Kundu

翻译人员: psjmz mz 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

My first job out of college was as an academic researcher

我大学毕业后的第一份工作是在

at one of the largest juvenile detention centers in the country.

一所全国最大的青少年拘留所 做学术研究员。

And every day I would drive to this building

每天我驾车来到这座

on the West Side of Chicago,

位于芝加哥西边的建筑，

go through the security checkpoint

穿过安全检查点，

and walk down these brown, brick hallways as I made my way down to the basement

然后沿着棕色的砖砌走廊 往下走，去地下室

to observe the intake process.

观察录入的过程。

The kids coming in were about 10 to 16 years old,

进来的孩子大约 10-16 岁，

usually always black and brown,

通常是黑色和棕色皮肤，

most likely from the same impoverished South and West Sides of Chicago.

大部分来自芝加哥南部 和西部的贫困地区。

They should've been in fifth to tenth grade,

他们本应该在上学 读 5-10 年级，

but instead they were here for weeks on end

但现实是 他们要在这里呆上几周，

awaiting trial for various crimes.

等待各种罪行的审判。

Some of them came back to the facility 14 times before their 15th birthday.

有些人在 15 岁生日前 已经进出这里 14 次。

And as I sat there on the other side of the glass from them,

隔着玻璃， 当我坐在他们的另一边，

idealistic with a college degree,

本科毕业的我带着一种理想主义，

I wondered to myself:

不禁纳闷：

Why didn't schools do something more to prevent this from happening?

为什么学校不采取更多行动 去阻止这些事情的发生呢？

It's been about 10 years since then,

10 年后，

and I still think about how some kids get tracked towards college

我仍在思考为何有些孩子能上大学，

and others towards detention,

而有些孩子却去了拘留所，

but I no longer think about schools' abilities to solve these things.

但我不再去质疑学校 解决这些问题的能力。

You see, I've learned that so much of this problem is systemic

我了解到，这个问题 在很大程度上是制度性的，

that often our school system perpetuates the social divide.

是我们的学校制度 造成了社会分化。

It makes worse what it's supposed to fix.

它让本应解决的问题变得更糟了。

That's as crazy or controversial

这就像说我们的

as saying that our health care system isn't preventative

医疗保健系统不是预防性的，

but somehow profits off of keeping us sick ...

而是从让我们生病中获利 一样疯狂或有争议。

oops.

哎呀，好像不该这么说。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I truly do believe though that kids can achieve great things

我真心认为，尽管困难重重

despite the odds against them,

那些孩子依然可以有出色的表现，

and in fact, my own research shows that.

并且事实上，我自己 的研究也显示了这点。

But if we're serious about helping more kids from across the board

但是如果我们真的想要 帮助更多的孩子

to achieve and make it in this world,

在这个世界上取得成功，

we're going to have to realize that our gaps in student outcomes

我们就需要意识到学生 学习成果的差距

are not so much about achievement as much as they are about opportunity.

与其说是在于成就， 不如说是来自于机会。

A 2019 EdBuild report showed

一份 2019 年的 EdBuild 报告显示，

that majority-white districts receive about 23 billion dollars more

白人为主的街区每年获得 的教育经费比非白人街区

in annual funding than nonwhite districts,

要多 230 亿美元，

even though they serve about the same number of students.

即便它们所服务的学生数量一样。

Lower resource schools are dealing with lower quality equipment,

资源少的学校用低质量的设施，

obsolete technology

陈旧的技术，

and paying teachers way less.

并且教师的工资更低。

Here in New York,

在纽约，

those are also the schools most likely to serve

这些学校也是最有可能给

the one in 10 elementary school students

今晚最有可能睡在收容所的

who will most likely have to sleep in a homeless shelter tonight.

那十分之一的学生服务的。

The student, parent and teacher are dealing with a lot.

学生，家长和教师要处理很多事情。

Sometimes places are misplacing the blame back on them.

有时候教育机构会把责任推给他们。

In Atlanta, we saw that teachers felt desperate enough

在亚特兰大，我们发现， 教师已经绝望到

to have to help their students cheat on standardized tests

去帮助他们的学生在 标准考试中作弊，

that would impact their funding.

因为后者会影响教育资金。

Eight of them went to jail for that in 2015

2015 年，有 8 个人为此进了监狱，

with some sentences as high as 20 years,

有些被判处高达 20 年的刑期，

which is more than what many states give for second-degree murder.

这比许多州二级谋杀的刑罚还久。

The thing is though, in places like Tulsa,

问题是，在塔尔萨这样的地方，

teachers' pay has been so bad

教师的薪酬非常糟糕，

that these people have had to go to food pantries

他们不得不去免费食品分发处

or soup kitchens just to feed themselves.

或施粥处讨饭，才能养活自己。

The same system will criminalize a parent who will use a relative's address

同样的制度也会唆使父母犯罪， 使用位于好学区亲戚的地址

to send their child to a better school,

帮助孩子上更好的学校，

but for who knows how long authorities have turned a blind eye

但谁知道当局对那些 能够通过贿赂进入

to those who can bribe their way

最优秀、最美丽的大学校园

onto the most elite and beautiful college campuses.

的人视而不见多久了。

And a lot of this feels pretty heavy to be saying --

这些话说起来让人感觉很沉重——

and maybe to be hearing --

可能听起来也是如此——

and since there's nothing quite like economics talk to lighten the mood --

因为没有什么比经济学演讲 更能让人放松心情了——

that's right, right?

是吧？

Let me tell you about some of the costs

让我们来告诉你们，

when we fail to tap into our students' potential.

当我们不能挖掘学生的潜力时， 要付出怎样的代价。

A McKinsey study showed that if in 1998

麦肯锡的一项研究表明， 如果在 1998 年，

we could've closed our long-standing student achievement gaps

我们可以缩小长期 存在于不同种族

between students of different ethnic backgrounds

或者不同收入水平

or students of different income levels,

的学生之间的成就差距，

by 2008, our GDP --

到 2008 年，我们的 GDP——

our untapped economic gains --

我们未开发的经济收益——

could have gone up by more than 500 billion dollars.

能够增长超过 5 千亿美元。

Those same gaps in 2008,

2008年，美国的学生

between our students here in the US and those across the world,

和世界其他地方的学生 之间同样的差距，

may have deprived our economy

可能会剥夺我们

of up to 2.3 trillion dollars of economic output.

高达 2.3 万亿美元的经济产出。

But beyond economics, numbers and figures,

但除了经济学，数字和数量，

I think there's a simpler reason that this matters,

我认为说这一点很重要， 还有一个更简单的原因，

a simpler reason for fixing our system.

这一简单的原因就可以 修复我们的系统。

It's that in a true democracy,

那就是在一个真正的民主社会，

like the one we pride ourselves on having --

就如我们自豪所拥有的——

and sometimes rightfully so --

有时候是理所当然的——

a child's future should not be predetermined

孩子的未来不应该取决于

by the circumstances of their birth.

他们出生的环境。

A public education system should not create a wider bottom and more narrow top.

公共教育体系不应该 创造一个金字塔模式。

Some of us can sometimes think

我们有些人可能会认为

that these things aren't that close to home,

这些事情离我们不是特别近，

but they are if we broaden our view,

但如果我们开拓视野， 就会发现它们近在咫尺，

because a leaky faucet in our kitchen,

因为厨房的水龙头漏水，

broken radiator in our hallway,

走廊的散热器坏了，

those parts of the house that we always say we're going to get to next week,

我们总是说我们下周会进行维修，

they're devaluing our whole property.

但它们正在让我们 的整个财产贬值。

Instead of constantly looking away to solutions like privatization

与其总是寻找诸如私有化

or the charter school movement to solve our problems,

或者特许学校运动来 解决我们的问题，

why don't we take a deeper look at public education,

我们为什么不深入审视尝试去

try to take more pride in it

引以为豪的公共教育，

and maybe use it to solve some of our social problems.

并且用它来解决 我们的一部分社会问题呢？

Why don't we try to reclaim the promise of public education

我们为什么不重申公共教育的愿景

and remember that it's our greatest collective responsibility?

并牢记这是我们最重要的集体责任呢？

Luckily some of our communities are doing just that.

幸运的是，我们有些社团正在这样做。

The huge teacher strikes in the spring of 2019 in Denver and LA --

2019 年春天，在丹佛和洛杉矶 的大型教师罢工——

they were successful because of community support

这些运动之所以成功， 是因为社区支持这些诉求：

for things like smaller class sizes

例如更小的班级，

and getting things into schools like more counselors

招募更多的辅导员，

in addition to teacher pay.

还有提高教师的工资。

And sometimes for the student,

有时候对于学生而言，

innovation is just daring to implement common sense.

创新就是敢于实践常识。

In Baltimore a few years ago,

几年前在巴尔的摩，

they enacted a free breakfast and lunch program,

他们制定了一个免费 的早餐和午餐计划，

taking away the stigma of poverty and hunger

为一些学生消除贫穷

for some students

和饥饿的耻辱，

but increasing achievement in attendance for many others.

但也增加了其他人的出勤率。

And in Memphis,

在孟菲斯，

the university is recruiting local, passionate high school students

大学正在招募当地热情的高中生，

and giving them scholarships to go teach in the inner city

给他们奖学金， 让他们去市中心教书，

without the burden of college debt.

而不用承担大学的债务。

And north of here in The Bronx,

在布朗克斯的北边，

I recently researched these partnerships being built

我最近研究了在高中，社区学院

between high schools, community colleges and local businesses

和本地商家之间建立 的合作伙伴关系，

who are creating internships in finance, health care and technology

他们为那些没有黄金人脉 的学生创造金融、

for students without "silver spoon" connections

医疗和科技方面的实习机会，

to gain important skills

去获得重要技能，

and contribute to the communities that they come from.

并为他们所在的社区做贡献。

So today I don't necessarily have the same questions about education

所以今天，我不再抱有曾经 那种我还在看守所地下室工作时

that I did when I was an idealistic, perhaps naïve college grad

充满理想主义，可能还有些

working in a detention center basement.

学生气的关于教育的问题。

It's not: Can schools save more of our students?

问题不再是关于：学校可以 拯救更多的学生吗？

Because I think we have the answer to that --

因为我认为我们已经有了答案——

and it's yes they can, if we save our schools first.

是的，可以，如果我们 首先拯救我们的学校。

We can start by caring about the education of other people's children ...

我们可以从关心别人孩子 的教育开始…

And I'm saying that as someone who doesn't have kids yet

虽然我还没有小孩，

but wants to worry a little bit less about the future when I do.

但我这样说，也是希望 在未来不必那么担心。

Cultivating as much talent as possible,

培养尽可能多的人才，

getting as many girls as we can from all over

从各地吸引尽可能多的女孩子进入

into science and engineering,

科学和工程领域，

as many boys as we can into teaching --

就如我们可以 让男孩们从事教育一样——

those are investments for our future.

这些是对我们未来的投资。

Our students are like our most valuable resource,

我们的学生就像我们 最有价值的资源，

and when you put it that way,

当你把他们放在那个位置时，

our teachers are like our modern-day diamond and gold miners,

我们的老师就像现代 的钻石和黄金矿工，

hoping to help make them shine.

希望帮助学生们发光。

Let's contribute our voices,

让我们发出自己的声音，

our votes and our support

不再吝啬我们的投票和支持，

to giving them the resources that they will need

给予他们所需的资源，

not just to survive

不仅是为了生存，

but hopefully thrive,

更是为了繁荣，

allowing all of us to do so as well.

让我们所有人都能这样做。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause and cheers)

（鼓掌和欢呼）