Summary Of There Are No Children Here

How could impoverished city residents not having proper access to resources in their communities and school systems impact children and even teachers in school? In the novel, There Are No Children Here, the author, Alex Kotlowitz, retells stories of the residents of Henry Horner public housing who are shown to have inadequate support from the Chicago Public School System and community around them. Considering that these students and teachers did not have enough support from the school and community, it’s evident that the Chicago Public School System could not effectively meet their needs. It’s clear that the Chicago Public Schools system is severely underfunded. A great example of this is a situation in which Pharoah and Lafayette’s elementary

A quote that clearly depicts this situation is, “The city’s teachers were into the second week of their fourth strike in five years; as in the other walkouts, the main dispute centered on money.” The example from the text emphasizes just how little the teachers in Chicago are paid. Considering it is the fourth strike in five years dealing with money, it shows just how far they’ve gone to simply receive a livable wage. It can also show how students are impacted by the lack of school. Less school equates to an impaired education, and, in the long run, it can be detrimental to children’s knowledge. Another reason this is true is the funding and size of classes has had injurious effects on CPS staff. Again, in chapter 7, as Ms. Barone, Pharoah’s fourth grade teacher, describes her experience teaching at Suder, the school Pharoah and Lafayette attend, she highlights how large her class size is as well as how the funding cutbacks have affected her. This quote explains Ms. Barone’s concerns and unhappiness with the system,

This experience was sure to be terrifying for both staff and students, making the school feel less safe. Another instance that highlights this conclusion is the fact that Lafayette would talk to his teacher because he wasn’t doing very well in school and was preoccupied with things going on in his home life. Before meeting with the teacher he’d taken a liking to regularly, he found himself with a bunch of tardies and low grades in many of his classes. When he met his teacher, he admits he could talk to her about his problems, Kotlowitz shares, “On occasion, Lafeyette skipped gym class to talk privately with Mrs. Enrage [his teacher] about problems at home or in the neighborhood. Lafeyette told her how he sometimes found himself daydreaming in class, worrying about his brothers and sisters.” (Kotlowitz 76) This section truly demonstrates the lack of social workers, but also how children’s outside environment can affect their performance in