The Wire The Other Wes Moore And Mah Ria

Amidst the protests about student deaths like Michael Brown, a light shines on segregated school districts in cities, and it is evident from student successes that a proper education is key to success. The power of a proper education is astounding, and yet the political machines rarely aid education reform. Themes in The Wire, The Other Wes Moore and “School Segregation, the Continuing Tragedy of Ferguson” all showcase the importance of education in every child’s life.

Both Wes Moore and Mah’Ria’s showcase the importance a proper education in destroying racial oppression. Because of the terrible school system in Normandy, Mah’Ria was bused to Francis Howell every day, but parents wanted to end the program because the “issue [was not] about

For example, in the Wire, the school system of Baltimore is in shambles with a deficit of 54 million dollars, yet Carcetti does not want to fix it because it will ruin his political career. Carcetti realizes that the “teachers will rip” him if he takes the bailout and humiliates himself, so he reasons he can wait two years and “help the city from Annapolis” as Governor (“Final Grades,”The Wire). Since “kids do [not] vote,” no politician cares about their needs (“Final Grades,”The Wire). Similarly, the system to bus students from inner city schools to more suburban schools was cut down in St. Louis because most white residents hated the program. Because funding for busing went up, funding for inner city schools— with predominantly black students— went down, making them “toxic for students of all races and backgrounds,” which helps to segregate the future for students by giving city bound black youth less opportunity at education and a future (16). To make matters worse, suburban voters hated the program, so politicians in need of votes, like Jay Nixon “vowed to end the program” and made the programs voluntary, allowing many districts to drop out of the program. In 2014, only 4,800 students manage to participate in the program, and only because the student’s original districts have to pay for the students to attend other schools. Both Carcetti and Nixon focus on the expenses and voters rather than the good for the students, and as a result students lose the valuable education that is necessary to successfully participate in a unified