I once visited a public school in Philadelphia. What I saw may alarm some and may sound normal to others. I walked down a dim hallway, which was lit by two lights in the ceiling, which had not yet burned out like the other three. The lockers that lined the hallway were missing doors and locks and many were tagged with graffiti. The classrooms were very small with up to forty desks that looked like they would fall apart if sat in (kind of like that old rocking chair all of our grandmothers have). There were forty-five to sometimes fifty-five students in most classes but like I said only around forty desks. The books the students were using were older editions that looked as though they had been published in the late eighties to early nineties and not everyone had a book either. Many students had to share. Supplies were also very limited. Teachers had no paper or pens to lend their students and teaching aids, like charts and overhead projectors were scarce.
This to me was alarming. The school I came from in the Pocono's, a very tourist driven area in Northeast Pennsylvania, had ample amounts of everything. Hallways were brightly lit, lockers all worked and had built in locks and graffiti was non-existent. Classrooms had nice desks with armrests and always had enough desks for every student. The books we used were rarely older than four years and every student had his or her own copy. Supplies were not limited, there were always pens, pencils, paper, folders, and just about anything a student would need during the school day. Every classroom had a twenty-seven inch television with a VCR to enable teachers to use videos in their lessons. Along with the television, our school also had an overhead projector in every room. Our school was so fortunate unlike most schools, we did not use chalkboards we used marker boards.
After the visit to the Philadelphia school, I started to wonder why our school was so much nicer.