リジィ子のCA在住お気楽エッセイ

昨日をもって、長女も今セメ終了。
お互いに気楽になり、二人でクリスマス・ショッピングの続きを
しに出かけてみた。が、この度は男子二人への贈り物を
探した訳だが、ああ、本当に男の子って難しい。
何を買ってやればいいのか、皆目検討がつかない。

長男はそれでも、最近おしゃれに目覚めてきているので、
おしゃれグッズを、、、と思うが、
次男が問題。何を買えば喜ぶのかは火を見るよりも明らかだが、
それは買いたくない、というのが本音。ううーむ。

しかし、近場のモールに長男の喜びそうなおしゃれグッズもなく、
仕方ないので、一度子供を迎えに行って、家でお茶をし、
晩ご飯の支度をした後、また二人でサンタナ・ロウまで出かけた。
このショッピング・モールはサンノゼにある、ちょい良い目の
モールなのだけど・・・・・・、そこにもなかったよorz
　　　　
色々な店を見たけれど、増々おしゃれするのが嫌に。
どれもこれもしょーもない服に見えて、
一刻も早くワードローブ増加を果たせねばならんのに、
その気が一向に起きない有様。

・・・って、あれ？いつの間に自分の買い物に・・・！

が、Burberryに行ってから、俄然テンションが上がり。
「そうか。もう私位の歳のおばはんは、こういうのを何着か
揃えて置かなあかんのや。そうか、そうか、そうか。
年齢不相応な所で見てたから、あかんかったんや。
じゃ、Ann-Taylorなんかも普段着にはええのとちゃう？」

長男のブツはそっちのけにて、燃え上がるのであった。

そうだ！自分の為に買い物しよう！！！

で、結局、夫の不在を言い訳に何も買わず、
その近くの日本食居酒屋のような店で晩ご飯を娘と頂き、
帰って来たのであった。

めでたし、めでたし。

って、
クリスマス・ショッピングの経過を思うと、
微塵もめでたくはないがな。


＋＋＋
　　　　On the basis of college admissions’ status quo, nobody would say that college admissions in this country are very equal to every student. However, even if colleges admit the inequality and take away these advantages from athletes, alumni, and minorities at this phase, unfortunately, real meritocracy will never realize at all because it is inevitable that the economic situation of each family will affect each student’s academic achievement. In other words, it is inevitable that, if colleges decide the disuse of any preference, wealthy families will donate huge amount of money to even public schools to insist on implementing better curriculums, or throwing money to have tutors for their children while lower-income parents are sitting on their hands.

In his book, Tearing Down the Gates,” Peter Sacks throws the “impossibility of realizing real meritocracy” into relief by introducing Katelyn, a poor students, and Michael, a wealthy student. Katelyn, a potential student from the working class, really wanted to go to college, but her parent was not able to help her daughter to be admitted to college because of her financial situation, though she felt like it was a failure on her part, whereas Michael, a wealthy student, had been paid $60,000 per year by his parents to have education at a private high school and private tutors for the good SAT score. Of course, as a result, Michael is a student of his desired university today. Sacks also shows the status quo of the educational field that wealthy parents are eagerly involved in establishing special, exclusive classes like Academic Choice at Berkley High, or, sometimes, “ a full-time school for gifted children” inside of the same building (44). Through Sacks’ depiction, we are able to learn that grades and SAT scores seem to be more parental influence than students’ abilities. Under the circumstance, some educational experts might not do other than coming up with class-based AA; however, class-based AA will never be a drastic solution to improve this inequality. I believe that we need to focus on the real problem―the American educational system, which is the essence of this issue―before jumping to the decision of implementing class-based AA.

Jean Anyon, the chairperson of the Department of Education at Rutgers University, researched on schoolwork at elementary schools in each social class, such as working, middle, affluent, and elite. Anyon consequently finds the educational inequality along social class lines. The notable point of Anyon’s research is that it was investigated at elementary schools because the result strongly tells us that the problem or the inequality of American education has already started at the earliest phase of the educational opportunity. I think that there is not any way to reach real equality without admitting this imperfection in American education.


つづく。