Skip to main content

Value of Education in Northshore Communities

Interestingly enough, communities seldom share the exact same sets of values. This can be based on a multitude of factors including socioeconomic standing, location, and expectations. Many of the values that are held in North Shore communities are different from other communities around the United States. The primary value in the North Shore is education, and a great focus and emphasis is focused on it by members of the community.

The North Shore is considered to be one of the wealthiest areas in Illinois– according to a Crain’s Chicago Business article– with certain areas in Glencoe and Winnetka where the median household income is upwards of $200,000. However, this above average household income does not get in the way of core North Shore values such as the importance of getting a high school and college education. In fact, New Trier Township property taxes are of the highest in the state of Illinois, and are the primary source of funding for the school. According to a Chicago Tribune article, In 2014, a $102.5 million renovation plan was voted on and passed by the school board. Even though this plan would lead to a slight hike in property taxes, it demonstrates that maintaing a state of the art education facility, and providing the best possible learning environment for students is important for New Trier parents in the area. In most other areas, the passing of a $100 million renovation plan most likely would not be as popular within the taxpayers.
Main Wing after New Trier renovation


















Additionally, New Trier also spends almost double the amount per student as the average Illinois 
school does. According to the New Trier Annual Report Card, the school spends over $25,000 per student while the average school in Illinois spends around $13,000. This further demonstrates the importance of education to the community because parents are willing to use their money to insure that each student gets the best possible education and is able to receive individual focus from instructors. Also, New Trier students have one of the highest graduation rates in the state at about 98% which is significantly higher that the national average. This demonstrates that a higher education is very important to New Trier parents because almost all of these graduating students go on to some form of college or university. Below shows how New Trier’s spending per student stacks up against other districts.
Spending per student compared to New Trier

In the North Shore, education is one of the primary values as shown by the willingness for tax payers for pay for an expensive school renovation, school spending per student, and the overall student graduation rate. While education is commonly a value in many communities, the New Trier Township area shares a desire for student to get the best possible education, and eventually attend college or university.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quarantine Journal #3

Something that is interesting about this quarantine and remote learning is that I have had more time than I have had in years for myself. In other words, every day I end up with hours of downtime that I can devote to myself. After school and working out, playing video games and watching movies has almost become a new routine for me. Our junior year of high school, which is considered the most rigorous year, is now considerably easer than it was a month ago. Practically overnight we all went from busy students focused on school and extracurriculars, to students who do a couple of hours of school and then have hours of disposable time on our hands. In a sense, I have really enjoyed having all of this extra time because it allows me to focus on myself, and what I want to be doing at any given time.
2 comments
Read more

American Ignorance Created By the American Dream

The American Dream is one of the fundamental beliefs that draws immigrants from all over the world to the United States of America. This American Dream is built on the belief that in America, somebody can go from rags to riches through hard work and devotion to the idea. Based on capitalism, the American dream promotes entrepreneurs and individual ideas as a way for one to better themselves. Although this dream is considered great by some, it does lead to American ignorance of certain major social issues prevalent in our nation. At the forefront of these issues: racism, and mistreatment of many minority groups. In Ta-Nehisi Coates' novel Between the World and Me , the idea of American ignorance related to the Dream is one of his most widely explored ideas. Coates displays the view of Black in America when he says: "Black life is cheap, but in America black bodies are a natural resource of incomparable value" (132). Here, Coates suggests that black lives are considered to ...
1 comment
Read more

Quarantine Journal #1

One thing that I have realized in the past couple of weeks is that this is a time of great uncertainty. Every passing day brings new surprises and challenges, and all that anyone can do is speculate about what the future will bring. Some predict that COVID-19 will come and go in the next few months, while other experts predict that a return to normal life could be almost two years away. Everyone always says to focus on what you can control, but in a time like this, focusing on the smaller things is difficult when there are problems happening on a global scale. While it hard to do so, taking things one day at a time helps from getting lost in the constant speculation over the future.
Post a Comment
Read more