BY ANITA ADIUKWU
The late Malcolm X once said, “education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” We know there’s inequality in education because the government tends to spend more money in schools with rich kids compared to other schools that do not have rich kids. This leads to a huge educational gap among schools. This, in turn, leads to more people not taking their education seriously and more people not graduating from high school. To combat wealth inequality, the city of Boston must prioritize Education and Youth Programs because school environments should be made comfortable enough for all students to feel welcomed, programs should be provided to encourage students to go to college, and when students are successful in school, they have a chance of having a better future for themselves. The school environment should be made comfortable enough for all students because it gives them a sense of belonging. In “Youth From Every Quarter" by Kirstin Valdez Quade a young student named Ana leaves her home in Oregon and attends a summer program at Elliot Academy, an elite New England Boarding school. In the narrative, Ana feels out of place and sometimes lonely because the school was mostly made up of rich students, which she wasn’t. She also struggles with academics and fails most of her classes. Since Ana came from a less elite school, and poor family background, she was far behind in her classes. It wasn’t about Ana’s potential, it was about the resources she that she could not access. This shows that the same education should be taught throughout every school. In the text, Kirstin writes about her experience as she tries to advocate for Ana, “The dean held my gaze and nodded. It would be a shame if Ana left, she said, her voice even. And you’re nice to show concern. But not everyone belongs at Elliot” (Valdez-Quade 25). The dean sees Ana struggles as inferior and refuses to help her. Ana’s future was determined by the resources she did not previously have. Elliot was an elite school, her school wasn’t, and this proves that the education she received from her school wasn’t preparing her for other schools’ rigorous demands. No matter what school you attend in Boston, students shouldn’t feel that they don’t belong or are not welcomed in a school that claims to have diversity and prioritizes its students first. To say that not everyone belongs at a school is just wrong, because the school made that call when it accepted its students. Students should be treated the same way and equally, no one should be treated more than others, because all students are entitled to all things a school has to provide. Programs must be provided to support and encourage students to go to college because they need to feel confident in themselves and in the fact that there are people looking out for them. In his narrative,”Hurray for Losers,” Dagoberto Gilb describes his life growing up in Los Angeles and how people never really talked about college because not one of them had ever gone to college. None of them talked about going to college because no one expected them to go. In the text, Gilb states, “I remember, I listened. No one talked college years or the kind of jobs that were for them. All of my friends, ones who weren’t into glue… talked about jobs and income as soon as they got out” (Gilb 25).” No one talked about going to college or took the initiative to do so because he or she didn’t think it was that important, but education plays a big role in someone's future. When students go to college, there are more opportunities out there for them because they worked hard in school and were able to get the help they needed. Education is the key to all success. By offering youth programs and college preparatory curriculums to all students, Boston’s youth will be taught of the importance of to go to college and be encouraged to do so. Students who are successful in school, have a better chance of having a better future, compared to someone else who doesn’t, because they were successful in school. Prioritizing Education and Youth programs first helps to combat wealth inequality because with education solved, more business opportunities are opened to more people, since there are more people qualified for jobs. In order to combat wealth inequalities, education and Youth programs should be prioritized because should environments should be made accepting toward all its students, educational programs should be provided to help students, and when students succeed in school, they have an opportunity to have a better life for themselves. By reforming schools, we are at least one step closer to overcoming wealth inequality because education is the key to success, with it, there are many people who are going to be qualified for so many different jobs, leading to many job opportunities and employment. When people are given the quality education they need in order to succeed in life, they have a lot of job opportunities open for them. Wealth inequality happens because wealth is focused more on a particular group of people, but if it was spread equally throughout different groups of people, life would be easier for so many people. Anita is a sophomore at Boston Collegiate Charter School. She is a brilliant scholar, exceptional artist, member of the track team and a founding member of the #blackgirlmagic community group at BCCS.
0 Comments
BY EMMA HARTL
Driving through Boston, one encounters extravagant mansions and clean sidewalks. However, a few minutes away, stacked apartment buildings and dirty streets. The difference a few blocks can make in the appearance and culture of a neighborhood is staggering. Although the wealthy and the poor live very close to one and other, their quality of facilities, the advancement of infrastructure, and overall upkeep in their neighborhoods is strikingly different. It is very apparent that race, employment, and education play a crucial role in the placement of people throughout Boston. People must focus on neighborhood investment in order to combat wealth inequality, as the difference in investment in neighborhoods of opposing economic status is so great that lower class people are kept from achieving financial progress. An equal investment in neighborhoods would be beneficial because it would increase the value of neighborhoods, create opportunities, and distribute power to more people that solely the wealthy, giving everyone the opportunity to grow economically. In Boston, the majority of government funding goes to wealthy neighborhoods, resulting in an increase in the value of these neighborhoods, but also leaving the other areas in dire need of financial help. The value of developments is vastly different from neighborhood to neighborhood, and the demographics of each neighborhood have some clear trends. For instance, wealthy areas like Downtown, the West End, Allston, and Fenway are statistically inhabited mainly by highly educated white people with steady jobs. Neighborhoods like these receive far more money for development from the city than neighborhoods primarily inhabited by black or Hispanic people with lower education and either low paying jobs or none at all. It is important to question why affluent neighborhoods that are already succeeding are the top priority of government spending. According to the Neighborhood Profiles produced by the Boston Planning and Development Agency Research Division, one of these neighborhoods, “The South Boston Waterfront is eighty-four percent white, seventy-nine percent of its citizens have bachelor's degrees or higher, and fifty- two percent of housing units are occupied. In 2016 2,478 thousands of square feet were approved for development in South Boston,” (BPDARD). Similarly to many other wealthy Boston neighborhoods, the South Boston Waterfront is full of opportunity and investment, as the residents have the means to contribute to the neighborhood. It is no surprise that Boston would want to continue to pour money into places like South Boston because of its endless potential. This explains how the majority of the money continues to go to affluent neighborhoods because it is a sound investment for the government, however, that does not justify the significantly smaller sum of money provided to lower income areas. Low-income neighborhoods must be prioritized in order to solve wealth inequality as they are not being provided with enough money to stay afloat. The statistics for these struggling areas show that there is a real issue with the distribution of money in Boston. According to the Neighborhood Profiles produced by the BPDARD, “Mattapan is seventy-four percent black, sixty-three percent of residents have a high school education, and as of 2015, sixty-three percent of housing was occupied. In 2016 the BPDA Board approved development in thousands of square feet was approximately zero square feet,” (BPDARD). Mattapan is in need of more housing, a clear sign that it needs funding for development because it will continue to become more overcrowded and run down without it. Yet, they received no funding for development because the money was spent on neighborhoods like the South Boston Waterfront. As long as Boston ignores Mattapan, the value of Mattapan will plummet, the exact opposite of South Boston waterfront. Equal funding in Boston could advance as a whole and all neighborhoods would be more financially stable because all neighborhoods would have more affordable housing and better jobs. It is not logical to put money into areas that are doing just fine when the majority of Boston residents are struggling in more condensed areas. Not to mention, equal funding would create a better flow of money between neighborhoods which would also translate to more diversity because poor communities would have the resources needed to allow low-income individuals to advance in society. This would result in black and Hispanic residents, who statistically live in poor neighborhoods with low-income jobs to start to break systematic racism in Boston. The lack of money in poor neighborhoods fuels wealth inequality because it results in barely any promising opportunities available for residents, keeping people in poverty. Low-income people concern themselves almost exclusively with providing for their families because they are not surrounded by good paying jobs or better affordable housing. These families commonly get stuck in a cycle of constantly having to make ends meet because they have no other choice. In "Hurray for Losers," author Dagoberto Gilb describes his lifestyle as a teenager in a low-income family. He is optimistic for his future, yet he recognizes that in his community there are low expectations for people's futures. Glib says, “Most stayed within a few miles of high school and worked at the familiar there. Or just had work come out of the family, lived near all of them. They just did what they'd been doing, what they learned to do,” (Gilb 31). In many poor neighborhoods like Gilb's people had low regards for their futures, and it seems like the government does too. If they did have hope for struggling neighborhoods they would give them. In the meantime wealthy Boston residents live in communities where their advancement is made a priority, and where it is a much easier process to get a better job, then a better house, and create a cycle of progress. Everyone deserves a fair shot to advance financially, and have a life that is different than that of their neighborhood’s fate. Nonetheless, this fate cannot easily be reversed. There are many barriers that make it difficult for wealthy, white, well-educated neighborhoods to be infiltrated by less privileged people. One prevalent reason is that less privileged people are not encouraged or aided in the process of advancing. In Youth From Every Quarter by Kirstin Valdez Quade, Kirsten shares her experience with helping Ana, a struggling student who didn't fit into her wealthy summer school because she was less privileged than the other students. When Kirsten attempted to get help for Ana, the dean of students states, “Not everyone belongs at Eliot,” (Valdez Quade, 25). The dean of students at the wealthy school was more lenient with the wealthy white students, but the dean decided that Ana, a poor Mexican student, was on her own, and she may not belong at the school anyway. Many connections can be made between this story and the current distribution of funding in Boston. Low-income neighborhoods that are primarily inhabited by poor people are being let down by the city because they are not getting fair treatment, and in a way, they are set up to fail because of it. Wealthy Bostonians, as well as the city, need to use their power to advocate for poor Boston neighborhoods because they are not given a fair shot at success. `It is important that low-income neighborhood receive the proper funding so that streets are beautified, and living conditions are more suitable. Necessities like modes of transportation and housing are compromised because they are treated as inadequate by the city, making them unreliable. Since poor residents cannot depend on many of these things, it makes life even more difficult than it already is. In “A Blizzard Of Perspective” by Barbara Howard, she shares the story of a low-income mother in Boston. Howard wrote, “Even before clocking into her job, she faces obstacles most of us never have to think about, and after clocking out, she and her little girl spend hours on buses only to face one last uphill climb. And then they do it again the next day,” (Howard, 59). This is the struggle of a lot of low-income people. They depend on broken systems, work unreliable jobs, and after a long day of work has to go to their overpriced homes. In impoverished areas, this lifestyle is clearly not a choice. This doesn't have to be the case since if the city put funding into poor areas, efficiency and living conditions would improve exponentially. In addition to the improvement of funding on the productivity of a neighborhood, it would improve the quality of life. for residents. Although the appearance of a neighborhood is not actively keeping people from getting to work or getting the resources they need, it is still detrimental to an occupant’s daily life. Even conditions of sidewalks are impactful to the atmosphere of a neighborhood. Not surprisingly, according to Meghan Irons, a writer at the Boston Globe, “Sixty-five percent of sidewalks in Roxbury and Dorchester are either in fair or poor condition; by contrast, sixty-eight percent of the sidewalks downtown and in the Back Bay are in good condition, city data show,” (Irons 52). The condition of sidewalks in poor neighborhoods should be a concern for Boston because once cracks and potholes form, they quickly get worse and become a big hazard. Having a nicely kept neighborhood would allow residents to have a sense of pride for where they live, which many do not have because of the poor condition of their surroundings. No one should have to feel shame for where they live because of something that is out of their control. Increased funding in poor neighborhoods, would have a hopeful outlook because they live in a more inspiring space. Some would disagree that neighborhood investment should be Boston’s first priority in combating wealth inequality because they believe that creating more job opportunities is more important. In Boston, there are a lot of people out of jobs, primarily in areas. The less privileged a person is, the harder it is for them to find a job, and in the rare occurrence that they do, it isn't always enough to support them and their families. For instance, in "Outside," author Kiese Laymon describes his friend Dave Melton who is unemployed, saying, “I earned nineteen hundred dollars a month after taxes for talking to young people about something called black literary imagination and Dave was legally unemployed because no one in Hudson Valley wanted to hire a black man with several felonies on his record,” (Laymon 28). It is true that wealth inequality would improve if there were more jobs for less privileged people, however, neighborhood investment should be prioritized first, because it will create more job opportunities in itself. If there was equal funding in Boston, there would be more funding for office spaces which creates jobs. Also, neighborhood investment makes the city of Boston direct attention to poor citizens, which gives them a voice to advocate for policies that would allow less privileged people to get jobs. An equal investment in neighborhoods must be prioritized as it would improve living conditions, create opportunities, and make financial progress obtainable to everyone. Boston has a lot of work to do in terms of making everyone, rich and poor, heard, because as of now only rich neighborhoods are heard and they are also the only neighborhoods that are advancing. The city must open their eyes to this reality and prioritize everyone if they actually have intentions of making progress. Emma is a prolific writer and artist at Boston Collegiate Charter School. BY JASON THOMPSON-WILSON
Millions of people are affected by poverty, and struggle financially daily, while others thrive. Why do we allow this to continue when there is a way to end it? Wealth inequality in the United States is the unequal distribution of assets among residents of the United States. As one group of people makes more money than the other, the gap widens between them. To reduce wealth inequality, employment and business should Boston’s primary focus area because it will give a steady source of income, increase lower class wealth, and prevent the unemployed to seek alternative methods of income. Employment and business opportunities should be implemented to give a good, steady income. In the narrative “Outside”, by Kiese Laymon, a character named Dave has to resort to selling drugs because he wasn’t earning enough but needed to support his family. Many Bostonians like Dave also have to resort to participating in illegal activity because they aren't given adequate employment opportunities. Laymon writes,“while Dave Melton worked at Vassar, he sold drugs to sad people inside and outside Vassar’s gates” (Laymon 108). Dave’s job was not supporting him enough to keep him financially stable, and if he was given a better opportunity or even higher pay, he wouldn’t have to resort to crime. Assumedly, if Dave was given a good steady job, he would have had enough money, and been above the poverty line, which would have had put him in the place where he doesn’t have to look anywhere else for money. This relates to Boston citizens, as many working class people have to look for other forms of payment to be stable in life. More or better opportunities would allow them to only have to look for one method of payment and keep them out of trouble, reducing wealth inequality over time. Adding on to the fact, if Dave had been given a steady good job, he wouldn’t have violated his parole and stayed out of prison. Laymon states, “When money for bus rides got tight, Dave missed one week, then another week, and another. His PO told him he understood that Dave didn’t want to leave his daughter and money was tight, but he’d have to arrest him when he entered Maryland for unlawfully crossing state lines while on parole. A warrant was issued for Dave’s arrest” (Laymon 109). If Dave had had a steady job, he would have been able to afford for transportation to his parole, and would have stayed out of prison. There are many other people around the world, especially in Boston who need money to do certain things that are important, and can affect their everyday lives. Giving everyone an employment opportunity will keep a good steady income, which will allow those who can’t afford to live the way need, be able to do so. Dagoberto Gilb's “Hurray for Losers” illuminates the need for better jobs with higher pay in low-income neighborhoods. Gib's main the main character does not have access to the best opportunities, and those around him either dreamed about jobs or didn’t work more than minimum wage. Employment opportunities need to be implemented to increase lower class wealth, and supply jobs to those in need. The narrative highlights the need for jobs for the lower class youth. Gilb states the youth “talked about jobs and income as soon as they got out. Loading docks and trucker training, fireman, bartender, carpenter, plumber jet mechanic, butcher.” (29). This shows the youth are thinking about job opportunities right when they get out of high school. As they think about what they want to do, not all of them will have the opportunity to have them. Implementing said job opportunities can employ the youth, giving jobs to those who are just getting out of high school. Along with being in need, there were those who weren’t working more than minimum wage. In the narrative, the main character is in a community where even most of the surrounding adults are making minimum wage. Gilb states “ Around 30 to 40 men and women where at least 150 were employed, all minimum-wage level” (Gilb 288). This shows how the people in this community, aren’t making enough to support themselves and shows that better employment opportunities need to be given to them. Neighborhood comparisons show the difference in neighborhood income and show employment opportunities need to be given to decrease the gap in wealth inequality. Looking at data from neighborhood comparisons you can see that one neighborhood has a higher income average than the other. According to Boston Plans, neighborhoods including Allston with income averages like $39,717 are drastically smaller than neighborhoods like South Boston Waterfront making $111,518. This difference shows the difference in income, showing that there is a need for more employment opportunities to decrease the gap. Also, looking at the number of jobs available, numbers of jobs for different neighborhoods is also significantly different. Boston Plans also highlights neighborhoods like the West end were providing 37,302 jobs, while West Roxbury was only giving out 5,638 jobs. This big difference shows there is a great need for more jobs that are lacking in opportunities and are needed to increase the wealth in lower class neighborhoods. Though supplying those in need with education would help them in the long run to get jobs, it would not be able to supply them with jobs as soon as 2019. Education takes many months or years, and while it could educate about professions, supplying jobs right away could put those in need of employment right into the working field, helping to fix the inequality gap as soon as 2019. Secondly, giving out education would not be fully helping the youth that is seeking employment. Not every teenager is given a job, but many are seeking one, and giving them an education, which most have, doesn’t work to reduce the gap. However, giving them jobs will grant teenagers from neighborhoods around the U.S with jobs, and help reduce the gap. Employment and business must be the focus for Boston if we want the wealth inequality gap to be reduced. Giving jobs to all kinds of people will help raise lower class, supply jobs to the youth, and protect people from looking for alternative methods of income. This is important because millions of people are struggling with poverty every day, and directly giving them a fresh start with a new job, could change their life forever. An employment opportunity is going to put them out of the statistic. Jason is a bright student, lyricist, and aspiring model who shines at Boston Collegiate Charter School. BY KAELIN CLARK
Wealth inequality and education affects every single person in this country, whether they know it or not. Wealth inequality is the disproportional imbalance of wealth between neighborhoods, races, genders, and social classes. In Boston, there is a lot of wealth inequality and often, this causes segregation inside schools, neighborhoods, and other communities. A big solution to help fight against wealth inequality would be to invest and give further support to Boston’s education system. Therefore, investment in our education system must be prioritized as it leads to more employment, more financial stability with higher salaries, and youth programs open opportunities to those who wouldn't have access to them on their own. The more people that have access to education, the more people will become employed. Over time and especially recently, more and more jobs prefer people with high education levels because employers want someone who has been specifically trained to do a certain job so they can succeed in doing that job well for the employer. For example, in Kiese Laymon’s “Outside,” he tells his personal story of being a black college professor and trying to help his friend, a formerly incarcerated black man who has just been incarcerated again. Laymon hints that with higher education comes more job opportunities. He reflects, “I had three degrees and Dave hadn’t graduated high school… earned nineteen hundred dollars a month after taxes for talking to young people...and Dave was legally unemployed” (Laymon 28). Although there are other factors, such as Dave’s criminal record, in his unemployed status, the direct causation between education and employment is clear here. Laymon had more extensive education and a better job, however, Dave hadn’t gotten as far in his academic career so there were fewer jobs that he was eligible for, resulting in his unemployment. The author also reveals that overcoming wealth inequality when it is already working against you is extremely rare. Laymon says, “white colleagues routinely put their hands on my back and called me lucky. They meant that Southern black boys like me were more likely to end up incarcerated than working beside wonderful white faculty at so-called elite liberal arts colleges” (Laymon 30). Because educational opportunities aren’t evenly spread out within people, it can be hard to get the same results and success as those just given opportunities. Those who aren’t given opportunities have to work to find these opportunities and take advantage of them because they have to work harder for them. However, with government support and money, people will be able to get the education they deserve and be able to reach their full potential in school and in life. Education should be prioritized because more education leads to higher paying jobs and more financial stability. College gets more and more expensive as years go by, and college degrees are becoming a lot more favorable to employers. Most stable jobs require multiple years of secondary education to ensure that they are experienced and have the proper knowledge to be able to do the job adequately. College is too expensive for many people to afford, but it is needed to get the jobs they want or need, as written in “Conclusion: Slow Growth and Inequality are Political Choices. We Can Choose Otherwise” by Joseph Stiglitz. He states that “the children of the poor can neither the advanced degrees that are increasingly required for employment nor the unpaid internships that provide the alternative route to ‘good’ jobs”(Stiglitz 2). The lower class are stuck between two options- a low paying job or paying off college debt for a really long time. Cheaper college education options or more need-based scholarships would allow for more people having access to a way to get a college degree so they can get better jobs, often including better salaries and more benefits, leading them to have more financial stability. Also, the highest paying jobs require a secondary education degree. For example, in a Boston Economy Report from 2018 by BostonPlans.org, the jobs with the highest weekly wage in 2016 were Finance and Insurance ($4,142), Management of Companies and Enterprises ($2,825), and Professional and Technical Services ($2,536) (Boston Plans 43). People need to go to college for jobs like these so they can take specific classes to prepare them for the job and also teach them all the necessary information and techniques they may need to know before actually working at the job. If people become more highly educated, they will be more able to work towards getting these jobs that will provide them with the money they need. With sufficient support being given to the education system like cheaper tuition or more scholarships, people will have the opportunity to do and they will continue to have this opportunity if they change their mind when they’re older. Others may state that other areas, like business ventures or transportation, should be prioritized as the focus area to combat wealth inequality in Boston in 2019 because it helps people get where they need to go. They may claim that “if we had a better public transformation system that made it easier and more affordable for working-class people to commute to where jobs are available, then a higher percentage of our population would be working and paying taxes” (Stiglitz 4). Although this may be true to some extent, opportunities for jobs opened by transportation does not compare to the opportunities for employment opened by education. Transportation opens up jobs within different areas, but education opens up jobs within different fields, salaries, levels, and many others. Also, if people do not have the education they need to be able to do a job, there is no point in having transportation if they do not have a job or educational opportunities. In conclusion, you cannot have transportation to fight wealth inequality without having education and youth programs first. Investing and prioritizing education and youth programs will fight against wealth inequality because it creates more job opportunities, it leads to higher paying jobs, and youth programs opens doors for students. Education is the starting point to many important things in society- such as new ideas, new technologies, and new discoveries. More educated Bostonians also will increase the working class population and therefore taxpayers, further better Boston’s economy. Finally, by opportunities being more evenly spread out, more people will have access to adequate education and with knowledge comes power. More people, in this case specifically lower class people, will be able to speak out on controversial topics with factual logic and evidence, making more voices in America heard. Overall, education is the key that opens doors to new opportunities in life. Kaelin is a top scholar at Boston Collegiate Charter School. When she is not studying, she is excelling on the soccer field, basketball court, and softball diamond as a BCCS Hurricane. BY NOLAN CONNOR
In and around the Boston area, public transportation plays a major role in the lives in almost all Bostonians. Whether one takes the commuter rail to Plymouth or the red line to Downtown Crossing, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) can take you there, but is this the train easily accessible in all neighborhoods? Being a Boston resident myself, I can say without a doubt that more time and money needs to be spent on the trains and busses of Boston. New paint jobs, cleaner trains, easily accessible transportation for all students are the types of changes we need to make in all parts of Boston in order to improve the transportation system. In order to fix wealth inequality, improvement of Boston’s public transportation system will help students get to school easier, help people in low-income areas access resources, and make Boston more aesthetically pleasing. Not all train stops are created equal. It appears that some trains are more tidied up than others. For example, it seems the highly hated the green line hasn't received a new paint job or remodeling in years. Compared to the commuter rail or even the red line for that matter, the green line is pretty much a dump. The green line has the longest trip in Boston and has stops in low-income neighborhoods. Although it has many stops and may not be the best train to take in Boston, that shouldn't be a reason for it to be ignored. It should get equal attention and care as any other train line in Boston. When considering the green line work needed, the department of public utilities had this to say about the Green Line, “the MBTA Track Department faces many unique challenges to maintain the Green Line in a non-restrictive operational state due to a variety of problematic foundational issues with the age, design and renewal needs of the track infrastructure” (MBTA). I agree it takes a lot of time and money to enforce these changes to improve the green line but if nothing is done now who knows how the state of the Green Line will be in the future. Continuing to allow these conditions make it harder for students in neighborhoods with Green Line stops to get to school. Another major issue regarding public transportation in Boston is accessible for students to get to school. This means reducing the train and bus fare so students that come from low-income families can afford to ride the MBTA every day. Yes, most schools in and around Boston offer M7 cards, which gives a student free access to transportation. However, this is only the case for students who live a good distance away from their school. Students who live closer to the school are not allowed to receive an M7 card, instead, they have the option to obtain a student card, which slightly reduces train and bus fare. 85 cents might not sound like a lot, but for some students, it’s a struggle to scrape up some change so they can get to school. I interviewed several Boston students, one BPS student remarked, “I feel that all BPS high school students should be given an M7 pass, regardless of where they live. As if it’s not bad enough that students are being asked to pay, the fares increase almost every year.” By giving every student an M7 card, it makes it way easier for students to guarantee they have a way to school. It also saves money for families who don’t have the extra dollar to give to their child for the bus. Accessible and reliable public transportation offers an opportunity to people that might not have a lot. It can offer jobs, easy access, and education, which is why it's important that every neighborhood around Boston should have an accessible train station or bus stop for all. However, this is not the case, several surrounding neighborhoods of Boston do not have train stations, and they seem to be low-income neighborhoods. Towns like Bedford, Burlington, and Lexington are teaming to consider potential local transportation services. These towns care about their lower-class residents and want to make sure they get where they need to be whether its to work or school. Building train stations in these towns will even help upper-class residents who want to get from point A to point B without being stuck in Boston's terrible traffic on route 128. Improvement of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will help fix wealth inequality in Boston. By funding the trains and busses in the ways I stated, we can have a more equal and better city. Decreasing bus and train fare, and supplying M7 cards to all students in Boston regardless of their residence will help kids get to school. Cleanliness of the trains will encourage more riders. And building more stops will help people get to their jobs. Nolan is a sophomore at Boston Collegiate Charter School and a proud resident of South Boston. He is a budding animator and hopes to one day make a career of it. |
From Our DesksBoston Collegiate Charter School students offer their own analyses and solutions for Boston's wealth inequality crisis. Categories
All
|