Welcome to my Writing 220 project! The following fake blog, The My School Sucks Vlog, was ideated over the course of a semester at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2023. The semester-long project began with the selection of an origin piece, past writing to inspire the exploration which would take place in class. For me, this was a high school essay concerning the way my school limited its students' opportunities beyond graduation. However, in conducting research, I found that many of the issues surrounding lack of opportunity are out of the hands of the schools themselves. Every primary school in America is allotted a certain amount of funding based on its student population, test scores, total employees, and a variety of other factors. The amount each school receives can then be broken down into per pupil expenditure (PPE), how much money is spent on each student over the course of a year. The results are astonishing...

Simply put, the range of per pupil expenditure amongst public schools around the nation displays the drastically different value placed on each individual student. Just because a student is born into a school district without significant funding, their future life outcomes are completely altered before even having begun their education. This inequity is exacerbated further when private schools are thrown into the mix. These per pupil expenditures are even higher, and children born into families without the ability to pay college-level prices for four years of high school or even the entirety of a child's primary education are at a disadvantage at birth.

These inequities are, due to their financial and geographic nature, more greatly present in black and latinx communities. How can a cycle of inequity be broken if children aren't all given the same opportunities? Why can't a child's aptitude for hard work and determination determine their life outcome, rather than the financial background of their family and school district? These are the questions our education system must face.

My two vlogs were created as a means to shed a light on the educational (vlog #1) and social (vlog #2) experiences students may have if they don't come from a district with high PPE nor a family with great financial freedom. Although the dialogue in the vlogs is paraphrased and exaggerated for comedic effect, the events which take place are ENTIRELY TRUE and adapted from my personal experience as a student in a district with low PPE and a member of family without great financial freedom. All characters are combinations or adaptations of real students and teachers I have encountered, while the Devin character is an accurate depiction of myself. Enjoy!