Thursday, October 31, 2019

Chick-Fil-A Marketing Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chick-Fil-A Marketing Report - Essay Example For instance, the restaurant’s hours of operation plan exclude Sundays. Aside from simply â€Å"doing business†, the company also does a lot of charity work through nonprofit organizations. Simply put, the Cathy family behind the business â€Å"puts [their] money where [their] faith is† and this certainly has a colossal effect on how business plans are made and their Some of Chick Fil-A’s most recent marketing plans include expansion to other regions – mainly the northeastern part – of the U.S. in order to furtheritsdevelopment in the market and to guarantee that the company stays a strong competitor among other chicken restaurants. Quite possibly the most interesting marketing plan that Chick Fil-A has introduced is Cow Appreciation Day, during which customers can arrive dressed like cows to receive free meals. Management: One of the greatest strengths of Chick-Fil-A’s management is that it carefully screens its new hires to ensure that these individuals are loyal to the brand and that they share the same beliefs as the Chick-Fil-A concept. Employees and managers alike have a reputation for being upbeat and extremely sensitive to the needs of guests, as evidenced by the 2nd mile initiative, which places extreme emphasis on â€Å"going the extra mile† for the guests. Weaknesses: Corporate office and policies can intrude into employees’ personal lives. Due to the strict nature of Chick-Fil-A’s hiring process, high quality potential candidates are often scared away from applying at Chick-Fil-A.Chick-Fil-A also steers clear of discounting and limited-time offers, which could be forgoing a significant amount of additional revenues. Marketing: Chick-Fil-A brands itself as a wholesome entity with Christian and family values, and has been very successful in that respect. Fewer than 5% of owner/operators leave the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Black Homelessness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Black Homelessness - Essay Example In this paper the issue of black homelessness in the background of young people living in the project housing is dealt with. It is possible to view the issue of black homelessness on the background of the social theories that deal with such issues, the values and ethics, multidisciplinary working, anti-disciplinary practice, challenges faced by service users, challenges faced by housing support workers, supervision, discrimination, empowerment, young people social skills, integration into society, New Deal for young people, employment, partnership work with other agencies, legislation etc. The barriers affecting housing organisation, good argument between govt and local authority housing, housing law and homelessness, local authority housing resources allocations, and the reflection of work done with young people living within housing projects also can strengthen the understanding of the issue. A close understanding of the issue of black homelessness confirms that there is a great re lation between the social work and the housing issues, the agencies working in housing and practice in the region of black homelessness. ... Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work." (Definition of Social Work, British Association of Social Workers). Therefore, the issue of black homelessness in the background of young people living in project housing can be understood as a serious social issue to be dealt with social workers. As specified in BASW, the works of a social worker include pertinent areas such as interpersonal practice, group work, community work, social development, social action, policy development, research, social work education and supervisory and managerial functions in these fields. Therefore, black homelessness naturally becomes a pertinent issue that concerns the social worker. In this attempt of dealing with the issue, the social workers encounter several challenges. There are several specific values and ethics that contribute to the practice of social working among the homeless. "Social work practice should both promote respect for human dignity and pursue social justice, through service to humanity, integrity and competence." (Values and Principles, British Association of Social Workers). Thus, the responsibilities towards the service users need to be kept important by the social workers practicing in the area of black homelessness. Thus, they need to give priority to the service us er's interests, be aware of their cultural background, respect their privacy, confidentiality, and records etc. they also have responsibilities towards their profession, responsibilities in the workplace, responsibilities in particular roles etc which they need to keep all through

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Leadership in the Virgin Group

Leadership in the Virgin Group In the past 20 years Richard Branson had extended his Virgin brand from one business of a magazine called student to distinct businesses like airline, trains, mobile phone, broadband, cola, bridal wear, financial services, retail chain, jeans, cars, and books. Branson started with a magazine with name of Student when he was 16 years age in January 1968. He was successful in selling its 50,000 copies at that time. (virgin, 2011) Later he quite the study and make it a fulltime job. In 1970 he started a mail-order company with name of Virgin that was name which now grow today in a big business empire. Virgin now a day is fast expanding business in world in many sectors from airline to broadband services. It is considered as worlds most respected and leading brand. Sir Richard Branson started what started in 1970 it is now a success empire of multi-businesses. It is dealing with 300 brands, more than 50000 employees and 11.5 Billion Pounds business currently. (virgin, 2011) In this study we are going to see how things are being managed at leadership levels by Richard Branson and his team for virgin group and how it is leading towards success of business. This report focuses on finding such theories, models of leadership that can be learned from virgin to put these for success of other organizations we will also find how Sir Richard Branson is dealing his own way to this group and how he is making progress in his business. In this study we will see the progress made by Virgin and later we will make analysis of approach adopt by Virgin and other in same industry. We will also look at Sir Richard Branson leadership style and will try to find some suggestion of improvement for Virgin in future times at end of our study. Virgin Success Model Virgin under Sir Richard Branson claims that they are difference maker in the world. For that they are trying to innovation in their ways to get higher in competitive advantages and in their diversity. They introduce virgin as a brand that stands for quality, innovation, competitive challenge, fun and value for customers money. They have good research and analysis system that help them in starting anything new. They claim that they put same shoe of customers to walk on the street of purchasing and utilizing things before going into a start. (Bartholomeusz, 2011) They work as trend setter in the market rather than being just followers. They deeply focus on their competitors approach and then develop a strategy that comes with better results. They make sure they are adding some values to any brand. They focus on risk and rewards. They are very much selective and careful in appointing their staff and management team. They even for Human resources went into joint-ventures with other companies to get maximum inputs and knowledge from skilled market. They have diverse approach with diversity in their products and services with bunch of variety in it. They are very much concern about their market and ways into that market. All this is lead by Sir Richard Branson. The power of virgin is hiding with leadership style of Richard Branson who is good in his ways and style. His reputation, network, partners and management brought him to this level as it mentioned on their by company itself. They got rid of bureaucratic ways of management and replaced it with competent self motivated management that is capable of dealing with situation their selves most the times instead looking for directions upwards every time as it is in every bureaucratic structure. They work as team as family even within their businesses and within the group of this brand virgin. There are some time certain problems for that their system provides a solution based leadership and at the top is Richard himself working like a good skilled leader and manager. Everything t hey try is customer feedback based and makes right guidelines for them every time when they miss something. Here is list of business under this group (virgin, 2011) :- Virgin Atlantic Airways, hello Gorgeous Virgin Blue (airline with its name as Virgin Blue, Virgin America, V Australia) Virgin Holidays ( Virgin Holidays + Hip Hotels, Virgin Holidays Cruises, Virgin Limited Edition, Virgin Vacations, Blue Holidays) Lifestyle (Virgin Active UK) Virgin Wines (Australia) Virgin Active (Australia, Italia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain) Virgin Experience Days Virgin Racing Virgin Trophy Virgin Mobile (Australia, Canada, France, India, Qtels, South Africa, UK and USA) Virgin Media Virgin Produced Virgin Money ( UK, Australia, South Africa, Money Giving) Virgin Earth Challenge Virgin Green Fund Virgin Unite (NGO) Virgin Megastore (music and entertainment) Virgin Radio International Virgin Festivals We can see how diverse market virgin have to deal under leadership of Richard Branson. This kind of divers, spread and wide business required higher levels of leadership with commitments to deal with it effectively that Richard is doing over the years. Leadership in any Organization has some specific focal point on administrative leadership as whole in that organization and it tries to fill the gap of academic management theoretical study and its practical implication on bases of real life situations. Here we will find what kind of approaches, theories and models are in practice with in leadership concept in business world. There are numbers of models and theories in leadership study, here are some of these mentioned under (associates, 2011) :- Appreciative Inquiry Attributes of Management Excellence Attribution Theory Bases of Social Power Beyond Budgeting Centralization and Decentralization Change Approaches Change Behaviour Change Equation Change Management Change Phases Changing Organization Cultures Charismatic Leadership Coaching Competing Values Framework Contingency Theory Core Group Theory Crisis Management Cultural Dimensions Cultural Intelligence Culture Levels Dimensions of Change Dimensions of Relational Work Emotional Intelligence EPIC ADVISERS ERG Theory Expectancy Theory Five Disciplines Force Field Analysis Forget Borrow Learn Framing Functional Leadership Groupthink Growth Phases Hagberg Model of Personal Power Hierarchy of Needs Inspirational Leadership Instrumental Approach of Stakeholder Theory Intrinsic Stakeholder Commitment Leadership Continuum Leadership Pipeline Leadership Styles Leadership Styles Level 5 Leadership Leveraged Buy-out Levers of Control Management Buy-out Management by Objectives Managerial Grid Managing for Value Mentoring Moral Purpose Normative Approach of Stakeholder Theory OODA Loop Organizational Configurations Organization Chart PAEI management roles Parenting Advantage Parenting Styles Participative Leadership Path-Goal Performance Prism Portfolio Analysis POSDCORB Positive Deviance RACI (RASCI) Result Oriented Management Results-Based Leadership SECI model Servant-Leadership Seven Habits Seven Signs Of Ethical Collapse Seven Surprises Situational Leadership SMART Social Intelligence Spiral Dynamics Stakeholder Value Perspective Strategic Intent Strategic Stakeholder Management Hence we will look some good models and theories among all above for that we select three which are more comprehensive in their approach. Part One (a) 1: Theory of Needs by David McClelland The human motivation is comprises of three main needs: 1 need for achievement 2 need for power 3 need for affiliation. This theory of needs was given by American psychologist David McClelland based on work of Henry Murray that was done in 1938. In 1961 he stated that the motivation of an individual can result from three dominant needs: the Need for Achievement, Power and Affiliation. (Pattanayak, 2005) Every person wants to achieve certain goals in his or her life that are very important to that person in the life. Some time they look for success and positive feedback from others. They look to widen themselves and to avoid risks situations. They mostly try to avoid low-risk because they want to attained success easily. While in some high-risk projects all achievers look the outcome as chance not the as a result for their efforts. They love to work their selves alone or some time with some other person with high achievements. McClelland believes about these people that those are always the best leaders with some tendency of higher demands from their staff. They are result driven in their approach. They seek higher personal relations and look for acceptance from others. They also tend look same kind of norms from their work group. They struggle to create and maintain relationships with higher level of trust and good mutual understanding. They always prefer cooperation on competition. According to McClelland they perform in customer service and dealing clients very well. McClellands this concept is also take as Acquired Needs Theory, the Learned Needs Theory, and Three Needs Theory. 2: Management by Objectives: (SMART) by Drucker In this theory main focus is on defining main objectives for organisations employees and later directing their performance according to these objectives. Peter Drucker presents it in his work The practice of Management as Management by Objectives in 1954. (Hurd, 2008) Management by objectives relies on focusing and defining the objectives for every employee and making their performance according to these objectives. The major aim is to increase performance in the organization through matching organizations goals and employees goals. Employees are given main identity and acknowledgement in this system. Purpose is to involve evry one in the organisation rather than focusing and giving importance to top managers. This way all mangers start from their levels and they later contribute on top level in planning and implementations. Principles of MBO:- 1 flow of organizations goals and objectives 2 Specific objectives for every member 3 Participation in decision making 4 Explicit time period 5 timely performance evaluations with proper feedback. Management by Objectives is having a method for development called SMART method this SAMRT is taken from * Specific * Measurable * Achievable * Realistic And * Time-related. This method of checking MOB is effective to keep organisation and staff on right direction always. 3 Centralization and Decentralization By changing the ways of decision making at authority levels and by corresponding organizations structure effectively higher goals can be achieved. All organizations have to make many strategic and many of the operational decisions. The question is who makes these decisions and at what level. In normal bureaucratic structure decision are always made by top management. Thus this system holds the time and makes slow of process and sometimes delays the required decisions. This is called centralisation and in Decentralisations thing is decided at implementations level other than any change required in policy which is changed at top management levels this makes things done in swift way. (Pride, 2009)Thus Centralization is process of transferring and passing on decision making authority at higher levels of hierarchy in organization. In a centralized organization decision are made at higher levels. Most the knowledge and information about organisation lie at top levels and are shared according o need at lower level. Decentralization, is process of transferring and passing on decision making authority at levels of hierarchy in organisation. In a decentralized organization decision are made at lower levels and they are informed to higher levels for records. Most the knowledge and information about organisation lie at lower levels and are shared according to need at top level also direction are taken when those are required. Part one (b) Implementation of models at Virgin and others Branson believed in the best communication through setting an example by the leadership. Staffs need to have a role model whom they can follow. Branson being a reel from traditional management structure and systems adopted a diverse approach that compromising all three models mentioned in our study previously. We will look into these at virgin by Branson and at other businesses in same industry like Sir Terry Leahy ways in managing of Tesco and Keith Rupert Murdoch of sky group one by one. Theory of Needs As mentioned above this theory is based on three main needs of need for achievement, need for power and need for affiliation. Richard Branson as young man was searching for all these and thus he focused on achieving these targets as soon as possible. For that purpose he started his magazine student. With early sales he generated lots of business and set virgin company. Later years he expanded it in diverse business, looking for these set targets of needs. He also made his company according to this principal of human needs and set a trusted mechanism for every employee in virgin business. As mentioned by David McClelland he creates a higher level of the motivation for an individual in his organisation to bring results from the satisfaction of these three dominant needs: the Need for Achievement, Power and Affiliation. He knows well that every person wants to achieve certain goals in his or her life that those are very important to them. That also need support from organisation to give room to everyone to show capabilities and get rewards, thats what virgin follows as a strategy in their businesses. He like McClelland believes that people have great capabilities if they are given proper training and chance to put their efforts in it. That is resin virgin have this kind of set up that supports these basics. On other hand if we see the TESCO and Sky they have different approach their business than what Richard brought to Virgin. (Telegraph, 2011) They have more tight control over things their corporate ways are not fit into need based theory but they have adopted some other ways to groom their corporate business. That reason that TESCO and Sky look more tight business in their terms and they sometime re hit by losses. When staff dont feels part of being into teams and they feel just as working brains and hands unlike the people who work at Virgin who look the Virgin as their life part due to its benefits that it is giving to them. 2: Management by Objectives At virgin this model is followed completely as organisation focuses on its objectives and makes employees get their targets set accordingly. They have to adjust things both way first company tries to accommodate employees objective and makes such corporate strategy that helps staff in achievement of their objective s and policies are supportive to employees in their growth. While employees are also expected to go with the broader objective s of company and be loyal to the company objective. It is in many studies that virgin having higher level of such loyalty from staff. Virgin ensures that there is enough support for employees identity and acknowledgement in their system. Purpose is to involve everyone in the organisation rather than focusing and giving importance to top managers. This way all mangers start from their levels and they later contribute on top level in planning and implementations. Virgin follows all principles of MBO like flow of organizations goals and objectives at all levels is ensured, there is set of specific objectives for every member, there is higher level of participation in decision making by staff, There is certain time span for targets and everything is based on time and feedbacks. Virgin also makes policies and targets based on SMART approach. Making all targets and objectives Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-related. If we compare this with TESCO and Sky they also have this approach in their business and they try to keep them on this way of management by objectives. (mandmgloba, 2011) All three companies are doing well on it but it is fact that the way Virgin is following this rule is different from others two and they are doing remrably well in their performance compare to others two. Other two have huge investments supports but still if we compare the returns over investments Virgin is making ahead. While this approach of Management by objective is adopted by all these mega businesses in their strategy of dealing things in their business. 3 Centralization and Decentralization There is beautiful balance of centralisation and decentralisation at Virgins Group this was attained through by changing their ways of decision making at authority levels and by corresponding organizations structure effectively higher goals can be achieved. All decisions are made according to need and capacities. There is more freedom at lower levels in Virgin as Virgin leadership believes in human potential. Thus they avoid unnecessary delays in decision at implementation levels. On the other hand the concept of centralisation in TESCO (Hiscott, 2010) and at Sky is more tight than Virgin. Their decentralisation approach is some time affected by the ways of decentralisation for short times. They were failing to develop such kind of trust over their managers that the staffs of Virgin enjoy. The team building and degree of freedom for performance according to your skills is very high at Virgins comparing to TESCO and Sky. Both are facing good competition in their related product and se rvices with Virgins. As three of them are into media, mobile industry and service providing in different sectors. Part Two Sir Richard Branson leadership style. If we deeply study the style of Mr Branson he is a dynamic leader that always looks higher towards major goals in life. For that he adopts couple methods like Theory of needs, MOB and balanced centralisation and decentralisation. He more focuses on brand value of his company. He has very simple ways of living, he believes in enjoying life and sharing it with others. He is man of his own choices he choose what he liked instead of looking into his background on that business and he made success. He always bucking his team on different occasions as he wants them feels that he is with them in all matters. He has developed a culture at Virgins that cannot be found in many organisations. All employees of Virgin are invited to show and perform their capabilities. He is innovative person with many qualities of leadership in business that reason his company is expanding over the years. HE has invested his own rule for all this and put all his efforts as success that way. He is able to identify many hurdles and made much better than his compotators. He has given his employees great independence in work as he also welcomed them for fast promotions ov er the time. He has idea that anyone can took over the top in his company if they show such kind of commitments. Virgins all success in days of 1970s and 1980s is result of Bransons unusual way and management style that was corner stone on all this business and his corporate norms were different form the system that was existing at that time. He stopped wearing traditional businessmen suit and tie instead he use to wear a sweater and slacks. He uses technologies effectively compare to other and enjoy his holidays and dealing everything on phone, fax and internet. He gives his subordinates more freedom to work their tasks. He believes everyone wants to deal with top person so he provides his managers to deal with him directly. He gives his staff high performance incentives and he relies on his team. He also adopted a technique through which he have divided his company tasks into multi unit operations. His companies are connected with each other very well and some time supports each other. Most important is that he always encouraged to his employees go and do some innovation and take more risks instead of being in fear with failure risks. He is famous for his risk taking ability and habit. He normally emphasise on the importance that a service should bring for customers for the value of their money. He is skilled with troubleshooting and making new projects. His motto is to create such companies only in which he himself believes. Part Three Proposals for development Virgin group have their own ways of developing people it is the best way for them to carry things as Mr Branson himself was doing. As he can himself aware fully that every individual unlike his educational background have such capabilities that can make businesses grow remarkably. There should be a system of skill promotion based on theory of needs for the staff. It should more focus on hidden capabilities of people who are working in Virgin and those are trying to attain higher professional success though their hidden skills. There should be culture of responsibility in the company where people do feel their own responsibility instead of every time supervisors are making them to perform their duty. This thing can be brought when people feel trust by the supervisors to make decisions and do things on their own within certain limited that is secure. The group is already doing well by providing people innovative ways to show their skills while they are working with the company. There should be continue system of need based development and a balanced central and de-central approach. Things for Virgin unlike other business are very much bright as they have diversity if businesses. As Branson believed in aligning his company HR department with the values of company he is more conscious about his brand value. He also makes smart decisions when picking people for any task as if they have same bend of mind that is company value it would be easier for them to do best in their job. Virgin has a diverse approach so they dont have any set traits for any person to become employee at Virgins. However they use to select people who are ready to take responsibility in their own and can work hard. Main focus they always have is aligning with customers need and wants. Thus company has created its value in the business and market and made his brand as symbol of success and trust.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Parallel Plot Lines in Slaughterhouse-Five :: Slaughterhouse-Five Essays

The Parallel Plot Lines in Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut is and will always in my eyes and in the eyes of many others the writer who made the science-fiction genre safe for not only mainstream appeal, but also critical acclaim and intellectual contemplation. Even though Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker series were released in roughly the same timeframe as Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, none has held the same aura of respect and significance to the literary zeitgeist as Vonnegut's monumental masterpiece. The respect Slaughterhouse-Five garnishes among bookworms and the intellectual elite alike is no accident. Kurt Vonnegut's universal acclaim and appeal surely comes in no small part from his gift for connecting, almost unnoticiably, seemingly unrelated objects and events to give them deeper meaning, creating a phenomenon known within Jungian circles as synchronicity. By making his novel so multi-layered by drawing these comparisons, such as in being transported from a train car into a POW camp to an extraterrestrial spaceship that hums like a melodious owl, human beings being trapped within each moment in time like an insect in amber, and the writer's own repetition of his current project to a jokey old song, the writer gives us a deeper insight into the real multi-layeredness of space and time. When Billy Pilgrim and his fellow POWs are transported out of their train car and toward the POW camp, Vonnegut compares the calm peeking-in and speech of the Axis power guards to the behavior of an owl. The owl had been mentioned earlier in the novel, more specifically in the persona of a clock hanging in Billy's office, and is brought up again here to describe Billy's antagonists: "The guards peeked in Billy's car owlishly, cooed calmingly." By using the owl already mentioned in the novel as a metaphor, Vonnegut makes an otherwise uncomfortable and tense situation more familiar. The writer uses this metaphor again while telling of the movement of the POWs out of the train car

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Alcohol Policy Report

The WEOC management deems it necessary to establish a set of stringent guidelines for serving alcohol at all of its events, since the company does not support completely banning alcohol consumption. A single alcohol management policy would help enforce a standard practice free of bias and conflicts. This would ensure that all individuals attending the event have a good time without any disturbance from individuals intoxicated with alcohol. Since the company hosts a fair share of late night parties, it would help prevent accidents resulting from drunken driving.Moreover, limiting alcohol consumption at events such training programs and conferences would ensure that business productivity is not affected due to overconsumption of alcohol. Enforcing a policy restricting alcohol consumption is essential to exercise control over large crowds at WEOC sponsored sports events. Since WEOC hosts events such as picnics involving attendees of all ages, it is the company’s responsibility to ensure that such events are suitable for all members of a family including children and elderly people.It is has been proven that individuals under the influence of alcohol may act in a boisterous manner and may even exhibit hostile tendencies. Avoiding individuals from alcohol overdose would help prevent damage to any property in the event premises. It is in the company’s best interest to follow this uniform policy would ensure that none of the employees suffer from alcohol intoxication and behave inappropriately towards a client.This policy is generally good for business and helps in building a positive brand image, since embarrassing scenarios leading to bad press could be avoided by maintaining a certain degree of civility and orderliness. All employees attending an event serving alcohol would be made aware of this policy and expected to conduct themselves in a socially acceptable manner. It should be duly noted that the following ten-point policy will followed in its en tirety by all employees under all circumstances at WEOC events.1) All WEOC events where alcohol is served shall be mandatorily required to use the services of a bartender certified through a state-recognized training program on responsible alcohol service. 2) All event attendees and other staff members with the exception of the certified bartender shall be prohibited from dispensing alcohol. 3) Underage drinkers will not be entertained and the bartender would have the authority to demand valid identification to authenticate one’s age (Grapevine Bar Catering 2007). 4) The bartender shall be given the authority to restrict the number of drinks served to all attendees to prevent alcohol intoxication.5) Bartenders will have the right to refuse serving certain drinks that can lead to quick and high levels of intoxication. 6) Any attendee of a WEOC event can be refused alcohol service at anytime if the bartender deems him/her unfit for consuming alcohol. 7) The bar shall be manned by the bartender at all times and alcohol containers shall remain behind the bar. 8) Attendees of the event shall not be allowed to carry alcohol out of the facility where the event is taking place. 9) The bartender shall stop serving drinks 30 minutes prior to the end of any WEOC event.10) Bartenders will be prohibited from accepting any form of tips, in order to avoid biased treatment. Reference: Grapevine Bar Catering. (2007). Alcohol Serving Policy. RossCo Innovations LLC. Retrieved 1August 2008, http://www. cateredsolution. com/servingPolicies. htm Retailers- Alcohol Service Policy. 2young2drink. Retrieved 1 August 2008, http://www. 2young2drink. com/retailers/alcohol_policy. asp RMIT University. (2001). RMIT – Health and Safety Manual. Retrieved 1 August 2008, http://mams. rmit. edu. au/9bxvxdqlamedz. pdf

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Lesson: Issues on Financial Stability of Families

In this research proposal I will address issues on financial stability of families, economy and education. â€Å"The Lessonaâ‚ ¬? reflects the attitudes and education of children in the lower working class. A point was made in the story that brought up old emotions. On page 474 a student states, † Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or sevenaâ‚ ¬?. † That's not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal opportunity at the doughaâ‚ ¬?. Our society would much rather spend money on building prisons and shopping malls than on better school and homes. No child should have to go with less than livable housing, or be deprived from a decent education. I was told all of my life that the standards in the wealthier schools (where mostly whites went) were better than the schools in the lower parts of the city (where most blacks went). The sad fact was that it is true. I attended both schools. It made me think, why is the high achievers/summit classes at the poorer school if the other school gets the most money. The only thing that is funded in the poorer schools was the athletic department. We all deserve the same opportunities as our peers no matter what the financial situation may be. I also came to learn in the (black schools) the work was easier and the athletes were given grades. Mostly drug dealers, and dropouts hung around the school. At the predominantly white school they had police and security, but the black school had teachers and coaches as hall monitors. In an overview of educational statistics black and Hispanic children were at the bottom. If we are receiving the same education then why is there such a difference in knowledge? Politicians constantly speak about equality, but they not making a difference? We all deserve the same chance at life rather than being mock and talked about as children as never going to be anything, and we will be in jail by the time we are 16 at least twice.