In our elementary, junior high schools and high schools, we do not have a good learning environment. A good learning environment is where students can get a better education through the use of better teachers, better equipment, better school conditions and better facilities. Instead, in our schools on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, we are forced to learn in a bad learning environment.

Our schools do not have sports teams and only offer a few clubs and after school activities such as debate club, science club and art club. Our hallways and bathrooms are very dirty and littered; our water fountains are dirty and barely even work. And for the ones that do work, the water tastes very disgusting.


The lunchrooms have lots of insects and the food is inedible. In some of these schools, students do not get to use lockers. Instead, they have to carry all of their belongings with them including heavy winter jackets and heavy textbooks.

In certain schools, because there are too many students per classroom, there should be a student limit in every classroom so that the teachers can better control their classes. The big classes are so out of control that students throw paper at the teachers, curse at the teachers and nobody learns anything. As you can see, this is a bad learning environment and it happens all throughout the Lower East Side.

But it gets worse; many schools do not have adequate equipment. We do not get to use lockers, most of the schools do not have pools and no computer access. In many cases, the textbooks that we use are broken, written on and have pages torn out. Sometimes, when we need exercise or a break from classes, we are not allowed to go outside. And, we only have three minutes to walk between classes in crowded hallways.

Many schools have to share TV's because there is not enough for everybody, and the VCR's rarely work. The auditoriums in schools are very hot, and some schools do not even have an auditorium. Some schools do not have maps and newspapers to help us learn about current events.

We are aware that schools on the Lower East Side do have some programs, equipments and facilities that may create a bad learning environment. We are also aware that there are schools that have better facilities like pools, TV stations, a school newspaper, planetariums and computers.

We have fewer opportunities than other students in these privileged schools. But we try to work with what we have.