Mappenstance.

(Turner et al.)

Have you ever thought about where your tax dollars are going? How are they making a difference? Are they making a difference? This map, “Spending Per Student, By School District,” published by the National Public Radio organization, encapsulates the great divide that exists within the United States surrounding education. More specifically, the map deals with the spending inequalities between different school districts on a national scale, while it is typically addressed on just the state by state level. In calling attention to this national disparity, the creators of this map are speaking to an issue that is often overlooked and silenced, but in reality is much worse than many people could imagine. This map exposes school districts nationwide for using seemingly unfair practices when it comes to the distribution of money and resources, and highlights areas that take advantage of poor districts and communities in their handling of funds. Many other maps, such as one’s published by EdBuild, a company established to bring sense to the ways in which states fund public schools, follow suit. 

While researching the details of this map and various other ones that present similar information, I discovered that funding inequality nationally is worse overall than even the most unequal state in the U.S, which really puzzled me. How could the total disparity across 50 states be worse than an individual one? And the most unequal one? To answer that question, Rebecca Sibilia, EdBuild’s CEO and founder, explains that, “In states that do have a high number of students in concentrated poverty… they’re funding all education at a lower level than states that have a lesser number of students in concentrated poverty (Barnum).” So essentially, it comes down to the amount of money that our country dedicates to education being simply too little, which I’m sure most of the population is already aware of, yet the degree and scale of inequality may not be fully appreciated. From there, we are able to see the breakdown of the ways in which different states use their money and how they distribute it based on a variety of factors. So, while the amount of money awarded to schools on a national level is important to take into consideration when talking about inequalities, it ultimately depends on the state-level. 

In analyzing the map that I chose for this week’s blog, I realized that a great deal of Southeastern states seemed to be spending below the national average per student in most of their school districts, compared to more central states that seemed to be spending above the average. Despite these trends, there are definitely districts in both of these areas that are outliers, spending a great deal more or less than the average, but for the most part these different parts of the U.S seem to be drastically different in terms of educational spending measures. After doing some more research, I began to understand that the big determinant of how much money is allotted to a public school correlates to the property tax within that area. Which kind of makes sense, right? Because public schools are zoned, which means that the people living near the school are the ones who will be attending the schools. But, this brings up a dilemma. By basing the funding of the public schools on local property taxes, that automatically determines that certain districts will have more money than others because the value of properties varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, and with that comes tax revenues. So, while this may seem like a sensical way to allot money to these public schools, it presents an inequality right from the get go. 

It would be interesting to analyze the same map but of racial demographics, and observe whether or not a pattern is in place where traditionally marginalized groups fall into these areas with lower tax revenue and thus less money for their school districts. We already know there is a major achievement gap within education, largely due to institutional racism, because of systems exactly like this. Majority minority school districts are receiving less funding, and in turn, those students receive fewer resources, experience more teacher turnover, and go to school in uncomfortable and sometimes unsafe conditions.

To patch this inequality, some school districts have taken the authority in compensating for that imbalance by providing more funding to certain schools. But, according to Tramene Maye, the principal of Livingston Junior High School in rural western Alabama, this compensation is not the norm. And, most of the nation’s superintendents and principals will tell you that whether they can afford a year-round art teacher or new textbooks depends at least in part on the property wealth around them (Turner et al.). So ultimately, there is no quick fix for this nationwide spending dilemma over education, and rather it might need to be approached on a district by district level, as the current system works fine for some parents who live in districts that can spend lavishly in educating their children while others can’t. 

In analyzing this map and researching the background of educational funding nationwide, I found many silences. My sister is currently in the process of receiving her masters in education from The University of Virginia, and deals with the issues brought about by a lack of funding on a daily basis. After speaking with her about things such as where the materials she uses to decorate her classroom or the interactive materials she uses to teach her students comes from, I began to find cracks in the funding system. She informed me that many teachers spend their own, hard earned, money on things like markers, paper, classroom decorations, etc., which led me to question whether or not this map took that into account. I don’t think it does. Also, I thought about my own time in a city public school for elementary school and middle school and remembered organizations like the Parents Association (PTA) and other clubs that raised money for a variety of different things. While I understand that this map is speaking directly to the issue of national funding and it would be impossible to gauge the amount of volunteer work and teacher money that adds to the money a school has, I think that this became a silence within the map. I also think that the spatialization of education disparities speaks to an even larger issue that deals more with qualms of race, ethnicity, crime, poverty, and other environmental factors, based on location. It’s evident based on the map that areas dealing with the most disparities are those of lesser opportunity and privilege, which leads me to believe there is a follow up article and map to this one. 

Works Cited: 

Barnum, Matt. “New Map: School Funding Inequality, Often Measured by State, Is Far 

Worse Nationally than You Think.” The 74 New Map School Funding Inequality Often Measured By State Is Far Worse Nationally Than You Think Comments, 22 May 2016, https://www.the74million.org/article/new-map-school-funding-inequality-often-measured-by-state-is-far-worse-nationally-than-you-think/. 

Turner, Cory, et al. “Why America’s Schools Have a Money Problem.” NPR, NPR, 18 Apr. 

2016, https://www.npr.org/2016/04/18/474256366/why-americas-schools-have-a-money-problem

Source: https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/watercolor-map.jpg

Map of the Week! Critique

The Historical Context

In May of 1587, a group of 100-odd English settlers sailed across the Atlantic to the island of Roanoke. Located on the coast of what is now known as North Carolina, John White, an explorer and watercolor artist, arrived in the summer of that same year, with hopes of establishing a functioning colony like many of the waves of European settlers had hoped for in the recently discovered, supposedly-promised land of resources and prosperity. The island of Roanoke had already been previously explored by the English the year prior but had to sail back to the mainland to gather more provisions before attempting to permanently settle on the island. However, this issue remained unresolved as within the first few months of their stay, the colonists supposedly begged White to return to England and bring back even more supplies. The group of colonists faced hardships of not being fully equipped to settle on new land due to drought and natural deterrents, but also dealt with aggressive two-sided conflict with nearby indigenous tribes. White left in August, just around one month after the group’s arrival. What was meant to be a short period of time away turned into a three year departure, due to England’s looming international war conflicts with Spain as well as possible French pirate attacks out on sea. John White did not return until August of 1590, only to realize the colonists, including his daughter, Eleanor White Dare, and granddaughter, Virginia Dare, were gone. What was left of the colonists, who showed no signs of leaving hastily or forced, was a single word carved into a wooden fence post: Croatoan.

Theorizing and the Possible Truth

While stories of missing and deceased colonists were consistent throughout early colonial American history, it is the colony of Roanoke that lives on as an exceptional historical mystery, due to the fact that the whereabouts and the fate of the colonists White left behind were never substantially, singularly proved. Historians have debated and offered extensive explanations as to what had happened to the lost colony, and even White attempted to sail a little further south along the coast to what is now known as Hatteras island in order to find the colonists himself before moving back to Europe and passing away another few years later. No mass graves have been found that could be linked to the lost colony, and the theories that many have proposed have possible explanations that range from being killed by local tribes in the area to even outlandish suspicions of aliens and cannibalism. However, one theory and one approach towards discovering the truth behind Roanoke involves the following map, created by John White, detailing the coast of North Carolina, and includes both Roanoke island and Hatteras island. While some have noted the map has stellar accuracy to current satellite imagery of the same area, taking into account natural changing coastlines, what is most intriguing and discussed about the map is that there is a four-pointed star shape hidden underneath a small patch of paper, seen in the zoomed in image of the map above. One prominent theory about this detail of White’s map is that perhaps it represents a fortified location in which the lost colony resettled, moving inland due to the struggles they were facing on the island. Other theories suggest that White had actually known their whereabouts and covered the shape to hide from English spies.

Counter-mapping, Deconstructing Maps, and Why Award This ‘Map of the Week’

The watercolor map created by the Roanoke colony’s governor deserves a spotlight as ‘Map of the Week’ due to the way it serves as a rather intriguing artifact that can either define or redefine an American history. What is most interesting about the Lost Colony of Roanoke goes beyond the settlers’ disappearance, but instead is rooted in the unknown. As much as theorists can expand upon or cultivate new theories regarding what happened to the 100-odd English settlers that White left behind, they still remain as theories. In our discussions of counter-mapping, utilizing maps to challenge the notion of maps as a whole, this map and its relation to a renowned historical mystery plays well into how we learn that maps are fluid, are reimagined, and are transformed throughout their existence. A map, especially one that is strictly geographical and locative, by its technical nature should reveal to us the relationships of spaces and the things that occupy that space. White’s map does this to an extent, however, the small patch of extra paper and the figure hidden beneath it reveals a plethora of possible secrets and relationships that we are unable to fully uncover. Maps can be privileged in nature; what I mean by this statement is that, in example, White’s map is one of few primary sources regarding the colonists of Roanoke and the potential uncovered truth of where that community’s whereabouts may lie. He claims a sense of authority with this map. His identity as the map maker and a map maker in this context is unparalleled, because we lack significant information regarding the beginnings of the colony’s existence up till and beyond their disappearance. The Roanoke map privileges on colonial expansion and exploration, because we are now relying on this artifact to provide possible answers, thus erasing the potentials of other narratives. What is most ironic however, is that this map counters that predetermined contract between maps and viewers, because while it does reveal details about the location it visualizes, it does not offer us the clear answers we need. We may see White’s map as a great historical artifact of information we don’t have full access to, but it also gatekeeps it to an extent as well. We’ve discussed previously the dangers and limitations of visual mapping and visual rhetoric as a whole. It’s important to understand the intention of map-makers and the visual components they offer us, but in this case, what is being offered and what is being included, only adds to the mystery. It does not solve it.

With historical, colonial exploration style maps such as this one, they are meant to provide us with first-hand information and experiences of what it was like to interact with land in that time given the technology they had and the knowledge they had of the world around them. They allow us to reimagine a world in which discovery was at its peak; for us, it is the excitement of being able to trace back places to their origins of being understood as a place. This style and era of mapping is our way of creating and introducing new forms of the relationship between people and place. We have discussed before the problematic nature of defining land in this way, however, White’s map and his perspective of the region of the colonists’ disappearance is incredibly intriguing, because of the possible conclusions that may come from it. We may look at this map and think: White deliberately hid the star shape, White may have made a mistake, White may know what it represents, he may not have, or perhaps… it may not represent anything in relation to the colony at all. 

Blog Link

https://www.lost-colony.com/gallerymain.html

A website exhibiting various maps and map-creators of the same regional location, all relating to the Lost Colony.

Works Cited

Bergara, Ryan. The Mysterious Disappearance of Roanoke Colony. YouTube. YouTube, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjmXzYdxuTQ. 

Emery, Theo. “Map’s Hidden Marks Illuminate and Deepen Mystery of Lost Colony.” The New York Times. The New York Times, May 4, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/us/map-markings-offer-clues-to-lost-colony.html. 

Goetten, Katelyn. “Map of the Week: Lost Colony of Roanoke.” Ubique, 2021. https://ubique.americangeo.org/map-of-the-week/map-of-the-week-the-lost-colony-of-roanoke/. 

“John White’s Attempt to Rescue the Roanoke Colonists.” National Humanities Center. Accessed February 11, 2022. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text6/white.pdf. 

Mahnke, Aaron. “Making a Mark.” Episode. Lore Lore, no. 28, February 22, 2016. 

“Roanoke Colony Timeline.” World History Encyclopedia RSS. Accessed February 11, 2022. https://www.worldhistory.org/timeline/Roanoke_Colony/. 

Wood, Karenne. “The Roanoke Colony.” South Atlantic Review 77, no. 1/2 (2012): 178–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43738980.

The Executive Abroad – American Panorama

In our generation, it is hard to imagine living in a world with limited travel options. International travel by plane only became accessible to the public in the mid 1900’s. At this point in history, the world had already been through two world wars and numerous other global conflicts. Take a minute to consider how limited travel options potentially impacted foreign policy and relations. Now, travel has evolved to allow accessible plane service for our Presidents to fly out to anywhere in the world instantaneously. Do you think previous conflicts could have been avoided if global leaders were able to meet face to face? What are the positive and negatives to the addition of fast, accessible global travel from a political and social perspective?

The Executive Abroad is a map found within American Panorama, a project by the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond. American Panorama sheds light on American history, both past and present social issues, and important political topics through interactive mapping techniques. The Executive Abroad highlights the international travel of all presidents and secretaries of state. The map is important for understanding the evolution of travel and its connection to the United States’ evolving stance on foreign policy.

Except for Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, presidential travel was virtually non-existent before Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR was the first president to officially travel by plane outside of the United States with the intention to meet with Churchill in North Africa to discuss strategies for World War II. Following FDR, as social and political issues began to become increasingly more prominent on the global scale, presidents began to place an emphasis on the importance of international travel. The map shows this spike in travel, representing the United States intention to establish themselves as an important international power. Placing Washington D.C. at the center of the map is a further representation of this, intentionally mapped at the center of the globe to affirm America’s strength, power, and influence on the international scale.

In addition, the map shows the frequency of visits to each geopolitical region over time. Through careful observation and research, viewers can see how each president and secretary of state approached their time in office through their frequent travel trends. Their destinations reflect the intentions of each president, some of their most important policies, or might even be the result of major events occurring during that specific time. For example, following September 11, 2001, George W. Bush had a greater number of visits to Western Europe where he addressed issues regarding the War on Terror. By displaying the number of visits, categorized by both color and density, viewers can pinpoint the important policies of each president or the critical international events of that time.

Visually, the map is colorful and fun to interact with. The bright colors contrast the navy-blue background, the separate colors representing different number of visits. The choice of colors is interesting, with yellow representing the densest areas of travel. Lighter colors are typically an unorthodox choice for representing dense areas, but the Executive Abroad takes a different and unique approach, using lighter colors to signify the frequently traveled locations. Another interesting feature of the map is a “How To Use” feature that proved to be both helpful and reliable. The guide instructs viewers how to select presidents or secretaries and explains what the graph shows. The short description is useful, allowing users to feel well-versed and knowledgeable upon opening the map.

Lastly, to critique the visual appearance of the map, it is important to discuss the proportions of the globe and how they differ from what we are normally used to seeing on traditional portrayals of the world. We can see certain areas of the map, like East Asia, are disproportionate to their actual size on a “traditional” map. Australia, which is portrayed on the left side of the globe, is completely disproportionate to both its size and location. I wonder if this is purposeful and possibly artistic. Since the cartographers had an intention to place Washington D.C. in the middle of the map, they knew this would skew the proportions. Again, I wonder if the intention was to place emphasis on the United States, making its scale reliable and near perfect while skewing other nations and areas to whatever fit the mold. Another small critique would be how the names of the president circulate the globe, making some of them difficult to read when they are upside down. It makes it challenging to find a president, but if you follow the years along the side, it makes it much easier, but you must be well-versed in knowing when each president served in office.

Overall, the map does a fantastic job exploring the evolution of both travel and the United States’ evolving role as an international superpower. This newfound idea of power, represented through travel, dismissed the potential power of other nations. It’s important to draw attention to the cartographers’ choice to make the president the central unit of the map. By doing so, the map is not only placing emphasis on the power of international travel, but the power of each individual president. Indicating through visual rhetoric that these presidents are the most important feature of the map is a symbol of individual power. Assuming the centrality of the presidency has its benefits, but also questions the American system of power and democracy. The U.S. prides itself on maintaining democratic values, but this map gives us a different look, one that portrays the presidents as holding a higher status. The United States crossing into international territory demonstrates their need to be in control and at the forefront of foreign policy. These presidents not only wanted to maintain peace but spread American ideas of democracy and stability. Traveling internationally reinforced these values, placing the United States at the top of the global food chain.