TikTok tour of fancy Midwest high school highlights glaring disparity between public schools around the U.S.: ‘Makes me so sad’
Earlier this month, students at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana proudly showed off their campus in two separate TikTok videos that now have a combined 8.5 million views.
What started as a fun little tour of a beloved high school ended up sparking a huge online debate about wealth inequality within America’s public school system.
During both clips, the students give viewers a sneak peek inside the sprawling Midwestern high school, complete with an epic swimming pool, state-of-the-art theater, TV production studio, and even a planetarium.
By all accounts, the school is impressive, and certainly the kind of campus most of us would love to attend as a teenager, but as many TikTokers now point out, it’s mostly college. Far from what students expect. The American High School Experience. Especially those who don’t live in high-income areas.
Just days after the original videos were posted, TikToker @sanilarena posted a pair in which she reacts to the tour while quietly watching it.
It’s immediately clear where she stands on the matter, as her eyes widen and her head tilts as she describes her high school to the students as a luxury apartment complex. .
“Carmel High School really shows the problem of funding America’s public schools through property taxes,” @sanilarena captioned the video. And boy, does she make a correct point.
“Bookstore? Planet? Market? WHA-,” one commenter wrote in disbelief.
“It’s literally high school away from movies that have unrealistic expectations of me,” someone else said.
Many people couldn’t help but compare Carmel to the high school they attended.
“When I was in high school, we shared a building with 3-4 other schools and had classes in trailers,” one person wrote. “cries in an underfunded school“
“We didn’t have enough chairs for lunch at my high school so we sat on the floor,” lamented another.
“I couldn’t take a book home because there wasn’t enough,” another man chimed in.
Other TikTokers have posted videos of her reactions, including one from Carlota Berry that also went viral.
According to NBC News, Berry was shocked by what she saw, especially since she lives in the less prosperous town of Avon, just 30 minutes from Carmel.
“I think that was the scariest part for me … at what point do you say, ‘Let me stop throwing money at this high school and consider other schools in the area,'” Barry told the outlet. Barry told the outlet. , “If we have a swimming pool and three cafeterias, can we have all that? A school within a 20-mile radius of the school that has a cafeteria? A gym?”
According to critics, the problem has to do with the structure of our public school system. For starters, school funding is determined by property taxes, which of course are higher in high-income areas. As a result, these schools have larger budgets for building improvements, enrichment classes, sports programs and other educational incentives. Simply put, children who come from wealthier families generally have a higher educational advantage based on their zip code.
Many people cannot control their reactions on TikTok.
“It makes me so sad,” one man admitted.
“The way my jaw keeps dropping every time they show something new,” added another.
But few have pointed out that while all incentives sound good, what they represent is an opportunity.
“It’s not about stuff,” one person commented. “These are the things that connect you. It improves your chances of getting into college and then getting a job.
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