A Summary Of Trends In Educational Inequality In Different Eras

Throughout decades, education inequality is still one of the most deliberate and controversial issues in the United States. Thus far, the privilege or right to receive education has not attained the level of equality throughout the nation. Poor districts obtain less educational funds while rich districts obtain more, which create an immense gap between the quality of schools in poor and rich areas. In other words, the education gap is the root of inequality in America. Inequality in education is linked to the major problems in the society. The need for studies to be done to find ways of overcoming these inequalities is very inevitable. The means of mitigating these inequalities are important for the entire world. This is something of great interest due to the fact that children need quality education which is a pillar for a guaranteed future. Generally speaking, the distinctions among races, genders, and classes in the society have caused the educational inequality in America.

Gary Becker’s and Kevin Murphy’s “The Upside of Income Inequality” analyzes the correlation between overall economic development, the importance of education and the effects it has on increasing income inequality. Becker’s and Murphy’s article presents a study taken in China that shows the increase in income inequality raising at similar rates as economic growth. This ultimately leads to a decrease in the amount of people facing poverty and better living conditions for the poor. During China’s rapid rate of economic development “inequality rose, [but] the number of Chinese who live in poverty fell from 260 million in 1978 to 42 million in 1998. Despite the widening gap in incomes, rapid economic development dramatically improved the lives of China’s poor” (Becker and Murphy 581). The authors also state that income inequality is in fact a natural result of economic development because it “raised the standard of living for both the rich and the poor” (Becker and Murphy 582). Education also effects the average earnings of Americans. The importance of receiving an education has

The United States is a country based on equal opportunity; every citizen is to be given the same chance as another to succeed. This includes the government providing the opportunity of equal education to all children. All children are provided schools to attend. However, the quality of one school compared to another is undoubtedly unfair. Former teacher John Kozol, when being transferred to a new school, said, "The shock from going from one of the poorest schools to one of the wealthiest cannot be overstated (Kozol 2)." The education gap between higher and lower-income schools is obvious: therefore, the United States is making the effort to provide an equal education with questionable results.

Many people believe there are three simple classes in today’s society which include the “rich”, the “middle class”, and the “poor”. Most definitions of class structure group people according to wealth, income, education, type of occupation, and membership in a specific subculture or social network. The poorest of the poor are the equivalent to the peasants, although these people in today’s society are known as being in poverty. Around the world, in rich and poor nations, poverty has always been present. The causes can be things such as lack of individual responsibility, bad Government policy and other factors.

     Will Durant, a businessman and the founder of General Motors, once said, “Education is the transmission of civilization.” Unfortunately, education is still one of the most deliberated and controversial issues in the United States. Thus far, the privilege or right to receive education has not attained the level of equality throughout the nation; poor districts obtain less educational funding while rich districts obtain more, creating an immense gap between the quality of schools in poor and rich areas.

The education system in the United States has expanded over the years to prepare individuals for the demanding labor market that constitutes our society. It has shifted from the development of mere intellectual scholars to the development of intellectual scholars competitive enough for a work force that now requires a degree for entrance. As this system of education has expanded throughout the country, so has the reproduction of inequality. To explain the manner in which this system has been structured to achieve a gap of inequity among society’s affluent and disadvantaged members, conflict theorist Karl Marx claims that, “School institutions are intentionally designed to integrate individuals into an unjust society” (Brand lecture, January

There is no agreement or consensus reached on the proper definition of the term underclass. Furthermore, most researches have not determined the size of the underclass population, much less, on how the underclass population has changed over time. Most people assume that the term underclass implies a group of people who live in isolation, or are isolated from the rest of the society. Secondly, these kinds of persons (underclass) have low paying jobs and are not economically relevant, therefore, living in poverty conditions. Thirdly, these individuals (underclass) are characterised by social nonconformity, which has increased because of outmigration of the middle class people, who served as their mentors. There have been issues with the clear description of the underclass, as research done on the underclass comprises all individuals living in poverty or residing in poverty areas. Arguably, not all people living within a poverty residence are poor (Belina 20).

Our culture is spoon fed the idea that education equals opportunity, yet the education available to the lower-class thwarts growth. On the other hand, education offered to the upper class is rich with freedom

When one thinks of the word “inequality”, some things that come to mind are racial inequality, gender inequality, economic inequality, marriage inequality, or social inequality. These inequalities have evolved into movements and revolutions, making strides for future generations to live in a nation that supports them. However, when it comes to making strides for our future generations to be successful, the same statement cannot be made. This is due to the fact that our nation and government aren’t concerned with the welfare and success of our present generation. One inequality that hasn’t delivered a sense of urgency to be tackled by our nation, and specifically our city of New York, is Education Inequality. Horace Mann, “The Father of American

Finally, crucial to this question is how one defines the underclass, whether in economic or behavioural terms. In economic terms, it is easy to argue that the poor are part of a continuum of inequality. Frictional labour market movements, polarised incomes and underemployment all lead to individuals being

What grade would America receive for our education system? America would probably get a D because we cannot provide everyone with the same quality education as other public schools, private, and charter schools. Education is important in all countries especially in America, but there is so much educational inequality that everyone does not get an equal opportunity at a good education. This can be due to the location and income of families that can determine how successful they are going to be in school. The government has attempted to increase graduation rates by implementing new laws and standards that have actually in time proven to be unsuccessful. This essay is going to highlight the educational inequality in America,

Inequality on the basis of race, class, sex/gender, and sexuality is maintained in a variety of ways and contexts in the education system. This institution functions through several strategies to contain these common imbalances in society. The leading issue for this division is on the basis of its individual structure within the system.

For Gans (1991), the term “underclass” contains little intellectual substance. The term itself can hardly be agreed upon by anyone in the media or by social scientists. Naturally, the term is also used often for homeless people and all people living in poverty. It is ultimately a value-laden and pejorative buzzword for the “undeserving poor”. The meaning behind the term “underclass” has shifted over the years to refer to different things and ideas. For example, we have the term being used in the 1960’s to refer to an almost genetic “paradigm” under the term “culture of poverty,” first coined by Oscar Lewis, where the term covers a generational form of poverty that is passed on to the children of poor parents. Gans is adamant in denying this

During my experiences in and out of the country, I have noticed, everywhere in the world, that the lower class is being discriminated against. Poverty is the society’s way of perpetually dehumanizing people and subjecting them to unlivable conditions while calling it just (Taniguchi). Years ago in 1895, Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, in which he highlighted that “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” (Dickens 7). Unfortunately, this is still a fact today. The wealthy are in their best times while the poor are being oppressed against.

In the year 2020, Kevin Hanley works as a janitor. By 2050, his son is a beggar on the street. How did this happen to Kevin Hanley’s son? This story was just a fictional one, titled “The Fable of the Lazy Teenager” by Ben Stein. It is about the decline of America through the degradation of the American educational system. If the educational system fails, than we will become no better than our ancestors in that we will have no education, and therefore people would be back to the starting block positions of hard manual labor. However, according to James Loewen’s “The Land of Opportunity,” even the educational system is slipping, stating that when he asked questions like, “why are people poor?” he got woefully inadequate responses. In both