Disparities In Education

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.

In this paper, I will explore the aspects regarding racial inequality pertaining to education in the United States of America. It has come to my attention, based on my observations, that race is a definitive factor that plays a role in establishing socioeconomic status. In relation to socioeconomic status, variables correlating with race that I will be focusing on, is the educational and wealth aspects. An individual’s level of education is pivotal to establishing stable, consistent wealth and vice-versa; the access for quality education is inconsistent primarily among minority races/ethnicities. According to historical records ranging from the year 1980 to 2000, between Whites, Hispanics, African-Americans, and Native Americans, the educational attainment gap is widening (Kelly 2005). Education is seen to be a source of respect and key to gaining a higher income, which transfers over to greater wealth. Acknowledging the slow expansion of the educational attainment disparities, I argue that the society’s perceptions and actions addressing race perpetuates and produces social inequalities by limiting opportunities despite “equal” resources, privileges, and rights through social policies that have contributed towards the quality of America’s education system.

From a young age, my parents instilled in me the belief that education is the pathway to opportunity. By obtaining an education, I could acquire knowledge, develop skills, and pursue a rewarding career. However, as I grew older, I soon recognized that factors outside of my control could decide if I graduated high school and attended college. Three sources, which examine the topic of educational inequality are “A Public Education Primer- Basic (And Sometimes Surprising Facts About the U.S. Education System),” “Money, Race and Success: How Your School District Compares,” and “A Dozen Economic Facts About K-12 Education.” Therefore, funding disparities, educational resource availability, and college accessibility suggest the role educational inequality plays throughout students’ lives.

Racial disparities exist in every aspect of our society. It exists in religion, socioeconomic status, life-chances, media, etc. It affects everyone even if they realize or not. Education is one of the things that are also affected by the racial stratification occurring in the United States. In this paper I will look in to whether Tennessee is better or worse for educational advancement by comparing four races and their high school graduation rates on the national and state levels. The four races used will be; Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and White. I will then tie specific theories to why these disparities may exist. This will hopefully give insight in to this touchy topic and provide a starting point for correcting the gap.

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas . State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. The 14th Amendment states; “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law, which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to

Racial inequality persists in the current U.S. education system, despite nationwide efforts to promote the acceptance of students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Minority students, most notably African American and Latino, receive lower qualities of education compared to the Caucasian majority and are, as a result, at an indisputable disadvantage after primary and secondary education. According to a 2014 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, “students of color in public schools are punished more and receive less access than white students to experienced teachers” (Abdul-Jabbar 31). Higher suspension rates and an increased frequency of corporal punishment use, allowed in 19 states as of 2014 according to Business Insider (Adwar), for minority students are two disciplinary examples of underlying racial discrimination with the current U.S. education system. Economic repercussions of racial inequality in education have been proven to include wealth gaps, higher unemployment rates, and financial instability for minorities in later life. Due to the prominence of racial segregation within schools, it remains a controversial point of debate in modern-day society, resulting in attempts such as affirmative action to establish racial equality in education. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the United States Supreme Court declared affirmative action to be a justified policy in the

In 1954 the Supreme Court justices made a ruling on what I believe to be one of the most important cases within American history, Brown v Board of Education. There were nine Justices serving in the case of Brown v Board of Education this was the court of 1953-1954. This court was formed Monday, October 5, 1953 and Disbanded Saturday, October 9, 1954. Chief Justice, Earl Warren, Associate Justices, Hugo L. Black, Stanley Reed, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Robert H. Jackson, Harold Burton, Tom C. Clark, Sherman Minton all of which voted unanimously in favor of Brown in the case of Brown v Board of Education [as cited on http://www.oyez.org/courts/warren/war1]. Brown v Board of Education was a

Board of Education case initially accomplished relatively little in terms of achieving a truly integrated public education system. The Supreme Court said in 1954 that schools should be integrated, but in the following year, the court allowed the opponents of desegregation to frame the process. Due to the program not receiving sufficient support, allocating sufficient money with which to function well, indifferently staffed, and many areas of resistance, the case consequently remained immobile. However, the Brown v. Board decision itself was a huge step forward: It shifted the way society as a whole viewed race and helped begin to challenge what many people had long considered acceptable. Ultimately, the court case became to be an effective instrument in achieving successful school desegregation, in that its importance was realized and the program became to be adequately financed and wisely

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson was the first to enact a civil rights law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), to combat the achievement gap in low-income communities. ESEA provided Federal grants to districts with substantial numbers of low-income students to offset the cost of textbooks, library books, special education centers, scholarships for low-income college students, and to improve elementary and secondary education. While ESEA remains as the policy foundation to lessen the opportunity gap, it was not sufficient and improvements were needed (“Every Student Succeeds”, n.d.).

In 1954, the supreme court said that black can go to school with whites. The south declined. The south was willing to disobey the supreme court ruling by continuing segregation in the schools. In the late 1900s the battle of the civil rights will begin in the classroom in the case Brown vs Board of education. Brown vs Board of education is a case reserved by Kansas in which the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. White schools [students] believed that using the tactic of violence will keep black children in black schools. At first it seemed as if the federal government will not intervene. The

the board of education It was a milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. On May 17, 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimously ruling in the landmark. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional to segregate. Then on May 31, 1955, Warren read the Court's unanimous decision, now referred to as Brown II, instructing the states to begin desegregation plans "with all deliberate speed."the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. Martin Luther King Jr. Once said, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” This historic decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier in Plessy v. Ferguson.

Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a case that also involved discrimination and inequality. It was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in May, 1954. This case focuses on the segregation of white and black children in public education. In this case Brown argues that segregation based on race, violates the Constitution because in public schools’ African American children were denied equal rights. White children were considered inferior to the black children. The Supreme Court decided that segregated public schools provided unequal schooling for students, and that school segregation was therefore unconstitutional. The “Separate but Equal” law continued to open wider gaps between blacks and whites. Blacks used separate water fountains, restrooms, hospitals, etc. All Public facilities were segregated. Restrictions were also placed on voting rights for blacks. They were granted the right to vote earlier in the 15th Amendment but it was limited by asking for literacy tests, and the redrawing of lines by southern state legislators. A racist ideology was still implanted in the minds of many; blacks were still inferior to the white color. Another attempt to freedom was the opening of the National Association for the advancement for colored people (NAACP). The goal of this organization was to end public segregation and regain the right to vote. The case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), also influenced the

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. Though the U.S. Supreme Court declared school desegregation in the 1954 ruling on the famous “Brown v. Board of Education" case, the state of Mississippi did not allow racially or ethnically different students to mix together in schools until 1970, sixteen years after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling, according to the Civil Rights Timeline, created by the Mississippi Humanities Council at Southern Mississippi. Brown v. Board of Education prompted parents

The most pressing public policy issue affecting my community is educational disparity and inequality. Education is the key for racial equality, yet the federal government continues to neglect the educational discrepancies that plague various African American communities. Opportunities that are not offered to African American students are a microcosm to the present struggles minorities endure. The continued growth of the Black middle class since the 1960’s has serve to expand the social and educational advancement of black students. However, recent reports show that an increased number of minority high school graduates in urban settings suffer from inadequate school and educational conditions. Since the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibited

Building wealth becomes increasingly unmanageable without steady employment, but the unemployment rate for people of color has been consistently twice that white people, regardless of the fluctuations in the economy. An education is a way to help you achieve that goal. However, the rate for unemployment for blacks with college degrees is twice as high to be unemployed than all other graduates, according to The American Non-Dilemma: Racial Inequality Without Racism, a book published by Nancy DiTomaso, a professor of sociology, at Rutgers University who lectures inequality and organizational diversity. This is because applications with white-sounding names have a fifty percent chance higher than black sounding names to get callbacks, even when the resume does not change. Previous to the business opportunities, a person must obtain an education.