Education And The Influence Of Poverty In Education

What is the main argument the author makes and how does it apply to contemporary education?

Poverty is everywhere in this world especially in education. Poverty in education could come from the location of the school, the child’s home life, how the students feel about school and in many other ways. Poverty comes in all shapes and forms, “An appalling number of American Children live in poverty. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 14.7 million, or nearly 20 percent of children under age 18, live below the poverty line” (When Poverty…). The kids/students bring those debilitating effect with them to school every day.

Many kids in the United States have been affected by poverty at some point in their lives. In fact, one in five children have been affected by poverty. A survey was done within the last year by the Scholastic company that interviewed a group of the State Teachers of the Year and asked them what they thought were some of the effects of poverty. Some popular answers were that it affects the way you perform in school greatly and that we need more anti-poverty programs to help out with these children. Poverty affects the success of students in many ways. These include not having the academic achievement that more advantaged kids did, not having experiences other kids did, and not having the early development they needed.

(Wagstaff 2002, p.97). Students may be socio-economically disadvantaged and the teachers must remember that poverty is in no way a deficit; merely that they may not have the same level of resources or exposure to educational experiences as more advantaged students (Groundwater-Smith,S., Le Cornu, R. & Ewing, R

There are many people throughout the world that are born into different socio-economic status. In the United States there are 3 typical socio-economic statuses, upper class, middle class, and working class. The majority of people are born into the working class and try to make their way up. The main way people believe to go up a class in America is through education, but how does socio-economic class play a role in the amount of education one will receive in their future?

In this time and age the United States contains a high number of students in the public schools who are under the poverty line. Poverty is defined as the state of being really poor financially. Poverty in the United States has become a complicated problem that causes a variety of diverse challenges for children and their families. Although the economy of the United States is showing great signs of improvement, poverty remains a serious issue. While examining poverty and children education in several articles all authors seem to agree with the fact that poverty does have an affect in the academic development of a child. However, there are several disagreements in other areas. The authors that this essay will be

People think poverty is not happening in their neighborhoods, or these programs are a waste of time and money because they only affect a few people. Well that is not true “14.5 million (19.7 percent) children under the age of 18 are in poverty. (11 Facts About Education and Poverty in America)” That is almost a quarter of Americas children. These food programs are necessary, the education programs are needed. America needs to break the poverty cycle, and give the next generation a better opportunity to have a better life. “In our local tristate two of the three states are on the top ten list of states with the most food insecurity’s Kentucky 17.6 % and Ohio 16.1 %. (11 Facts about Education and Poverty in America)”. All schools in America

For those who live in the United States, some do not see the correlation between poverty and its effects on people’s behavior to their academics. Poverty affects many students at a young age depending on the location they are in as it prevents underprivileged kids to seek higher education. However, with new opportunities [in effect], kids in poverty can have the same education as privileged kids. Poverty stricken students are disadvantaged when trying to obtain a higher education. Children in poverty lose their motivation in school when they do not have the support of their parents. Some other issues students face includes parents not being able to assist their child in school. Another is that the child is not able to go to school because they have to work instead and support their families. Although public education is available to all children, those that live in poverty are deprived of its full potential due to the factors of low family incomes as well as the lack of self-motivation and the importance of having an education.

Poverty within a family or even a school can drastically hinder the level of education that can be given. For example, the Oklahoma schools budget cuts. Due to the decline in money, some teachers won’t be rehired leading to bigger class sizes, meaning less one on one time between students and the teacher. AP programs can be potentially cut, causing advanced kids to then sit in classes with kids who don’t care, therefore they have to learn slower. But budget cuts isn’t the only example. An education disposed inside the walls of a prestigious private school is more equipped than one presented inside the walls of a governmenttally owned public school. In his article, “The Secret to Fixing Bad Schools”, David Kirp, professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, writes, “public schools in such communities have often operated as factories for failure”. While his is talking about neighborhoods labeled as the lower class, no one can truly say that schools located in poverty, remotely receive the same education as school that are considered middle class. The statistic that proclaims the “average student loan debt nears $27,000” is alarmingly grim. This very statistic could potentially turn countless students away from succeeding a high education, just because they don’t have stacks of money to waste. It’s discouraging that money can limit the success a student can obtain in their

“Education is an important.” This emphatic statement has been coined by countless politicians, entertainers, parents, and positive symbolic figure heads. With the attention that the “war on illiteracy and innumeracy” receives it can concluded that education is a top priority in the United States of America. In 1985 President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the “war on poverty”. These wars have been fought as if they were two separate entities that do not intertwine. This purpose of this paper is to effectively correlate poverty to the effect it has on education in middle school age students. Statistics show that one –third of low income students begin kindergarten not ready for school, and by the time they reach fourth grade, 50 percent will not be at grade level in reading literacy.” “Statistics also show low-income students repeat grades at a rate of 28.8 percent and are expelled or suspended at a rate of 11.9 percent.”

Nationally, 22 percent of children in the richest country in the world live at or below the federal poverty line. Half in low-income families has meal basic needs, like free lunches, free breakfast, etc… They need meal for students, schools, etc. They unfortunately are assigned to the most inadequately funded schools with the largest class sizes and lowest paid teachers, that’s why a lot of teachers are disappointed because they don’t have a great salary. Families who lived in poverty need to do anything to help their kids in education. “Savage inequalities of schooling”, (Jonathan Kozol). The school system has been designed to a dress the education of relatively homogenous populations. However, there are heterogeneous populations whose education demands

Another issue children in poverty face is frequent moving and school changes. The parents tend to be less involved with homework and with the child’s school life. The level of the family 's socioeconomic resources is associated with success in school but is conditioned by other factors, such as immigrant status (ASCD, 2008). Children in poverty have shown gaps in learning and fall behind from their peers. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, by third grade, U.S. children living above poverty know four times the amount of words as low income children. (NCPP, 2014)

In today’s world people need to compete globally for jobs and one of the most important factors in getting a good paying job is education. However, even the best schools cannot overcome some of the obstacles placed in front of the students that walk through their doors. Poverty, chaotic home environments, discrepancies in exposure to technology, and lack of funding for schools all negatively impact the effort to educate children.

The seemingly inevitable issue of poverty affects many aspects of Americans’ lives; it is particularly detrimental to their educational opportunities. From a cultural, historical, economical, and political standpoint, one can see how a wide variety of perspectives reveal unique and unseen views on the issue at hand.

The marginalized children undergo the life of poverty as a result of different natural or man-made calamities, tradition of certain ethnic groups, and the institutional settings. HIV on the other hand, increase the marginalization of children as poverty pushes orphan and poor children to city streets, and often guardians encourage children to live on the streets begging for assistance, in turn support their families with a little amount of money they collect. In the same fashion, disabilities leads to the marginalization of children, where parents feel an indignity to have children with disabilities in public. Woods (2008) study indicates 3,500,000 children with various disabilities, an proximate of 1,000,000 nomadic children, and 2,100,000 orphan children lived in Tanzania in 2003 most of them vulnerable to education exclusion. Orphan children tend to suffer from exploitation and marginalization in families where they live.