Education In America Cruz Summary

Brittany LamberthProfessor Wells English 102June 15, 2018Paul Krugman, agrees that the country is becoming economically diverse bit by bit. The middle ground amongthe richest and poorest is vanishing, and inequality is`widespread. His essay, “Confronting inequality” revealsonly how inequalityaffects us, but, as McClelland opposes, how recurringinequality can be. He references a study performed by the National Center for Education informationfrom the 1988 to 2003, in which eighth grade students were arrangedboth by academic skilland the socioeconomic rankof their parents, and the college graduation percentage. If our educational system truly gave all students equivalentopportunities, then we would expect the graduation rates to depend onlyon

Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).

In the 1997 article, “Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle over Educational Goals” by David Labaree, Labaree describes three goals that have been at the core of educational conflicts over the years. The first goal mentioned is democratic equality, which is meant to create good citizens and enable educational access to all. The second goal is social efficiency, which creates workers and is viewed by taxpayers and employers as a goal to prepare students for market roles. Lastly is the third goal of social mobility, where individual success for attractive market roles is the main purpose. This primary goal of education has been ever fluctuating. The argument of this essay is that social mobility has now triumphed over democratic equality and social efficiency as the primary goal of education due to parents. This view of social mobility by parents is negative to due its numerous consequences, significantly the growing disparity between the wealthy and the underprivileged, and additionally, the health of children, their behavior, and the degree to which they learn educational material are all affected.

Recently there has been a lot of debate about the importance of college education. Students are asking if it’s worth the debt to attend a four year university or community college. Some are thinking what are the benefits of a degree is in the workforce. With college tuition increasing and state fundings lowering, low income students are struggling to attain a higher education. College institutions should have a role to provide students higher education and equal opportunity to students to increase social mobility yet intergenerational reproduction of privilege has produced inequality in education.

As a recent analysis, America’s colleges and universities are quietly shifting the burden of their big tuition increases onto low-income students, while many higher-income families are seeing their college costs rise more slowly, or even fall” (Eskow). Though education is the basic human right, most of the people in the U.S. are not being able to gain it as because of its rising cost. Since the 1970s, tuition and fees at public institutions have increased by more than 350 percent, while pay for working- and middle-class households has stagnated. As a result, the cost of a public-college education now accounts for almost 15 percent of the average family's annual income; 40 years ago it was about 4 percent (Kenneth W. Warren and Samir Sonti). The tuition and fees are increasing in such a way that the young Americans aren’t as educated as the young citizens of many other developed countries. The U.S. ranks 14th in the world in the percentage of 25-34 year-olds with higher education (42%).” When all adults of working age are considered, the US is still one of the highest-educated countries in the world. But when this age group is considered, we are falling behind (Richard Eskow). That’s the personal loss for the young people of the U.S. Education is not a privilege of the rich and well-to-do; it is the inalienable right of every people. It is a powerful tool by which people can lift

The strongest claim the author made was that the economy and education are highly intertwined. It is stated that without a public access to a higher level of education, the income equality will grow larger and our country of democracy and prosperity will be in jeopardy. The

In the past, President Rutherford B. Hayes was the first president to address free public education in 1877 (Sanders A.23). Hayes simply believed education was the basis for full political and economic participation, and full participation was the basis for a prosperous economy. Therefore, education should be free and available to everyone regardless of their background (Sanders A.23). By the 1950’s, a family with only one breadwinner could graduate from high school and move straight into a decent-paying job with good benefits, buy a house, raise a family, and pay for their children’s education. Unfortunately, that American dream is not a possibility for most Americans today (Sanders A.23). To get to the middle class, the pathway is through a higher education; however, with the rising cost of a higher education and cost of living, it is becoming more and more

In “The Dangers of Telling Poor Kids That College Is the Key to Social Mobility”, Andrew Simmons, a high school teacher who teaches in a poor area of Los Angeles, argues that higher education’s educational opportunities should be the main promotion for students to attend college. The author’s purpose is to inform and persuade his readers to accept his view on what he sees as a problem of the education system. According to Simmons, teachers focus on the economic advantages that higher education could bring instead of the actual education these institutions offer. Because of this promotion, students in poorer areas focus on their potential wealth instead of their future education while students in wealthier areas focus on their future careers

Education has been the subject of some of the most heated discussions in American history. It is a key point in political platforms. It has been subject to countless attempts at reform, most recently No Child Left Behind and Common Core. Ardent supporters of institutional schools say that schools provide access to quality education that will allow the youth of our country to gain necessary skills to succeed in life. Critics take a far more cynical view. The book Rereading America poses the question, “Does education empower us? Or does it stifle personal growth by squeezing us into prefabricated cultural molds?” The authors of this question miss a key distinction between education and schooling that leaves the answer far from clear-cut. While education empowers, the one-size-fits-all compulsory delivery system is stifling personal growth by squeezing us into prefabricated cultural molds.

First, the increased income inequality in the United States is due to increasing problematic issues in the education sector. Education plays an increasingly vital part in the economic success in the United States as technological transformations and globalizations increase. A weakening middle class leads to decreased improvements in the education system, while a stronger middle class leads to increased

The topic of the value of a highly educated populous is important for many reasons individuals with higher levels of education earn more and are more likely than others to be employed. Median earnings of bachelor’s degree recipients with no advanced degree working full time. “In 2011 were $56,500, $21,100 more than median earnings of high school graduates” (Phelps 2). Individuals with some college but no degree earned 14% more than high school graduates working full time. Their median after-tax earnings were 13% higher (Figure 1.1). Compared to a high school graduate, the median four-year college graduate who enrolls at age 18 and graduates in four years can expect to earn enough by age 36 to compensate for being out of the labor force for four years, as well as for borrowing the full amount required to pay tuition and fees without any grant assistance. Expanding enrollments are a public good that should perhaps be increased to a greater degree than in recent years, especially with grant aid to those in tougher financial

The educated must not be minimized by the undereducated entitlement to income advancements above those that obtain a college degree.

As each year passes, we see the same trend: inflation rates on the cost of higher education increase at a rate greater than that of household income. This makes it more difficult for lower and middle class families to finance their children through college, and put themselves in a position to be successful in life. Without being able to get a college education, it makes it nearly impossible to land the jobs that are going to bring in higher level income. People need to be educated to go out into the world, and make more for their families, so we can begin to close this income gap between the wealthy and the poor. Several nations in the world have public universities that have no tuition costs at all, because they understand that “It is a core task of politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high quality standard free of charge” (Noack.) The closing of the income gap, begins with the lowering of the costs on higher education.

“The advice we would offer every halfway intelligent young person with a pulse—go to college—is not, I argue, counsel we can offer a whole generation of young people” (Marsh p.6). John Marsh explores in his article “Why Education Is Not an Economic Panacea” the correlation between income inequality and lack of higher education. In doing so he finds that education alone may not be a cure all for the problems faced by many low income families. Marsh shares what he had learned through his experience teaching impoverished students and how it is wrong to assume that education will positively effect someones financial outcomes. Marsh intends to open peoples minds to addressing problems such as poverty that may be the reason for a lack of education rather than assuming that deficiencies in education are to blame for the problem. I believe that what Marsh is advocating is a “living wage” for people in jobs that do not require a degree and he thinks that doing so will solve the problems of economic inequality and poverty (Marsh p.6). Is it wrong to think that increasing wages for unskilled labor or non professional jobs will solve these problems?

But ability is not just the product of birth. Ability is stretched or stunted by the family that you live with, and the neighborhood you live in--by the school you go to and the poverty or the richness of your surroundings. It is the product of a hundred unseen forces playing upon the little infant, the child, and finally the man” (President Johnson). Therefore, we should all consider taking advantage of the opportunity to obtain higher education and increase the chances of the next generations to do so as well.