Education Inequality 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.

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

is through socioeconomic status. According to Sean Reardon, a main outcome of the widening income gap for families has been a widening gap in achievement among children, which he refers to as the income achievement gap (Reardon, 2011). Therefore, the children of the poor remain at an educational disadvantage when their parents’ income becomes as much of a predictor of their educational achievements, as their parents’ educational obtainment. To emphasize the results of the income achievement gap, Reardon states, “As the children of the rich do better in school, and those who do better in school are more likely to become rich, we risk producing an even more unequal and economically polarized society” (Reardon, 2011, p. 111). For example, as standardized testing shifted towards standardized achievement testing to determine a student’s academic achievement, parental investment in their children’s cognitive development began to increase. Educational disparities occur when affluent families can very easily afford tutoring outside of the classroom for their children to perform highly, while children being raised in impoverished homes are at a disadvantage, and at a lower chance of doing well on these exams. This becomes problematic when SAT reading, math, and writing scores increase with income as exemplified by the disproportionately small amount of minority students in higher education (Brand lecture,

Although in the past the biggest cause for unequal opportunities in education has been the gap between different races, recently the gap between income percentiles has affected students substantially. Students go to schools in districts that correlate to the income percentile they are in. Because of this, many students in high-poverty neighborhoods are not given the same amount of time and money as students in upper-class neighborhoods are (Cordes and Miller). This can be seen in a study, conducted in

America’s education system is a fine exemplar, as the growth of inequality has greatly affected its learning environments and the students themselves. According to Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane, the difference between math and reading scores between low- and high-income families have been growing tremendously compared to several decades ago (“Growing Income Inequality Threatens American Education”). A main cause of this is the stress low-income families suffer, as they continue to struggle with food, housing, and learning supplies. Higher-income children have no such concerns and only focus on their education, creating misconceptions of low-income students, such as being lazy and unintelligent. Higher tuitions and student supplies also aid social inequality, as they discourage lower and middle-class individuals from learning due to exorbitant cost, which has more than tripled over the past 50 years for both private and public colleges (“Tuition and Fees and Room and Board over Time”). Inequality has so much free reign over America that low-income individuals have less than a 10% chance to escape their current social position, and their children have even less than that (“Mobility, Measured”). As a result, social inequality forces America’s citizens to remain socially and economically stagnant, devoid of any opportunity to change in

The differences in academic gaps between children and teenagers from low-income neighborhoods and affluent neighborhoods present themselves in the schools the students attend. A study by the Department of Education showed that students in low-income areas did not have access to the same rigorous courses, and when they did, the resources available to the low-income students was lacking compared to the resources the students in high income neighborhoods had access to. In the low-income areas black and Hispanic students were twice as likely to have teachers with less experience, with one or two years in the profession, compared to schools in affluent neighborhoods with well-to-do white students. Another thing increasing the academic gap is that only 22 percent of local districts reported offering pre-kindergarten or other early learning programs for low-income children.

Is the rising poverty rate of America negatively affecting the education of high school students across the nation? Unemployment, parents’ level of education and a profound list that continues has shown to impact a child’s education. In 2013, “a majority of of children attending our K-12 public schools [came] from low-income families” (Suitts 35). Poverty-stricken students are more likely to receive poor grades than those living above the poverty line. What seems to be affecting the grades of these impoverished students? The constant need to support their family financially, physically, and emotionally. Teachers may be unaware that some students face these hardships throughout their daily lives. They need to understand that students of lower socioeconomic statuses may not prioritize homework over taking care of their family during a time of need. Teachers should be more aware to better serve and understand their students. There is crucial evidence that supports that socioeconomic status does affect the education of those living under the poverty line, but some researchers believe that it has no effect on students’ education at all. Teachers should be more aware how socioeconomic status affects the grades of high school students.

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,

The United States had gone through so many changes over the years and with each change we could say that we have become a better nation. Along the way to becoming a better nation, we have gone through highs and lows; however there seems to be a constant low that is now taking a toll on our children. The low may also end up having an effect on our future and that low is inequality in education among minority races and low income students. Low income students should be concerned with inequality in education in the United States because this means that their chances of continuing their education to obtain a better paying job in the future is significantly harder to do then students in higher income brackets.

Although equality is an integral part the Constitution, it is not readily upheld. Specifically, education is a fundamental right which is far too often neglected, and therefore, a leading cause of poverty and inequality in the world today. The ACLU says, “The Constitution requires that all kids be given equal educational opportunity no matter what their race, ethnic background, religion, or sex, or whether they are rich or poor, citizen or noncitizen” (“Your Right). Without an education, one can not be expected to succeed. However, the positions that people are born into are hard to escape. These may include race, gender, and economic status. Because of this difficulty, many people get stuck in poverty and never become

Fiscal policy is the public policy domain that I am most interested in. But education policy is a strong secondary interest of mine, and recently, with the school closings in Detroit and Philadelphia and persistent problems in public education, I find urban policy to be extremely important. Additionally, as a conservative, seeing the increasing income inequality, in terms of solutions, I would like to analyze the deep root of the problem in lieu of a solution that I believe only scratches the surface such as increasing taxes on top earners. I do not think this will solve this issue because there is a disparity between the top 1% of earners and the top 1% of wealth owners and there is no real wealth tax. Wealth is what creates inequality in opportunity. Strengthening equal opportunity through K-12 education is where I would start looking answers.

In 2013, 23.3% of the United States population consisted of children ages 0 to 17, 20% of those children lived in poverty and about 15.8 million children lived in households that were classified as food insecure (America’s Children: Key National Indicators Of Well-being, 2015). Perceptions of students with low socioeconomic status (SES) combined with other circumstances certainly play a role in their development and achievements. SES is conditional, imposed on people, used for comparisons, and based on economics, opportunity, and influence. When considering SES, individuals’ incomes, occupations, education, neighborhood, and political power are took into consideration. A school’s SES is determined by the neighborhood where it is located and by the SES of the children and families in attendance at that school (Socioeconomic Status, 2009).

Educational inequality is the difference in the learning results, or efficacy, experienced by students coming from different groups. Access and opportunity for education was not a right equally given to all people in our country. From the beginning of our nation access to public education was reserved for whites only and was forbidden for enslaved and free blacks. After Emancipation, when some public and private schooling was made available to African Americans, black children were segregated into under-resourced schools. Due to circumstances that kept most African American families in abject poverty, the masses of black children encountered structural barriers that prevented them from gaining a complete formal education.

This essay will provide evidence of how inequalities are found in both gender and education, and will show how these inequalities intersect. An important tool in overcoming any form of oppression and injustice is education, education withholds the power to destroy, to correct and to defeat (Bagher and Hanna, 2016). Sociologists argue that gender inequalities in education, particularly the more rapid improvement in girls’ results, can be best explained by external and internal factors. This essay will explore these internal and external factors, starting with the external factors which consist of; the impact of feminism, changes in the family, changes in women’s employment and girls’ changing perceptions and ambitions. Afterwards this essay will guide you through the internal factors which are also an important factor in explaining gender inequalities in education. These factors consist of; equal opportunity policies, GCSE and coursework, challenging stereotypes in the curriculum, teacher attention and classroom interaction, and also selection and league tables.