Need, Equality And Social Justice

Almost all the family incomes are over $100,000...The incomes in this school represent less than 1 percent of the families in the United States,” (256) compared to working-class families who earn incomes “at or below $12,000” (256). Anyon presents these examples to compare the backgrounds of each school and uses this as logos to persuasively reason her claim that quality of education is offered to people who can afford it. Public schools that working-class and middle-class families can afford do not offer the same education private schools that upper-class and capitalist families can afford. Wealthy children who are privileged get an advantage early on in their education career because they are able to afford better quality teachers and lessons. This varied quality of education found in curriculums is what creates the unequal divide between educated individuals in different social classes. An audience of scholars and teachers would be persuaded by this claim because Anyon’s data transparently shows the uneven distribution of resources and opportunity found in the social class schools.

Justice and equality are both two very abstract concepts with numerous controversial definitions that are never agreed upon. Depending on the situations, justice can be the same as equality, or not. In the modern world, justice is often used as a political slogan, rather than a meaningful pursuit. Meanwhile equality is also one of the leading ideals of political movements, such as equal rights movements for marriage, voting, etc. In order to answer the question: is justice the same as equality, it is necessary to understand the precise meaning of equality and justice, the relationship between the two, the measurement of the two, and their current and historical status.

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.

Jonathan Kozol, in the chapter entitled “Other People’s Children, discusses and justifies the kinds of limitations placed on children who must attend poorly funded, educationally inferior school. Kozol argues that children in the inner-city schools are not fit to go to college and that they should be trained in schools for the jobs they will eventually hold, even though these jobs are less prestigious, lowest-level jobs in society. Kozol’s argument is based on the fact that students from the inner-city or rather from the societies that do not have enough job opportunities are not supposed to learn much because their society cannot accommodate most of the courses that are often found in the urban settings. For example, there is a point where Kozol cites one of the businessman’s statement which says, ‘It doesn’t make sense to offer something that most of these urban kids will never use.’ The businessman continues to argue, ‘no one expects these ghetto kids to go to college. Most of them are lucky if they are literate. If we can teach some useful skills, get them to stay in school and graduate, and maybe into jobs, we’re giving them the most that they can hope for’ (Kozol 376). This statement clearly indicate that the society should accept the inequalities and exercise the same inequalities even in education.

Expansion of education is closely related to idealistic views of democracy. In developing and wealthy nations, education is valued because it helps the individual mind to develop capabilities. In contrast, education has also been seen as a way to promote equality. Having access to public education, in theory, has the potential to reduce poverty and promote equality. If all are entitled to the same public education, not to mention they are required by law, why do school systems seem segregate their students? Researchers have searched for the answer and have theorized that economic background, tracking, and hidden curriculum are a few things that help contribute to the imaginary lines drawn between students in society.

Therefore, the academies can be said to be successful in their aim of “driving up standards,” and have introduced class equality, as now more working class children are able to attend university due to the qualifications gained by attending the academy schools.

Social Policy is the study of social services and the welfare state. In general terms, it looks at the idea of social welfare, and its relationship to politics and society.

Tracing the life of a child, he shows how an initial slow start can cause the child to lag further behind as time goes on. What struck me the most about this was how early children’s life courses are set – even before birth. Barry lists poor nutrition during pregnancy, lack of paid parental leave, and low-quality medical care in childbirth as factors that can permanently impact the child’s future learning abilities. And when students carry their environmental disadvantages into schools, Barry ways schools become places where these hindrances are “compounded and not corrected for.” These early life experiences often disqualify students from even reaching college and getting a degree, which is becoming necessary for obtain a well-paying job. In this way, education seems to become a trap – education is a way out of poverty, but poverty is a hindrance to education. The ways in which inequality compounds in schools challenges how I think about the role schools play in society as educational institutions. By looking at how disadvantages and advantages accumulate through the course of schooling, I can better understand how schools contribute to wider social

The notion of justice is existence of proper balance of rights and its access under the laws of land. It refers to not depriving any person from availing privileges, opportunities etc. John Rawls writes, "Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override"It means that the interaction in a society must be free from any sort of discrimination such as religion, race, color, caste or sex. It ensures fair distribution of assets and equal opportunity. José P. Laurel defines Social Justice as “Social justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the state so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated.”

Social justice is widely supported by the idea of equality. Equality is defined as treating individuals fairly and equally, no matter their race, needs, beliefs, or age (The University of Edinburgh, 2015). When incorporating equality, this should remove discrimination in all aspects as mentioned above (The University of Edinburgh, 2015).

The aim of this essay is to address the problem of inequality and oppression through three separate texts, The Second Sex, The Death of the Profane and Killing Rage. The Second Sex focuses on the woman and her role compared to man. The Death of the Profane and Killing Rage are both texts that describe experiences about the constant racism felt by blacks. To thoroughly examine these texts and how they are related to oppression and inequality it is important to first define what each mean. Oppression and inequality each have different definitions but they go hand in hand. Oppression is the state of being subject to prolonged unjust treatment. While inequality is defined as lacking equality, equality is the state of being equal especially in status,

● Bias from teachers (Sharples, Slavin, Chambers, & Sharp, 2011) The Achievement Gap and Cultural Background (O’Brein, 2011) Graph shows the proportions of different ethnic groups getting 5 GCSEs at C or above Government Action Plan 2013 • Spend more money on education • Make schools responsible for pupil achievement • Access to research for all teachers • Summer school program (Morgan & Laws, 2014) 2015 school league tables reveal attainment gap between rich and poor pupils has increased by 7 per cent (Garner, 2015) The Consequences: Poverty (“Impact of Qualifications”, n.d; Labour Force Survey, 2010)

Efforts to reach this are the provision of schools, with entry on a meritocratic basis. Following the 1944 Education Act in Britain, the removal of fees from secondary schools and the provision of student grants, certain financial barriers to educational attainment were minimised. Whether we measure equality of access fairly is a debateable topic, however there is overwhelming evidence which confirms that social class origins are strongly and clearly implicated in educational success or failure. Halsey, Heath and Ridge (1981), in a study of 8529 males educated in England and Wales, found that a boy who was considered middle class, compared to a boy in working class had fourth more times of attending a public school, eighteen times more chance of attending a minor independent school and twelve times more chance of attending a direct grant school and three times more chance of attending a grammar school (Journal of Social Policy, 1981). So this study heavily implies that the pattern of unequal access to the more prestigious secondary schools remained, despite the post war education reforms ‘the probability of a working-class boy receiving a fair education in the mid-fifties and sixties were very little different from that of his parents’ generation thirty years earlier’ (Halsey,

The three issues that will be explored are: Welfare, Health and Pensions. Defining social policy, and understanding social policy becomes imperative, to enable understanding of the contemporary issues within it.

Social justice is mutually a practice and a goal. The goal of social justice is complete and equal contribution by all people in a society that is equally designed to meet their needs. Social justice allows for all members of society to be physically and psychologically safe and secure. It is a set of values that allow us to understand what is right and wrong in our world regardless of race, culture and economic status. That we take care of those in need of help, so that they can take care of themselves. Social justice allows equal rights and opportunities to everyone in society.