Poverty In Education

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

Should a child's wealth determine whether or not he or she can get a quality education? Funding for public schools is an enormous issue that affects many people. A major issue is unequal funding throughout the country. There are various reasons for these differences, from the governmental level to the lack of public support. There is a need to re-work the current formula used by states to determine how school funds are disbursed and also to increase public support for education funding. After all, whether a child is wealthy or poor, it is in everyone's interests to ensure that America's future generations are both skilled and educated. Limited funds for public schools have primarily affected the poor and

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?

Everyone has heard the saying “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” but few people think of schools when they here this phrase. The way our educational system is set up today benefits students in high income areas more than it helps students in low income schools. People in the United States like to think that anyone can achieve greatness if they try hard enough but getting an education is important and being in a well-funded school never hurts. In this country there is a profound lack of funding to our schools and there is an inequality when it comes distributing the funds and it only serves to help some and disadvantage others.

Poverty is an important issue in the United States. In fact, child poverty in the US is at its highest point in 20 years. [Flores & Lesley, 2014] The poor are at a disadvantage, because they have an unfulfilled right to a good education. A majority of children attending public schools come from low-income families. It is hypothesized that a low household income correlates with poor achievement in school. A solution to poverty is for everyone to have a good education so everyone can be equally prepared to take on a high-skill, high-paying job. It’s unfortunate, because the solution to poverty is a good education, but a good education is hardly ever available to children living in poverty.

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

How does poverty relate to education? The people with a lower educational level have a higher chance of becoming impecunious than those who have high academic achievements.  High school dropouts and high school graduates are more likely of being below the poverty line than college graduates.

Some societies are built in the midst of an underdeveloped communities that undermine the worth of a college degree some cannot afford the house they live in, let alone afford a higher degree. That is why post-secondary education occasionally serves as a gateway out out of social economic situations of poverty, in addition to obtaining knowledge to change the social economic mindset that education is not the way out of poverty. If these communities that are held in poverty all had college degrees, then it would change that economic status of making that community thrive with wealth and riches.

Two different factors that lead to poverty can be the lack of education and the structure of a country’s economy. The reason why education leads to poverty is because the lack of access to information forces a person or a group of people to attain the required information to succeed. For example, because a student lacks access to a quality education, they would be more prone to skipping class and putting their mindset elsewhere such as gang violence or drugs. The lack of education is a cycle of poverty as well because students, who do not graduate from high school, normally do not make living wages, creating poverty, and causing their children to live in poverty. A country’s economy leads to poverty because the government provides a false sense

1. Social class - One social institution that impacts poverty is social class. People of a lower social class are more likely to live in urban cities and work low-paying jobs than their more affluent counterparts. They are also less likely to hold a college degree, which makes it difficult for them to find a better paying job. Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds tend to do worse in school and have a higher chance of being held back or dropping out. Even if these children mange to get into college, their parents can not afford the absorbent costs associate with it. As a result these children end up taking menial jobs in their urban neighbored and hence the cycle of poverty continues on to the next generation.

For example Philadelphia school districts spend about $11,078 per student while Lower Merion spends $21,399 per student. That is more than $10,000 a student that Lower Merion can spend for a student then Philadelphia. Who is to say that Philadelphia students need that extra ten thousand dollars a year for school supplies since many Lower Merion students come from wealthier families (Philadelphia Inquirer 2007). Since there is limited funding in Philadelphia it has been shown that children who live in poverty the first five years of their lives have an IQ deficiency regardless of the family structure (Eitzen 210). Which sets back a child even before starting kindergarten and most likely will keep them behind their peers. Since many people who are living in poverty have inferior education their market in the job force is limited compared to those who have better education. Many poor students are six times more likely to drop out of high school compared to affluent counterparts (Eitzen 209), which leaves them with limited job opportunities especially in today’s job market. Many of the poor are single mothers and they need to have a job that allows their child to go to daycare, school or a relative so they are limited to the hour selection they can work usually having

From here the states break it down and send it to schools in need (Layton, 2015, p. 4). However, these funds do not take into consideration that students suffering from the effects of poverty not only need additional school resources. These students also need to have health necessities and other additional services that their parents are unable to financially provide or care for. These are things that cannot be overlooked, and are essential for a student’s success not only academically but throughout their lives as productive citizens.

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 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.

Minorities could be scoring almost 15 points lower then non-minority cohorts for multiple reasons, which includes the following.