The Racial Wealth Gap : An Analysis On A Potential Solution

America’s education system is one of the most respectable, reputable and sought after commodities in our society, but it is also the most overcrowded, discriminatory, and controversial system ever established. Most people yearn for a higher education because it 's what 's expected in this society in order to get ahead. It means a better job, more money, power, prestige and a sense of entitlement. But this system has let down the children that are supposed to benefit from it. Education discriminates against minorities, and poorer class students are not expected nor encouraged to attain a higher education. The education system is set up to ensure that every child get a basic

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.

Success is attainable by all students except when circumstances of one’s environment prevent forward movement. If access to graduation is equitable and attainable, students will be prepared to enroll and persist in college thereby increasing their opportunities for success and high qualities of life. Swanson (2009) reiterates a focus of the Obama campaign on graduate rates as most important because the diploma is not only a source of economic benefit but of preparation for global competitiveness. Increased graduations rates stand to serve an increase in national economy while lifting students most at risk from poverty. The impact of education on poverty is found through increasing access to graduation. Swanson (2009) suggests that attainment of higher levels of education is not enough, the

“The socioeconomic achievement gap in education refers to the inequality in academic achievement between groups of students. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates, among other success measures” (Ansell, 2017). Typically, when discussing the achievement gap, educators are comparing the academic progress of African-American students or Hispanic students to the progress of white students. More-often-than-not the white students will have more educational achievements than their non-white colleagues (Ansell, 2017). The most widely accepted theory as to why students with higher socioeconomic status (SES) do better academically is high parental involvement, access to economic resources and access to highly qualified teachers (Huang, 2015. Pg.6). Students of low socioeconomic status often live in poverty. This means that the student may not have sufficient school supplies or even someone at home to help him with his homework. There are numerous children in the United States’ school systems that are failing due to the achievement gap. These students are at a disadvantage because the school systems and teachers do not notice or even care about their home life and how it comes into play in their education. It is important for our nation to not only understand the achievement gap but take steps toward correcting it.

Only four students went straight to the workforce, when a century ago, this was not the case. With students now consistently going straight to college after high school, state universities should be free to state residents since we have public high schools. In Kalamazoo, Michigan, students who attend high school in Kalamazoo starting in ninth grade, can have from sixty-five to one hundred percent of their tuition covered (Teicher). This is known as “The Promise.” The Promise guarantees any student from Kalamazoo a scholarship that pays either a majority or all of their tuition (Teicher). This scholarship can be used for any state school, fifteen private schools, and other state schools around the United States that are less than the highest tuition in Michigan (Teicher). Since The Promise’s first wave of scholarships, there has been definite improvements in college attendance. For black students, there has been a three percent rise in college attendance and overall forty-eight percent of scholarship recipients graduate college (Teicher). While this has shown an impact, there certainly are other factors that lead to the fifty-two percent that do not graduate, such as not being taught time management, academic skills, or how to take advantage of their sources (Teicher). Despite this fallback, “The Promise” has definitely started an era of higher college graduation rates and those who lack financial support a method of

Poverty leads to insufficient opportunities, especially in college education. For instance, according to U.S. Department of Education, students who do not enter college or drop out of their classes are “predominantly persons from low-income families.” In support of this argument, the article states that “only 21 percent of those with family income of less than $25,000 were highly qualified for admission at a four-year institution” compared to the 56 percent of students with family income above $75,000. Therefore, students with bad economic conditions struggle with attending university even after entering it. The problem is that the African Americans race gets the harshest disadvantage from their poor economic conditions. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services publishes that almost 40 percent of African Americans under 18 are below the national poverty line, which is three-times higher than their white counterparts. This explicitly proves that unequal economic conditions are the main reason for inequality in education; African Americans are the most disadvantaged. Furthermore, the correlation between poor economic conditions and a lack of education among African Americans creates a chain of inequality. The poor economic backgrounds of African Americans obstruct their children from attending colleges and subsequently, the lack of higher education makes

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

The disparity facing African-Americans in education is cyclic in nature in that if a parent lacks the proper education required to possess a high earning power and as a result become another statistic of the lower class of the economy, hence being unable to provide their children with resources such as tutoring and other services that would help provide educational equity for them, these children are stuck lagging behind their upper-class peers that have access to these resources, leaving them with a lesser quality of education and limiting both their future earning power and their future children’s exposure to better educational resources, hence the cycle of educational disparity that plagues the African-Americans as a race.

Ben and I strongly affirm resolved: The United States federal government ought to pay reparations to African Americans.

Racial segregation is a distinct social challenge that stem from both overall inequality and the racial wage gap. Because wealth is “the sum total of a person’s assets … [that is] built up over a lifetime and passed on to the next generation through inheritances,” wealth inequality and the racial wealth gap exists from the past. It was not until 1984 that the United Stated began to statistically record wealth inequality, however, the wealth inequality between freed black slaves and white men started to grow towards the end of the Civil War. Because slaves were, by law, forbidden to own any land, they did not have any properties in their names. Even after the Civil War, former slaves were removed from land to land whenever a new order was set.

The more money and well-off a family is, generally the better education their children will have. This is due to the fact that tutors, extra programs, summer camps, private schooling, etc. are expensive and only available to those who can afford it. This illustrates that this nation does not have an even playing field of opportunities for students. (“Class in America-2006” pg. 155, Gregory Mantsios)

The expanding gap between the cost of college education and the growth of household income is also putting a restraint on the higher education ambitions of many American families. Amid 2000 and 2013, the average level of tuition and fees at a four-year public college rose by 87 percent; during that same period, the median earnings for the middle fifth of American households grew only 24 percent. That's a tendency that education researchers predict isn't sustainable. This gaps represents a a variation in the idea of college education from a social to an individual

Education has been an important factor to lead a healthy quality of life. Higher education applies knowledge relating to professional interest and leads to advanced occupational opportunities. Studies have shown that advanced knowledge and credentials enhances financial stability. “Knowledge is Power” proves to be a relevant quote because power follows knowledge and without knowledge power has no resistance. In professional settings those with advanced knowledge lead others. Sometimes power doesn’t actually define knowledge. Obtaining knowledge should never be interfered under any circumstances. Decreased education remains questionable for blacks that were once denied the opportunity to learn. Louisiana has remained in the lower percentile

It is often argued that the low education achievement levels in the black community is because poverty. In America's public high schools, 45% of black students and 43% of Hispanics (as compared to 22% of white) drop out of high school before their classes graduate. According to research, Black high-school graduates perform, on average, at a level that is four years below of white students. The school systems in particular areas are the way they are because of the outside community. Due to so many blacks being unemployed they can’t pay back tax dollars to help out the school system and whites do not try to help. The cycle continues to repeat itself over and over again for

In his famous essay, “The Way to Wealth,” Benjamin Franklin advises, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” (1). Post-secondary education, a direct investment in the gaining of knowledge, benefits an individual’s characteristics, such as skill set and related structural forces, like employment opportunity. In a job market that increasingly demands highly knowledgeable workers, the importance of investing in a post-secondary education has grown significantly. This is especially true for individuals of low income living in the United States where the number of jobs that only require a high school diploma continues to decrease. For those near or below the poverty line, a post-secondary education is the means to a life of financial well-being, stability, and protection against poverty. Despite its benefits, post-secondary education does not address the full extent of the persistent poverty in America. For instance, post-secondary education addresses poverty on an individual scale, but poverty is an issue that demands implementation of social policy and cultural shifts on a national scale. Additionally, the prospects of low-income youth attending post-secondary institutions, particularly university, has become significantly more difficult over the past few decades. With increases in the gap of wages and academic abilities between low-income and high-income families, as well as an increase in academic standards for university admission, the chances of receiving the