The Similarities Between Low-Income And Minority Students

In his article, “Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s Educational Apartheid”, Jonathan Kozol points out, whether we are aware or not, how American public schools are segregated. Schools that were segregated twenty-five to thirty years ago are still segregated, and schools that had been integrated are now re-segregating. The achievement gap between black and white students, after narrowing for a few decades, started to widen once again in the early 1990s when federal courts got rid of the mandates of the Brown decision and schools were no longer required to integrate.

Today, we know integration has a positive effect on almost every aspect of schooling that matters. We also know integration matters for all students. Both minorities and whites are disadvantaged by attending racially isolated schools, although in somewhat different ways. Predominantly minority schools as a whole had inadequate and unfair educational opportunities. First, these schools tend to serve predominantly poor students. Due to poor situations at home and by the student's friends and sometimes relatives these schools routinely had lower rates of achievement than students in mostly average income schools. This holds true regardless of a student's race or socioeconomic status. More importantly, predominantly poor and minority schools find it extremely difficult to attract and retain high-quality

If the education system relies most of their funding from taxes, where do they end up getting the rest of the money. The government and administration grant more money to wealthier areas than low -income areas. Wealthier communities are granted more money because they have a higher percentage of funding coming from property taxes. This leaves the low-income students at a disadvantage. People living in low income areas mainly rent and don’t own their own property. As a result of not having a house or owning property, they have little property taxes. If low -income students are not given enough money for funding a school, the students are suffering. With the lack of money causes students to miss out on college prep classes such as AP classes and Honors classes. These classes are pivotal to the students that want to pursue higher education and a road to success. For example students in the low-income areas are given a poor education. They are not given the resources, or quality teachers in order to achieve success. According to George Miller House Education and the Workforce committee, many students are not educationally ready to graduate and attend higher education (Minority 1). This is another reason why low income students should be provided the same classes as a middle class or a wealthier community. In a study, 2 million students in 7,300 schools had no access to all calculus classes, a staple in many high – achieving high schools (Minority 2). Low-income

African American students account for the larger majority of minorities in public schools in the United States. Most areas in the northern part of the United states and coastal areas are ethnically diverse. However, down south this is not the case. Students of color will experience a harder time in the education system. African American students meet the obstacle of educators who will not want them to succeed based on a preconceived thought. In fact, Caucasian teachers make up for 85% of all

Student Group (Provide demographic data): At Steele School, 84.7% of all students are categorized as low-income. Within those low-income students, 80% out of the 84.7% are African American.

Systematic racism within education Institutions, such as the lack of adequate funding as well as subtle discrimination, continues to be the root of the problem that plagues this nation. Even though segregation was abolished in 1964, the lingering effects that remain are significant and cannot be passively mended. Although it is tempting to think that this prejudice is caused by a select few and not the many, it is clear that this problem holds more depth. Recent studies conducted by the National Education Studies (NEA) have proven that even in school’s African American students are often times targeted and punished at a significantly higher rate when compared to their white peers. The study states “Black students make up almost 40 percent of all school expulsions [in the] nation, and more than two thirds of students referred to police from schools are either black or Hispanic” (Blacks: Education Issues). This study conducted by the Department of Education, cabinet-level department of the United States

“When we can predict how well students will do in school by looking at their zip code, we know we have a serious systemic problem” (Gloria Ladson-Billings 20). When we are able to forecast how a child will perform by where the child resides, then how can we say that every child is receiving quality education. The unsuccessful educational system infused into the United States is affecting the majority of minorities. In the United States students due to their race and social class, suffer from underfunded public schools, inexperienced teachers, and housing segregation, which in turn inhibit their opportunity to succeed through education. These difficulties plaque students from the very beginning of their public school experience and follow them throughout their academic life. There are a few solutions to these issues but they have to be implemented and enforced with a slow integration.

For some students, race is a central part of their identity. The struggles they face with it determines the achievements that they can present to the admissions officers. Despite the current ban on the usage of race in college admissions in Michigan, admissions officers should not ignore any part of a student’s unique circumstances, which may be related to one’s socioeconomic status, race, or both. In the article, “Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s Educational Apartheid,” Kozol argues that the ongoing racial segregation and the lack of funding in schools consisting primarily of blacks and Hispanics are putting the poor and minority children at an disadvantage by not providing them a chance to have good teachers, classrooms, and other resources. While universities use scores to assess the academic ability of a student, minorities who attend schools segregated based on race or socioeconomic status may excel at what they are given, have the

This chapter elaborates on how racism has a negative impact on African American education, in which has been happening for many decades and is currently taking place. Furthermore, it speaks about segregation and how it currently exists in different ways. Additionally, it speaks on how segregation not only exist in one school, but it likewise exists across the school districts. It speaks on how segregation in these schools has a negative impact on students’ academic success and future success.

A school setting provides opportunities where issues of social justice, oppression, and discrimination can be addressed. According to Bemak and Chung (2009), students of color and economically disadvantaged students are likely to have low academic achievement, in comparison to their White middle class counterparts. These disparities in academic

Shaun Harper explains that “the continuation of residential segregation in the United States concentrates Black students in public K-12 schools that have fewer resources, lower per-student expenditures, fewer advanced placement courses, and less experienced teachers than the suburban schools many White students attend” (2010). The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Susan Aud, et. Al. reports that in 2007–08, about 25 percent of secondary mathematics teachers who taught in schools with at least half Black enrollment had neither a certification nor a college major in mathematics, compared to 8 percent of secondary mathematics teachers who taught in schools with at least half White

Students from racialized backgrounds face robust barriers to their success in high schools. While high school graduation rates are raising as a whole, students from racialized background are graduating high school less that their peers of the dominant racial group. These students have many different variables that limit their educational outcomes. “While education is the institution used in America to distribute social status and economic power, and facilitate how society functions, it has not been accepted or provided equal opportunity to all members of society.”(Boyd, Gordon, Iwamoto, Potts, Ward, 2009)

As I learn more about the realities of education, there was one issue that sparked my interest and passion – segregation. Though it is difficult to see first-hand, I can definitely see remnants of segregation through comparison of resources available at schools I’ve worked at. My belief that education serves as an accessible tool for social mobility led me to explore the issue of segregation with the perspective of a future educator. Over 50 years ago in the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court deemed that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. With this in mind, I was under the impression that schools were not segregated (at least to a far lesser extent). However, I was shocked to learn that segregation in schools

For the past couple of years, “ Black lives matter,” has been everywhere from social media to the news. It is hard to ignore how racism has dominated the headlines. When it comes to economic status and race, parts of America are as segregated as today as they were fifty years ago, and nowhere is that segregation more obvious than public schools. When the Supreme Court ruled on segregated schools in 1954, it said that separate facilities in unequal and that equality and education was fundamental for any child’s success. Studies have showed that low-income kids in low-income schools do badly, but low-income kids attending middle-income schools tend to do a lot better.

“Poverty and education are inextricably linked, because people living in poverty may stop going to school so they can work, which leaves them without literacy and numeracy skills they need to further their careers. Their children, in turn, are in a similar situation years later, with little income and few options but to leave school and work” (“Poverty and Education”). The National Center for Children in Poverty sponsored a study that found that in families whose income falls below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line, scores are far below the national average in reading, math, and general knowledge tests (Jordan). Subsequently, poverty ridden families live within the same neighborhoods and, thus, the surrounding schools follow the trend of not receiving enough money and the inability to facilitate the students with the best teachers and technology to learn.