The Inequities of American Education

If a symbol had to be given to our society, it might be the dollar bill or maybe the 20 dollar bill because the one dollar bill doesn't buy much anymore. An essential belief in this culture is that it has done away with the discriminatory laws and practices of the past. Supposedly America is grounded in the idea of equal opportunity. Many believe that poor people are now poor because they are lazy or something in their character is lacking, and that is what keeps them poor. It is much easier to deal with this than to admit that many honored systems are still flawed. The educational system is one of those flaws. If a student begins life born to poor parents, he/she begins unequally. Besides all of the social ramifications, there is poor nutrition, lack of access to health care which can lead to all kinds of other problems, and of course, lack of quality schools. Because of the social phenomena of things like "white flight," many of our poor and minority students attend poor schools. Because of our school funding system, the money schools receive is based on property tax. In urban areas or other places with low property tax bases, these schools receive less funding. Most of these schools are overwhelmed with low income and/or minority students, and they simply fail to thrive. A researcher named Harris who did an important study on the state of education describes "...a two-tiered public school system: one for the more affluent, who enjoy the privileges of a relatively healthy educational environment, and the other for the least privileged, who suffer an educational environment that virtually forecloses their chance of learning" (Harris 37). American schools are entirely inequitable in what they offer students of wealth versus students of poverty, and they are more segregated than they were before the momentous ruling of Brown versus the Board of Education.

America must ask itself whether the educational system is equitable. Harris cites this information of inequity in his many surveys. As much as we would like to believe that everyone has an equal opportunity in this country, it just plain is not true.

"The evidence cited by the teachers, school by school, proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that children at risk, who come from families with poorer economic backgrounds, are not being given an opportunity to learn that is equal to that offered to children from the most privileged families. The obvious cause of this inequity lies in the finding that the most disadvantaged children attend schools that do not have basic facilities and conditions conducive to providing them with a quality education. Without such facilities and conditions, both the teachers and the students will be hard-put to achieve any semblance of quality education" (Harris).

Obviously, America is supposed to be the land of equality, and free, public education is supposed to be one of the great equalizers. However, yet some fifty some years after the 1954 ruling of Brown vs. the Board of Education, American education is still not equal or fair. Many schools are more segregated now than they ever were before the order of de-segregation and separate is definitely not equal. Conditions in our schools are just not fair or equitable for children of color or low-income children in this nation. In today's world, everyone in America should be guaranteed a quality education.

The causes of this inequity are many and varied. They begin with the fact that we no longer have unfair housing laws, but we still self-segregate ourselves. Inner cities tend to have large concentrations of low income and/or minority students. Suburbs with more money tend to have more white, upper-class students. These schools are anything but equal. Causes inside the schools themselves range all the way from lack of qualified teachers or unfilled teacher vacancies to inadequate facilities to lack of educational materials. The Harris surveys of 2006 sum up some of the reasons for this incredible inequity perfectly.

"It is perfectly obvious that the highest at-risk students have the poorest, most run-down physical environments, the greatest instability of teachers coming and going, the fewest fully qualified teachers, a shortage of textbooks and instructional materials, far less availability of technology in the classroom, overcrowded classrooms, poor working conditions for the teachers, and fewer resources to teach students to pass the tests that they have little chance of being properly prepared to take. To compare these schools with those serving the most affluent majority of students is akin to comparing a backward, emerging nation with a highly industrialized nation. It is no contest" (Harris 37).

America must ask itself if its students can compete in the global world. Again, in a global world, students from the United States should be able to compete in the global market, but according to Harris and many others, they cannot. The Harris survey is not the only survey that discusses the educational inequities of the United States. The President's Commission on Education Resource Equity declared in 2001, "long-standing gaps in access to educational resources exist, including disparities based on race and ethnicity" (Executive Order). America just does not live up to the American dream anymore of people coming here and being able to work hard and make it. Many Americans born here are not getting the opportunity to thrive because this ideal of free and equal education is just not measuring up. America wants other countries to view them as a champion for human rights, but they are not providing basic rights to our own citizens. Take a look at all that was revealed with the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina if further proof is needed.

Public schools in America are provided sharply unequal fungi. Among America's school districts, annual funding per student can range from less than $4,000 to $15,000 or more, and although the "typical" substantial school districts receives roughly $5,000 per year for each student, affluent school districts may receive $10,000 or more for their student" (Berliner, 12). Berliner says that these disparities come from many factors, such as acceptance of traditional methods of school funding, our desires to keep our own taxes low, and beliefs that people in poverty are there because of their own flaws. Most Americans do want equal opportunity in theory but aren't willing to give anything up to get it. In order to create more equity, other ways to finance would have to be found. Richer districts would have to be willing to give up some of their funding to schools who really need it. Unfortunately, those who attend better schools do not want to give up what they have in order to help anyone else.

America must ask itself if its schools are equitable. The inequities can be enormous, and Jonathan Kozol explains this concept well in an article he wrote for The Nation.

"The contrasts between what is spent today to educate a child in the poorest New York City neighborhoods, where teacher salaries are often even lower. than the city averages, and spending levels in the wealthiest suburban areas are daunting challenges to any hope New Yorkers
might retain that even semblances of fairness still prevail. Teachers in the schools of District 7 in Mott Haven, for example, where some 99.8 percent of children are blackor Latino, now receive a median salary that is approximately half the median salary of teachers in the affluent communities of Great Neck and Manhasset. (The actual numbers, which are annually compiled by the state, are $42,000 for a teacher in Mott Haven, versus $82,000 for the teachers in these two Long Island suburbs.) Including all the other costs of operation of a public school, a third-grade class of twenty-five
children in the schools of Great Neck now receives at least $200,000 more per year than does a class the same size in Mott Haven, while children in a comparable classroom in Manhasset now receive a quarter-million dollars more." (Kozol)

Now, granted, this is New York City, the largest district in America. It makes sense that New York City would have its share of problems, but many districts must claim similar statistics. Jonathan Kozol himself writes of many other inequitable districts across this country. How can Americans even argue that these two opportunities are even close to equal? Students unlucky enough to be born to certain parents in certain geographic locations do not get a "fair shake" in this world. If the country truly believes that education is the key to it all, this must change.

The effects of this inequity are equally devastating. The effects range from lack of higher education for many groups to supporting the social stratification that already exists in our country. Basically, this means that education is no longer an equalizer. Many people cannot work their way out of poverty through education because the education they receive does not allow them to pass the tests that would allow them to move on to further education even if they had the money. This lack of education and skills places them in low-end jobs and begins the cycle all over again. Ultimately, this can lead to many things, such as homelessness, drug and/or alcohol abuse, crime or many other undesirable effects.

America must ask itself if they are using their human capital. By providing such unequal opportunities in education, the country is failing to use the human capital at its disposal. America is also ensuring that some people become low-level producers in our society and that the country must continue to have to offer many social programs in order to supplement our low-level producers. How will these people be able to compete in the world? And why doesn't America change it ? In an article entitled "Fixing Schools Isn't Everything," David Berliner states, "Thousands of studies have linked poverty to academic achievement. The relationship is every bit as strong as the connection between cigarettes and cancer. So why, when we have so much credible research making connections between poverty and school success, do we keep looking for answers?" (Berliner). Why, indeed? If the connection is this clear, how can it continue to be denied?

Schools cannot fix these issues themselves because they are not among the root causes of poverty. However, something Americans must do is to recognize that many of their fellow countrymen and women are in poverty and not there because they want to be. They are there because they can't find jobs or they have jobs that don't pay them enough to cover even the most minimal needs. They are there because they have had illnesses and lacked the health care coverage to take care of them. They are there because they do not have even the most basic skills to compete in the world of work. America must remember all of these reasons and fight for the things that would improve their lives, even if it means taking away just a little bit of what others have. The country needs to support companies that offer fair, working wages as well as health care to their employees rather than businesses that offer the cheapest prices for the consumers. We have to recognize that if these companies offer cheap products, they have not paid well all the people who have been involved in the production and distribution of those products. Look beyond low prices is needed. And yes, changes need to be made in the schools as well beginning with the way public schools are funded. As much as Americans would like to believe in the somewhat new ideas of privatization of education and options like charter schools, they are not the answers. The great divide will still exist unless the sources of school funding are completely revamped. And this country needs to find ways to end the self-segregation that has resulted in more segregated schools in many states than before the Civil Rights movement.

This country can makes strides. This country can change its future. America has done many noble and innovative things in its past; it must do this too.

Works Cited

Berliner, David, Fixing Schools Isn't Everything, neatoday. February 2006.

Berliner, David. What Research Says About Unequal Funding for Schools in America.

In Pursuit of Better Schools. What Research Says. Rockefeller Foundation. New

York.

Carroll, Thomas. Fifty Years After Brown v. Board of Education: A Two-Tiered

Educational System. National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.

Washington D.C. May 13, 2004.

Executive Order 13190, SS 1. January 15, 2001. 66 Federal Register 5424.

Harris, Louis. If You Want to Know About the Schools, Ask the Teachers: A Survey of

the Status of Public Education in New York. Prepared for Recruiting Teachers,

Inc. (July 2002). p. 37.

Harris, Louis, If You Want to Know About the Schools, Ask the Teachers: A Survey of

the Status of Public Education in New York. September 2003.

Kozol, Jonathan. Malign Neglect. Children in New York public schools are being

shortchanged-again. The Nation. June 10, 2002. Retrieved on March 26, 2007, at

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Third_World_US/Malign_Neglect_Kozol.html