World renown education reformer John Dewey once said "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." Such a statement holds quite the deal of weight when put on the scale of betterment. Although, research would tell a story of educational inequality that could be a death-blow to the lives of the very children caught in the midst of social discrepancies if Dewey 's quote is anything to refer to. Sociologist James Coleman and journalist Jonathan Kozol went out into the world of social variations at two drastically differing time periods in America in many walks of life. However, their findings would release the inhibitions and enlightenment within people living in wealthy communities with the assumption that education is an
To his surprise, many students ended up as troubled adults plaugued by alcoholism, unwanted pregnancies, murders, prison time, and suicide. The students that did succeed, however, all had one thing in common according to Kozol; "These children had unusual advantages: someone intervened in every case" Kozol reported. These children had support from devoted parents, their religious community, or a scholarship opportunity. Scholarships worked for children such a Pineapple, a student from a school Kozol described as "Almost always in chaos because so many teachers did not stay for long." A local minister helped Pineapple get a scholarship to a private school. She went on to become a social worker. Although many people may believe Kozol 's depiction of educational inequality is accurate, many sociologists would disagree. Sociologists don’t find Kozol 's research to be compelling due to his unsystematic strategy of choosing schools to study.
Between the research of James Coleman and Jonathan Kozol, it seems that Kozol 's depiction of educational inequality has more of an effect on educational results. I say this due to the horrid conditions that would be such a distraction to any student. Struggling to stay alive, to me, is too great of an obstacle to overcome and succeed academically in most
Jonathan Kozol, an award winning writer, wrote the essay “Still separate, Still Equal” that focuses on primary and secondary school children from minority families that are living in poverty. There is a misconception in this modern age that historical events in the past have now almost abolished discrimination and segregation for the most part; however, “schools that were already deeply segregated
Savage Inequalities written by Jonathan Kozol allows individuals to understand the conditions of several public schools in America. Kozol visited many school in approximately thirty neighborhoods between the years of 1988 and 1990. During his visits he found that there was a wide difference in the conditions between the schools in poor internal city communities and schools in the wealthier communities. It becomes clear that there is a huge contrast within the public school system of a country which claims to provide equal opportunity for all. Many children in wealthier communities begin their lives with an education that is far more advanced than children in poor communities. Therefore the lack in equal opportunity from the start is created.
In the essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal” by Jonathan Kozol, the situation of racial segregation is refurbished with the author’s beliefs that minorities (i.e. African Americans or Hispanics) are being placed in poor conditions while the Caucasian majority is obtaining mi32 the funding. Given this, the author speaks out on a personal viewpoint, coupled with self-gathered statistics, to present a heartfelt argument that statistics give credibility to. Jonathan Kozol is asking for a change in this harmful isolation of students, which would incorporate more funding towards these underdeveloped schools. This calling is directed towards his audience of individuals who are interested in the topic of public education (seeing that this selection is from one of his many novels that focus on education) as well as an understanding of the “Brown v. Board of Education” (1954) case, which ties in to many aspects of the author’s essay. With the application of exemplum, statistics, and emotional appeals, Jonathan Kozol presents a well developed argument.
Kozol addresses the horrific conditions of the institution, student’s feelings and emotions toward the lack of opportunity they feel that are not available to them, inconsistent staffing of teachers and lack of college preparation classes available to them. Students voiced their thoughts in regards to the lack of courses available, horrific school conditions with lack of bathrooms available to them. The large campus that could take up to fifteen minutes to arrive at the next class, inconsistent staff which hinder learning. Beverly Hills High School, a technical arts requirement, could be met by taking classes such as broadcast journalism, advanced computer graphics, carving and sculpture to name a few (709) compared to Fremont High offering sewing, hair dressing and life skills. It is quite apparent that the same opportunity is not available due to socioeconomic class and location of Fremont High School. The opportunities that even I was offered in small, country school are absent from Fremont High School and that in fact is distressing. One’s educational possibilities should not be limited due to socioeconomic class. All Americans should have educational opportunities readily available to
Raquel and Melanie are two poverty stricken students that attended University Height’s High School in the South Bronx, because their school was not federal funded, it lacked resources; so it does not come as a surprise, perspective students like Melanie and Raquel have more of a ...
The schools in Kozol 's essay dealt with lack of funding compared to other schools in New York. For example, Kozol states that the education of a third grade child, in nineteen ninety seven to nineteen ninety eight, in an inner city New York costs the New York Board of Education roughly eight thousand dollars per year. However, if you put that same third grader in a school in the white suburbs of New York, she would receive an education worth about twelve thousand dollars. Kozol adds to this by explaining that the prices on both sides have only risen (Kozol 208). A principal details the restraints on the school the lack of funding has brought, "the principal poured out his feelings to me in a room in which a plastic garbage bag had been attached somehow to cover part of the collapsing ceiling. 'This, ' he told me, pointing to the garbage bag, and then gesturing all around him at the other indications of decay and disrepair one sees in ghetto schools much like it elsewhere,
In the essay “Achievement of Desire”, author Richard Rodriguez, describes the story of our common experience such as growing up, leaving home, receiving an education, and joining the world. As a child, Rodriguez lived the life of an average teenager raised in the stereotypical student coming from a working class family. With the exception, Rodriguez was always top of his class, and he always spent time reading books or studying rather than spending time with his family or friends. This approach makes Rodriguez stand out as an exceptional student, but with time he becomes an outsider at home and in school. Rodriguez describes himself as a “scholarship boy” meaning that because of the scholarships and grants that he was receiving to attend school; there was much more of an expectation for him to acquire the best grades and the highest scores. Rodriguez suggests that the common college student struggles the way he did because when a student begins college, they forget “the life [they] enjoyed
John Marsh, Ph.D., shares his epiphany, that his sharing the popular belief that higher education was the answer to bringing about economic equality and curing poverty, was in fact wrong; in this short selection, “Why Education Is Not an Economic Panacea”, taken from his book, “Class Dismissed: Why We Cannot Teach or Learn Our Way Out of Inequality”. Marsh had felt that gaining a higher education himself worked to bring him to a level of economic equality, so, it should work the same way for everyone else. His change of heart comes after perhaps stepping down from the pedestal that many, with lots of letters after their name, sit on, or are put upon by others, and witnessing first-hand the dismal rates of graduation of students in the single course he teaches for The Odyssey Program. Serving as good Public Relations for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the program’s purpose was two-fold; it was to provide, at no cost, college level course(s) for low-income adults and look good for the University. In this excerpt, Marsh’s narrow vision seems to have opened up somewhat, however, it does not demonstrate that his visual field widened enough to see that there is much, much more than simply economics or education that is at play in determining where people end up in the spectrum of being considered successful in the United States. (Marsh 914)
After watching the Teach Us All documentary on Netflix, it opened my eyes to many of the issues regarding educational inequality. The study looked at schools in Little Rock, New York City, and Los Angeles to show us the current state of U.S. education and how far we have come since the school desegregation crisis. The thesis of this documentary is that since the efforts of the Little Rock Nine, our belief is that educational inequality has improved when in reality, it hasn’t improved and the actions of our country have had negative effects. Teach Us All emphasizes the need for unity and collective action to improve our education system for the kids in poor communities that are in the most need. Our country has devoted all the resources to the middle and upper class for education and are taking money away from where it needs to
Even though the American Revolution constituted represented a tremendous strike against the old social order, its founding ideals could not be realized within the socioeconomic framework that existed in colonial America.
Income inequality is when income is unevenly distributed in a country. This inequality has reached staggering heights across the world. Even in what we consider developed countries this disparity is only increasing. The causes for income equality can range anywhere from immigration to the policies and politics of a country. However, some critics of income inequality will argue that it will always be present and is necessary to stimulate growth. Nonetheless, the problem is not only that the gap between the poor and the rich is widening but that income inequality is causing devastating market and government failures.
Education is a concept that is synonymous with anyone one that is living a good life. It is believed that in order to live a prosperous life that members of this society must first obtain a good college education. But how can education be considered a founding block of success when only the privileged enjoy the benefit of a proper education? A large percentage of undocumented immigrants arrive to this country because they want their kids to be able to attend a good school and receive a proper education but that is not always the case. Undocumented people arrive to this country with no money; therefore they are forced to live in low-income communities. As we have discussed in class, the schools in neighborhoods with low economic status are not as good
Gamoran, Adam. "American Schooling and Educational Inequality: A Forecast for the 21st Century." American Sociological Assocation. JSTOR, 2001. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
Unschooled people tend to be the outcasts of society and typically hold the least desirable jobs. Education is not only essential to attain a better paying job, but also elevates your individual status in society. Being knowledgeable changes the way others will perceive you and how they accept you. For those that don’t come from a fortunate background, education makes everything equal. Since education today is more accessible than years past, individuals from a less high social class are now able to compete with a larger number of professions. Having had a fine education places you on the same level as many others, which gives you an advantage to climb up on the social scale, lowering social inequality. For instance, Linda Chavez, the author of “We Were Poor, but I Didn’t Know It” and Cesar Diaz, author of “The Effects of Rio Grande Valley on a Scholarship Boy”, were both raised in a lower social class. They did not have much growing up but discovered that education was the key to
There are many different factors that affect education. One such factor is, socioeconomic status. Children who attend school in a wealthier community receive a better education than those students in poor communities. In poor communities, student’s education is not only affected by a lack of resources, but also from teaching methods and philosophies. Urban and poor schools’ students do not receive as equal of an education as their more affluent and suburban counterparts do.