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Inequality in education
An essay on education and inequality
Education disparity in america
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While the growing wealth gap has been advantageous for some, it has been destructive for a much larger portion of the population. Through my research on the topic of education, I noticed a startling trend in the continued lack of success for those with a low socioeconomic status. Poor education is the root of the dangerous cycle. Those who are disadvantaged fall behind their wealthy peers during schooling. They also lack the funds to be able to get outside help or pay college tuition. With their lackluster education, they are unable to find a well-paying job. They are unable to move to an area with better schools and opportunities for their children, which makes the cycle repeat. This cycle has caused a severe lack of economic upward mobility …show more content…
in the country, in addition to not taking advantage of the intelligence and ideas of a large part of the population. In an article published by The New York Times, by Eduardo Porter, the growing education gap and lack of mobility is addressed. It is stated that, “Only 5 percent of Americans ages 25 to 34 whose parents didn’t finish high school have a college degree” (Porter). This can attest to the prominence of the education cycle, and the lack of even opportunity. Before one is even born, there future could be determined by the economic situation they are in. I found that the devolving nature of the cycle was most concerning because over time, students have less and less of a chance to make it. Next, I wanted to look at how the education fails to adequately serve students. While there are many other issues that can be influential in deciding whether if one can achieve a college degree, there is nothing that should be more powerful than hard work.
This should be independent of one’s parents’ education. This issue is more pervasive and destructive than many think. It could also be said that “Today, the proficiency gap between the poor and the rich is nearly twice as large as that between black and white children” (Porter). The education of African-Americans before desegregation, and even in some cases after, was so inferior to what was received by white students. If the poor are two times further behind in education than the African-americans were, then this issue is extremely discriminatory and something that must be reconciled as soon as possible. This piece of evidence really struck a chord with me because it related today’s education system to something that was an atrocity and received ample backlash. It really put into perspective the extent to which there is an education breach, and how instead of black vs. white, it is now rich vs. poor. The education that disadvantaged children receive is so lacking, that, “Even the best performers from disadvantaged backgrounds, who enter kindergarten reading as well as the smartest rich kids, fall behind over the course of their schooling” (Porter). The U.S. education system is blatantly failing to serve the children from a disadvantaged background. They can come in with an advantage over the rich, …show more content…
but because of the lopsided school system, their potential is reduced. After looking deeper into the topic, I believed that simply education could be the single solution to reducing the wealth gap. As one will see later, this is simply not the case. Not only is this cycle devastating for the individuals who can never reach their goals, it is also detrimental to a country that is missing out on a generation of bright, young, kids. Subsequently After seeing the blatant differences and lack of equality between those at the top and bottom of education and income, I wanted to see more of the connections between the two issues. There would need to be changes in regards to both situations, in order to help fix either one. However, there is going to be no easy solution. Peter R. Orszag of the Bloomberg View investigated two of the commonly said solutions to income inequality. Many people believe that the wealth gap can simply be fixed by expanding, “people's access to education...Yet even a big increase in the share of people with a college degree would have only a minimal effect on earnings inequality” (Orszag). Clearly, education cannot be the only factor that could contribute to reducing the wealth gap. This goes contrary to much that I researched earlier. The other solution would be to , “raise the top tax rates,” but “Income inequality doesn’t change materially even if the revenue raised from a high-income tax increase is redistributed to households in the bottom income quintile” (Orszag). Based off of this, there is no straightforward answer to the issue at hand. At least, there is no solution that has been widely circulated as of now. One may ask is there even a solution to be had, and it is very plausible to think that there is not one. The wealth gap has been a symbol of atrophy for many years now, so one quick piece of legislation will not be able to undo years of separation. The government has already “tried” before to desegregate schools, and in many ways they failed. The same issues of inclusion and school quality that faced students and parents before, still exist now between those rich and poor. There is simply no easy way to level the education field, but then expect a momentous decrease in wealth inequality. One may wonder why this may even matter.
The implications can be found when looking into the future. The effects are larger than affecting the individuals who are receiving the short end of the stick in the economy. According to Forbes Magazine, there is, “a ‘negative and statistically significant’ correlation between income inequality and economic growth” (Sherman). This is a national issue that is detrimental to the economy and something that will only grow as time goes on. In addition, a large gap, “in pay limits the ability of poorer and middle-income Americans to improve their living standards, the economists say” (Rugaber). Even those who seem to be immune to this predicament will still be affected by the education inequality. Politicians, the wealthy, and everyone in this country could benefit from increased equality, myself included. I was most surprised by the severity and cyclic nature of education and income that are so interconnected. This reiterative nature of the cycles is what assaults the ideal of equality in the country the hardest. I found that the issues of inequality were much more personal than I originally believed. This issue is one that strikes the heart of every American. The next generation is not being adequately educated unless they are rich, and there is a minute percentage of the population controlling the majority of the nation’s wealth. Equality is what this nation was originally built off of, yet it is also a principle that is severely
lacking today. Without significant changes to income and education inequality, the cycles will devolve while ravaging the nation to an even greater extent than they already have.
It’s considered a rarity now days to walk down a major city street and not come across a single person who is fighting to survive poverty. The constant question is why don’t they go get help, or what did they do to become like this? The question that should be asked is how will America fix this? Over the past year, Americans who completed high school earned fifteen point five percent more per hour than that of dropouts (Bernstein, Is Education the Cure to Poverty). According to Jared Bernstein, in his article “Is Education the Cure to Poverty”, he argues that not only do the poor need to receive a higher education, but to also maximize their skill levels to fill in where work is needed (Is Education the Cure to Poverty). Counter to Bernstein’s argument Robert Reich expresses that instead of attempting to achieve a higher education, high school seniors need to find another way into the American middle class. Reich goes on to say “the emerging economy will need platoons of technicians able to install, service, and repair all the high-tech machinery filling up hospitals, offices, and factories” (Reich, Why College Isn’t (and Shouldn’t Have to be) for Everyone). Danielle Paquette, though, offers an alternative view on higher education. Paquette gives view that it doesn’t matter on the person, rather it’s the type of school and amount of time in school that will determine a person’s
Again in the documentary Bill Moyers comes and visits the families after everyone is all grown up, he gets to see what their daily jobs are and their new families. Only one child out of both families made it through college and received a degree. Even with a degree none of the children were successful and were all going through the same struggle their parents faced while raising them. Its all a cycle until someone becomes financially successful to break the chain and from there comes positive results. If you come from a family that is financially stable you are more likely to be financially stable as well. Based on data from “The Equality of Opportunity Project” it states that “children's prospects of earning more than their parents have fallen from 90% to 50% over the past half
The education gap between the north and the south has many roles in the African American community. The north has always been industrial while the south was agricultural, many of these children who was suppose to be attending school was helping on farms working and helping their parents throughout the day instead of getting an education. “The percentage of all schools with so called racial or socio-economic isolation grew from 9% to 16%” Today students still experience or has been a victim to social and racial differences. When segregation was abolished it allowed students to be in the same classroom together, be able to eat and go to the same bathrooms, also being taught by the same teacher. However many teachers failed to realized or wanted to teach these students based on the color of their skin, causing many students to drop out of school because of not being heard. The black community has a low rate of graduation rates in the south than the white community “In the last four years more than 69 percent of white louisiana males graduated making for a 16 point difference, while 59 percent of black louisiana males graduated” These school systems doesn’t care that they’re not being taught or graduation. Based on race in louisiana it’s a 10 percent difference that causing them to less likely become successful. Still causing the social differences teachers refused to teach an African American student
In his speech, Obama says,” Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven 't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today 's black and white students.” Obama is saying that because of the effects of separation in the past, it still affects children. By having parents who have little interest in an education since they did not receive one. Lindsey Cook, a writer for U.S News, says “Black parents, most of whom are less educated than their white counterparts, don’t expect their children to attain as much education as white parents expect. Lower expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies, contributing to lower expectations from the student, less-positive attitudes toward school, fewer out-of-school learning opportunities and less parent-child communication about school.” This shows that because of 50 years ago, by having parents who did not receive a good education, are more likely to not provide their children a good education. The article Cook wrote continues to show how black students do poorer in all aspects than their white counterparts. With these issues since childhood, it is harder for blacks to get into a top college and a high paying job. Therefore there is a need to
In today’s world what mostly limits children’s opportunities lies on their parents income. According to 2011 research study by Stanford sociologist Sean Reardon, the test score gap between the children of the poor and the children of the wealthy has expanded by as much of 40 percent and is now more than 50 percent larger than the black-white achievement gap. According
...disparities between the two ethnic communities that can be traced back to the legacy of slavery and other forms of oppression that blacks have suffered.” Supporters of this view felt that educational achievement correlates more strongly with economic status than with any other single variable. Since the majority of the black community lags behind whites in income and wealth, the educational inequalities are caused by the economic inequalities. They believe that once the inequalities disappear, the educational disparities will as well. Many argue that this is not a viable argument. They point to other minority groups such as Asians, some of whom are financially worse off than blacks, and they excel in school . They felt that because the civil rights legislation removed all roadblocks back in the 60’s and 70’s something else must be contributing to the large gap.
The question “Why is there so much poverty in the United States?” has such a broad spectrum of issues. There is no simple cure or single cause of poverty. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “the 2011 Poverty Guidelines are $10,890 for a single member household and $22,350 for a family of four” (par 13). In addition, “families’ incomes that fall below the threshold given, means that every individual in the household are considered to be in poverty” (par 13). Poverty is too complex an issue to be the result of just one problem, but we can narrow down the subject, to show the effects of how the lack of education can diminish our countries resources and how that has a ripple effect on future generations. Without an education, people receive lower pay; there is an increased rate of crime, and a higher reliance on state and federal aid, which is draining economically.
Education can be somewhat helpful to people headed toward poverty or homelessness. However, new research is showing that education is needed but alone it is simply not enough to help people get jobs and help their situation. Along with their education, the poor need job training in the area of work they are looking towards (Bernstein 1). The training along with the mandatory education helps people excel in something they are good at and improve their job chances. The people who do get their education and job training then run into another roadblock. In the U.S. economy, typically low-wage jobs are more abundant. In fact, the low-wage sector of the economy is the part that is projected to grow the most. In the next ten years, thirty new low-wages jobs are expected to be added to the work force. Of those thirty, half of the new jobs will require very little training (Bernstein 3). This results in a lower quality of work and less pay. Many people on the verge of poverty occupy these low paying job...
3. What are the effects of this wealth inequality in the US and what causes it, as well as some possible solutions and their ramifications, will all be discussed and answered below. There has always been a wealth gap between the richest and poorest in society. However, in the past decade, the wealth gap between the richest and poorest citizens in the US has been growing rapidly. In the 70s and 80s, the wealth and income growth rate for both poor and rich people were similar, however, between the years 2009 and 2012 the top 1% income increased 31% while for the bottom 20%, their income actually dropped and for the vast majority of Americans, the average yearly income only increased by 0.4% [4].
Education is now more important than it has ever been. Because it is the law that every child receives an education, most people believe that all children are getting an equal education. But, that is not the truth; low-income children are receiving poorer quality education than middle-class children. These children also experience racial inequality, and they live in an unbreakable low-income cycle, all of which are things that have an effect of the quality of education a child is receiving. As stated by Brooks and Duncan (1997), "How does the relative lack of income influence children 's day-to-day lives? It is through inadequate nutrition; fewer learning experiences; instability of residence; lower quality of schools;
Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens. The United States has often experienced a rise in inequality as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, increasing the unstable gap between the two classes. The income gap in America has been increasing steadily since the late 1970’s, and has now reached historic highs not seen since the 1920’s (Desilver). UC Berkeley economics professor, Emmanuel Saez conducted extensive research on past and present income inequality statistics and published them in his report “Striking it Richer.” Saez claims that changes in technology, tax policies, labor unions, corporate benefits, and social norms have caused income inequality. He stands to advocate a change in American economic policies that will help close this inequality gap and considers institutional and tax reforms that should be developed to counter it. Although Saez’s provides legitimate causes of income inequality, I highly disagree with the thought of making changes to end income inequality. In any diverse economic environment, income inequality will exist due to the rise of some economically successful people and the further development of factors that push people into poverty. I believe income inequality e...
Through they need to fund increases as the overall state and local per pupil funding has declined in 35 states since 2007. Another evidence that college enrollment and completion can be boosted by improvements in Pell grant awards and eligibility. While these things are important less income means inhibits mobility even with educational are take into account that they will unlikely to move up in class. It important to have policies that address inequality and poverty by boosting income of low and middle class family for better mobility. One way to do this is by having safety-net programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are good for long terms effect that will help the children in the future. Inequality and immobility are intimately linked that we need to reduce the former in order to also reduce the latter. It means to attack immobility we also have to attack inequality. Wealthy Children are most likely to die wealthy because they get inherit a big wealth their parents left behind. This is a problem and a concern. It a problem because most of the
Many people believe that “having an economy that places a greater value on skills and education is a good thing” and that is the thing that is needed to improve people’s lives and futures (Baicker, Lazear). If what our economy is trying to do a good thing they why are so many students still suffering? The main issues are the low-income education that many students have. Many schools are getting money from the government but that is not enough to pay for everything students need. Educational standards have continued to increase throughout the years but that does not help the students who are unable to pay for the better education. These students who cannot pay for the better education are stuck barely getting by with a low education. A low-education can affect many areas of regular schooling. The students who are at low-income schools do not know what type of disadvantage they have compared to other students across the country. These students believe that they are getting the best education, but there are many students who are getting a better education at a school that has the funds to pay for everything their students need. Low-income students are suffering due to the environment they are in at school and they continue to suffer throughout their life due to it. These students will continue to suffer unless something is done about the low-income schools and improve them for the future. Improvement has to come from all areas, not just one aspect of schooling but from all aspects. Although education has improved along with technology many low-income students still suffer from the vast inequalities. These inequalities will take many years to find a way to fix and even more years to actually fix, until this happens the students will...
Inequality is increasing in the Unites States and it affects you as students in your everyday life, as a member of your family, a member of society and many other societal aspects. Inequality in wealthy and inequality in income are two complete separate areas. Inequality in income is the amount or lack of money you earn from work or investments. Inequality in wealth is the amount or lack of items that you own, house, car, savings, or retirement accounts. Name some ways that inequality can affect you? Inequality can be differentiated in all roles of society and socialization including education, occupation, race, gender, rurality, and mobility.
Those living in poverty have a lack of funds to invest in education, thus their schools lack the material and staff to probably train their students for future success. This lack of education is the root cause of poverty, because those with no education can’t compete for higher paying jobs that require basic understanding in subjects like math, such as being an accountant or bank manager. Their lack of education has limited their job opportunities, therefore limiting them from improving their lifestyle. Furthermore, poverty travels from generation to generation like an endless cycle. Also Children living in poverty have a higher number of absenteeism or leave school all together because they are more likely to have to work or care for family members. In addition, Dropout rates of 16 to 24-years-old students who come from low income families are seven times higher than those from families with higher incomes. Also Less than 30% of students in the bottom quarter of incomes enroll in a 4-year school. Among those less than 50% graduate from college(Dosomething). The lack of education and training for well-paying jobs inhabits these people from ever escaping the cycle of poverty. However, the reason many of these people lack the required education is simply that they can’t afford to attend school or earn a degree. Therefore, this allows them to only have jobs that offer little benefit, and