Students With Low-incomes Are Not Receiving Proper Education

The achievement gap between whites and blacks in the 1960s was a major problem, but since we started integrating schools that problem has decreased. Now the major achievement gap isn’t between whites and blacks, but it is between the rich and poor. An article by Sabrina Tavernise, “Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies say” states that Professor Reardon made a study and found that “the gap between affluent and low-income students has grown by forty percent since the 1960s and is now double the testing gap between black and whites” (tavernise 1). These studies where taken in 2008 and 2009 before the recession really hit and affected the people. The effects of the recession would only show these results in a larger scale.

Until recently families have been able to select their children’s schools. Now school choices are driven by wealth. Many people who are able to afford residence in middle class suburban areas have the opportunity to send their children to successful high school, where as people who can only afford residing in urban or rural areas are forced to put their kids in failing high schools. The lack of school choice is increasing this achievement gap between the low-income students and the high-income students. Theresa Harrington’s article “Many Bay Area districts fail to adequately educate low-income and minority students, reports find” states, “In the graduation rates category, San Ramon Valley, Castro Valley and Pleasanton all earned A's, while Oakland got an F”. These students living in urban areas are victims of a system that is telling them that they are failures who can only achieve low-income jobs. This system of school choice is creating a never-ending cycle for families who live in poverty.

The environment in which low-income students attend school also gives them less hope that they will succeed. Almost every classroom (k-12) in suburban areas is decorated with work that the students have done and inspirational and hopeful quotes. When entering a school in an urban or rural area it is apparent that no one has faith in the children’s success because there are only a couple of teachers willing to provide that hopeful environment for their student. If this molecular example isn’t enough the faith the district has for the schools is another problem In the book Savage Inequalities Kozol states, “Morris High could be a wonderful place, a centerpiece of education, theater, music every kind of richness for poor children. The teachers I've met are good and energized. They seem to love the children, and the kids deserve it. The building mocks their goodness” (130). The appearance of the exterior building is provided by the lack of funding for the school. In order to achieve a classroom full of hopeful students you need the teachers and the district need to provide a hopeful environment for them. They should not be reminded of their current economic status but encouraged to obtain a better future for themselves.

Priorities of the poor effect the quality of education

In poor neighborhoods, the main priority is to live under their economic circumstance. These students dream about going to college and becoming successful professionals who can provide for a comfortable lifestyle, but their reality makes this impossible. Students that live under these conditions are constantly worrying about paying this month’s bill, buying groceries, or even surviving under these conditions. When such stress is imposed on a student their quality of learning is strongly effected. One of the kids in the book Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol, calmly talks about the raping and killing of his 11 year old sister and Dr. Lillian parks later states, “The language that our children speak may not be standard English but there still is wisdom here. Our children have become wise by necessity”(Kozol 41). These children think it is normal to live under their terrible circumstances. They are forced by these traumatizing incidents and living conditions to become wise. They lack intellectual knowledge but they are extremely wise and experienced at surviving. Children who struggle economically should not be blindly judged, they never wanted to stop going to school, they where forced to do so because they need to provide for themselves and their families.

Conformity and How It Influences Our Education Sytem.

The Passion Project by Skye Ontiverous makes an emphasis on the concept of people conforming to societies expectations instead of fulfilling their true passion. The Narrator of The Passion Project states, “And how gladly we succumb to the hatchet of conformity splitting passion from heart “(Ontiverous, 4). This act of conformation is seen everywhere in our education systems. Our education system is exerting a push towards the expectations of our society. For example many schools are getting rid of their art programs because it is looked down upon for students to strive to be singers, actors, dancers, and directors instead of lawyers and doctors. This extreme push in behaviors is rational conformity. According to Guandong Song, Qinhai Ma, FangFei Wu, and Lin Li’s The Psychological Explanation of Conformity, “Rational conformity is behavior guided by thinking, judgment, or reasoning. It occurs as a result of the influences exerted by the object’s behavior or attitude and includes abidance, compliance, and obedience”. Our education is the subject being influenced by the object; in this case the higher power is society. The actions and decisions made in the education system may seem reasonable because they are thinking and reasoning but the heavy influence of societies behavior forces them to abide, comply, and obey to make more doctors and lawyers. The education system abides to society “to understand and take action” (Song, Ma, Wu and Li, 6). Educators need to understand the reality in society in order to be followed and respected as an authority figure. The education system complies with society in order to “meet expectations” (Song, Ma, Wu and Li, 6). Because society is the higher power the education system will comply simply to follow the norm. If the education system enforced following ones passion even if it is a dead end job with bad pay then they would be rebelled against by our current society. For example majority of the people familiar with the San Lorenzo school district would rather send their kids to Arroyo High School (where the education surrounds medicine, technology, engineering, and leadership) instead of East Bay Arts (where the education emphasizes on performing arts). The education system obeys “to seek rewards and avoid punishment”. The ultimate goal of the education system is to gain money and power. In order to do this you need societies support. This combination of abidance, compliance and obedience can be detrimental to society, because it is destroying the definition of independence and freedom. It will be the end of independent thinkers like Galileo Galilei, the man who went against societies beliefs and proved that the sun was the center of the universe, and it will be the start to a blind society full of followers.