Imagine this scene: books are being thrown up in the air, classrooms are humid because of the broken air conditioning, students are yelling at the top of their lungs, and teachers are too frustrated to teach. This was the scene of my eighth grade class in 2014 because the school down the street from mine closed.
My school days had not always been this way. Just a few years prior, class sizes were small, there were enough books for everyone, students enjoyed the fruits of learning, while teachers enjoyed teaching. My education was the highest of prestige, and I had a fair opportunity for a successful future. As a low income, Black student in Chicago, I had no clue how important these factors were in the quality of education I could receive and the hurdles that I would have to overcome. In 2014, the city
of Chicago authorized the closing of 54 public elementary schools, citing a budget deficit of $1 billion as the reason. Of the schools that closed, the majority were in low-income areas and 94% of the schools had over 90% Black student population. Nearly 30,000, predominantly Black and low-income students were displaced to schools far away from their homes. Show Education inequality refers to the disproportionate distribution of academic resources, such as school funding, qualified teachers and staff and adequate school supplies to socially excluded communities. Although this was my reality in Chicago, education inequality affects students all across the United States. For example, on average in 2012, the United States spent $334 more on every white student than on every non-white student. This disproportionate per pupil funding is a reflection of decades of systemic inequalities and historical discrimination practices based on race, income and other social factors. one of many unfair funding practices in public education is the use of property tax. Most schools in the United States receive more than half of their public school funding through local property taxes. Property taxes are taxes paid to the local government by individuals, corporations or any legal entity based on the value of owned property and land. Property taxes exclude low income students from quality education because by default these students will receive far less because most of the homes in their neighborhood are rented and have lower property value.Systemic issues in funding drives education inequality and has detrimental effects primarily on low-income Black and Brown students. These students receive lower quality of education which is reflected through less qualified teachers,not enough books, technologies and special support like counselors and disability services. The lack of access to fair, quality education creates the broader income and wealth gaps in the U.S. Black and brown students face more hurdles to going to college and will be three times more likely to experience poverty as a American with only a highschool degree than an American with a college degree. Income inequality worsens the opportunity for building wealth for Black and Brown families because home and asset ownership will be more difficult to attain. Reimagining how public education can function for equality and equity relies on us and demanding that our government reinvest funding in low-income school districts. More progressive funding practices will lead to more opportunities for low-income students and students of color. Here are some of my suggestions for creating an equitable public education system and successful educational justice movement:
Learn more about education inequality and the educational justice movement: Alliance for Quality Education Alliance for Educational Justice Schott Foundation for Public education Communities for Just Schools Fund Dignity in Schools
Campaign Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in
Schools "Transforming Public Education: The Need for an Educational Justice
Movement" References Center For American Progress, & Spatig-Amerikaner, A. (2012, August). Unequal Education: Federal Loophole Enables Lower Spending on Students of Color. https://cdn.uncf.org/wp-content/uploads/PDFs/UnequalEduation.pdf?_ga=2.89383451.1625904156.1596407942-1777803762.1593838133 Edelson, D. (2020, February 27). How does a college degree improve graduates’ employment and earnings potential? Https://Www.Aplu.Org/Projects-and-Initiatives/College-Costs-Tuition-and-Financial-Aid/Publicuvalues/Employment-Earnings.Html. https://www.aplu.org/projects-and-initiatives/college-costs-tuition-and-financial-aid/publicuvalues/employment-earnings.html Hussar, B. (2020, May 19). The Condition of Education 2020. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020144 Illinois State Board of Education. (2019). Illinois Report Card. https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/state.aspx?source=profile&Stateid=IL Kagan, J. (2020). What is a Property Tax? Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/propertytax.asp Semuels, A. (2016, August 25). Why America's Public Schools Are So Unequal. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/property-taxes-and-unequal-schools/497333/ Tax Wealth Like Work. (n.d.). United for a Fair Economy. Retrieved February 21, 2020, from http://www.faireconomy.org/wealth_vs_work U.S. Commission On Civil Rights. (2018, January). Public Education Funding Inequity in an Era of Increasing Concentration of Poverty and Resegregation. https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2018/2018-01-10-Education-Inequity.pdf Do you like this post? Support our work. Give here: What causes education inequality in the United States?Disparities in academic access among students in the United States are the result of several factors including: government policies, school choice, family wealth, parenting style, implicit bias towards the race or ethnicity of the student, and the resources available to the student and their school.
What are some examples of inequality in education?Educational Inequality is about the disparity of access to educational resources between different social groups. Some examples of these resources include school funding, experienced and qualified educators, books, technologies and school facilities such as sports and recreation.
What factors contribute to inequality?Inequalities are not only driven and measured by income, but are determined by other factors - gender, age, origin, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, class, and religion. These factors determine inequalities of opportunity which continue to persist, within and between countries.
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