Economic Disparity in K-12 Education

docx

School

San Joaquin Delta College *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

MISC

Subject

Sociology

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by AgentWillpowerRat11

ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN K-12 EDUCATION 1 Economic Disparity in K-12 Education Celeste Flynn-McGahey COM ST 07

ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN K-12 EDUCATION 2 Education molds who we are going to be in the future from the very first moment it is in our lives and will help us determine what our future is going to look like and how we will exceed in our careers and life. Education is very important for some people but not everyone and I be- lieve that this is partially due to the fact of how the K-12 Education system supports and treats kids and families that are economically disadvantage. You might not hear about this on the news or even think about it but if you were to step into a school and examine it for a day you would see the difference between the economically advantaged students and the economically disad- vantage students. This could be caused due to someone’s race, where they live, the environment that they were raised in and the overall assumption of others. This topic can be tied into the racial disparity in the education system as well; people tend to assume that the less advantaged students are students of color but in my town majority of the students who are economically disadvan- taged are primarily white. Economic disparity can cause a segregation between students and when those students who are less fortunate are treated differently it can affect the way they per- form in school, make friends, and can be the reason why they lose interest in school as a whole. The lack of care in the school system is the reason that this disparity; which could be easily rec- onciled, is affecting so many students and families. Since the 1990’s, quick and unsustainable schooling reforms have been prioritized that show a disregard for the wider economic realities in America. As schools and parents struggle to make ends meet, billions of dollars have enhanced opportunities for the best students at the cost of opportunities for struggling students. As a result, public education has instead helped widen an educational divide that is beginning to mirror the nation’s economic divide. Around the turn of the millennium, four major forces converged to shape how the school reform movement would

ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN K-12 EDUCATION 3 widen inequality: standardized testing, gentrification, school choice, and household economic downturn. The education has drastically changed from the 1990’s to now especially due to the fact that COVID-19 and the pandemic played a big role in the education system. While COVID- 19 has crippled our country’s public education system even further, America’s schools were deeply segregated and inequitable long before the pandemic. Poor children and children of color are likely to already be behind their wealthier and white peers when they start school, and as they progress through schools with smaller budgets and fewer educational resources, it is too often impossible to catch up. Race also plays a big role in the history of inequality in the education system, as I stated before in my town more of the white population is disadvantaged in comparison to the colored population but that it is not the same in other districts. Linda Darling Hammond states that,“Americans often forget that as late as the 1960s most African-American, Latino, and Native American students were educated in wholly segregated schools funded at rates many times lower than those serving whites and were excluded from many higher education institutions en- tirely. Students of color in schools that are highly segregated along racial and economic lines have significantly less access to highly qualified and experienced teachers and high-quality edu- cational resources.” Large disparities in school funding mean that children living in lower-wealth areas often children of color and children growing up in poverty also attend under-funded schools that have fewer high-quality teachers, fewer curricular resources, larger class sizes, and less student support. Even though schools aren’t segregated anymore there is still a divide be- tween social classes, race, socioeconomic status and so much more. Since segregation is no longer an issue for schools themselves there is still so much separation between students, which is the present issue going on right now in our school districts and educational system as a whole.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN K-12 EDUCATION 4 According to Keith Meatto; writer for The New York Times states that, “Today’s teach- ers and students should know that the Supreme Court declared racial segregation in schools to be unconstitutional in the landmark 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education. Perhaps less well known is the extent to which American schools are still segregated. According to a recent Times article, “More than half of the nation’s schoolchildren are in racially concentrated districts, where over 75 percent of students are either white or nonwhite.” In addition, school districts are often segregated by income. The nexus of racial and economic segregation has intensified educa- tional gaps between rich and poor students, and between white students and students of color.” This shows that even though legally schools are separated and have been for a long time there are schools that still segregate the students within the same walls of a school. Gerber (2020), stated that, “Research has shown that education is a key stepping-stone to rising above poverty and pursuing a better life. Even in the United States, children who grow up in low-income fami- lies face more barriers to education than those that don’t and this extends the poverty cycle to an- other generation.” This shows just how much someone’s economic status can create barriers in their life. According to Kristen Weir; Author of the article, “Inequality at School,” it is stated that,“For decades, black students in the United States have lagged behind their white peers in academic achievement. In 2014, the high school graduation rate for white students was 87 per- cent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. For black students, the rate was 73 percent. Test scores show a similar racial gap.” These statistics can be seen from the student’s test scores and the way they are performing in school. These 3 facts stated above are showing the divide between students in different schools; whether that be students who are wealthier than others, students who perform better in school, and students who come from better environments than other students.

ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN K-12 EDUCATION 5 The solution for this problem has to be a significant one and cannot be taken lightly since this topic affects so many students, their families and their future life. Even though people want to barge right in and try and fix it in a day the best way to handle a situation like this is to take it day by day and to be as patient as possible which will not be easy whatsoever. When dealing with education you have to very careful, especially since there are so many rules and regulations that the schools must follow and also the fact that there is students involved and this will either help them or create even more chaos. There are many solutions when it comes to trying to fix the inequality in the school system, Jermeelah Martin; writer for the online blog, “Giving Compass,” states that, “Stop the expansion of charter and private schools as it is not affordable for all stu- dents and creates segregation, deprioritize test based funding because it discriminates against dis- advantaged students, support teachers financially, as in offering higher salaries and benefits for teachers to improve retention, and invest more resources for support in low-income, underfunded schools such as, increased special education specialists and counselors,” are some solutions you can try when dealing with the education system. In conclusion, researching this topic has taught me so much more about economic dispar- ity within the K-12 Education system. I was aware that these were happening in other schools but it wasn’t until I started researching and digging deeper that I fully understood what was hap- pening within these school districts and how it is affecting the students. The major thing that I have learned from writing this essay is that even though the schools have been legally separated for many years some administrators and staff still try and segregate students by their economic status, how they perform in school, and the way they were raised and brought up. In order to re- solve this issue there are many steps you can take but it won’t happen in one day, you must have patience and faith when dealing with this topic at hand. Just remember that the students need to

ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN K-12 EDUCATION 6 come first and that they deserve to be equally treated the same no matter their age, race, gender, economic status, etc.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN K-12 EDUCATION 7 References 1. The State of America's children 2021 - education. Children's Defense Fund. (2021, March 28). Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://www.childrensdefense.org/state-of-americas-chil- dren/soac-2021-education/ 2. Darling-Hammond, L. (2016, July 28). Unequal opportunity: Race and education. Brook- ings. Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportu - nity-race-and-education/ 3. Weir, K. (2016, November). Inequality at school. Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/11/cover-inequality-school 4. Still separate, still unequal: Teaching about school ... (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/learning/lesson-plans/still-separate-still-unequal- teaching-about-school-segregation-and-educational-inequality.html 5. Giving Compass' Take: • Jermeelah Martin shares seven solutions that can reduce and help to eliminate education inequality in the United States.• What role are you ready to take on to address inequality? What does education inequality look like in you. (2021, December 2). Seven Solutions for Education inequality. Giving Compass. Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://givingcompass.org/article/seven-solutions-for-education-inequality/#:~:text=Invest %20more%20resources%20for%20support,funds%20for%20cops%20in%20schools.

ECONOMIC DISPARITY IN K-12 EDUCATION 8

Related Documents

Narrative Exposure Therapy.pdf

CSE 163 Research prop.pdf

Critique Assignment Part 2.docx

Project 2 Applied Social Sciences.docx

SOC 112 Final Project PowerPoint Template 2.pdf

CJ 340 Module Four Quiz (A).docx

CJ 340 Project One.pptx

CJ 340 Module Five Journal.docx

CJ 340 Module Four Journal.docx

BEHS 103 PROGRESS REPORT Assigment..docx

homework 5 soc 10B 2023.doc

Women’s Gynecologic Health 3rd Edition 9781284076028.pdf

Recommended textbooks for you

Social Psychology (10th Edition)

Sociology

ISBN:9780134641287

Author:Elliot Aronson, Timothy D. Wilson, Robin M. Akert, Samuel R. Sommers

Publisher:Pearson College Div

Introduction to Sociology (Eleventh Edition)

Sociology

ISBN:9780393639407

Author:Deborah Carr, Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum

Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company

The Basics of Social Research (MindTap Course Lis...

Sociology

ISBN:9781305503076

Author:Earl R. Babbie

Publisher:Cengage Learning

Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Scien...

Sociology

ISBN:9780134477596

Author:Saferstein, Richard

Publisher:PEARSON

Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach (13th Edition)

Sociology

ISBN:9780134205571

Author:James M. Henslin

Publisher:PEARSON

Society: The Basics (14th Edition)

Sociology

ISBN:9780134206325

Author:John J. Macionis

Publisher:PEARSON

SEE MORE TEXTBOOKS

Recommended textbooks for you

Social Psychology (10th Edition)
Sociology
ISBN:9780134641287
Author:Elliot Aronson, Timothy D. Wilson, Robin M. Akert, Samuel R. Sommers
Publisher:Pearson College Div
Introduction to Sociology (Eleventh Edition)
Sociology
ISBN:9780393639407
Author:Deborah Carr, Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum
Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company
The Basics of Social Research (MindTap Course Lis...
Sociology
ISBN:9781305503076
Author:Earl R. Babbie
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Scien...
Sociology
ISBN:9780134477596
Author:Saferstein, Richard
Publisher:PEARSON
Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach (13th Edition)
Sociology
ISBN:9780134205571
Author:James M. Henslin
Publisher:PEARSON
Society: The Basics (14th Edition)
Sociology
ISBN:9780134206325
Author:John J. Macionis
Publisher:PEARSON