Students Poor Lack Equal Education Education is an important aspect of every individuals life. Students in America are constitutionally protected and promised equality, but is there still equality in the realm of education? Unfortunately, public schools in the United States of America fail to provide equal opportunities in regards to students education. Poverty-stricken schools across the country suffer from more than merely poor resources, as stereotypes have caused important issues to seem less severe. Generalizations made about students deriving from lower-class backgrounds are often false, and these students are not presented with equal opportunities in public schooling. Judgments about students of lower-class families are formed before obtaining knowledge which helps to explain the causes of inequality in public education. People must understand and make necessary changes to the difficulties that disadvantaged students must overcome in order to receive an equal education. Parents, teachers, and other community members typically make prejudice assumptions about students from lower-class household. Educators oppose teaching students of the lowerclass because they find that doing so brings about many more challenges. Teachers place blame on the parents, arguing that students are not encouraged to perform to the best of their ability at home. Yet again, educators fault parents for their lack of involvement in school functions, leading to the stereotype that parents of the lower-class do not value education is made. (Gorksi 2007) Many assume that poor students lack the motivation to achieve success, and they will continue to be negatively influenced by uneducated family members who have been a part of this ongoing cycle. But teachers must realize the issues that poor students deal with on a daily basis, and begin to help compensate for their struggles, through active involvement in these students lives. They cannot sit back and oppose teaching these students but rather embrace the
challenge of making a difference in those students lives. Paul C. Gorski, author of "The Question of Class", explores various preconceived judgments of less fortunate students. He is an assistant professor in Hamline University's Graduate School of Education, and has a true passion for education. Gorski looks at poverty as its own cultural phenomenon, in which the middle and upper-class fail to understand. He states, "If only we in the middle and upper-middle classes can understand their culture, why those people dont value education, why those parents dont attend our functions and meetings, why those kids are so unmotivated, perhaps we can ,,save some of our economically disadvantaged students." Gorskis statement makes a point to expose the fact that Americans place some sort of prejudice on disadvantaged students, as they stereotype "those" students and parents. People generalize impoverished students as if they form their own culture, when in all actuality the problem is that many refuse to recognize them as being a part of American culture. Often, community members fail to observe that the problem is closer to home than what they are willing to believe. There is almost a denial system in place where individuals deny that there are problems with educational equality in their area. Rather than attempting to improve the livelihoods of those poor students, many ignore the issue. As Gorski points out throughout his argument, people fail to recognize the challenges which less fortunate students face, whether those challenges are on the home front or in the classroom. Before passing judgment on lower-class students, educators and community members must recognize and fully understand the difficulties that disadvantaged students face. Gorski acknowledges that Americans need to look at the problems which schools in poor communities suffer from and then begin to make changes accordingly stating, "...students in high-poverty schools are more likely to be subjected to overcrowded classrooms, dirty of inoperative bathrooms, less rigorous curricula, and encounters with
rats and cockroaches? Or that these students are more likely to attend schools with serious teacher turnover problems and lower teacher salaries than students at low-poverty schools?" (Gorksi, 2007). These issues are typically not accounted for prior to making judgments of students who attend high-poverty school and are considered poor students immediately. Due to the fact that many fail to identify the real situations poor students face in their education on a daily basis, changes and assistance cannot be provided to ensure equality. Less fortunate students lack basic resources that children in wealthier communities take for granted, creating a void public education. Until the void is filled, there will remain an education gap, much like that of the income gap. The poor will remain poor and upward mobility will be unlikely due to their lack of adequate education. People must disregard preconceived prejudices about students of lower-class households. Every child in America should have equal opportunities to pursue a quality education, adequate and resources must be provided in order for this to be realistic. Gorski expresses the need for equal access to technology and resources inside of classroom settings. In modern day, many assume each home has access to computers. Although families may not be able to afford amenities such as computers, school systems should provide access on site and should allow students the opportunity to complete assignments while at school. Unfortunately resources and changes are not so easy to bring about. Money has to be provided from some source, and the responsibility now lies in the hands of the more fortunate. Beatrice S. Fennimore discusses the reasons behind inequality in public schools in her article, "Equity Is Not an Option in Public Education". Fennimore is a professor in the Department of Professional Studies and Education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and rticle uses personal experiences as examples to show educational inequality. She specifically targets the unequal opportunities within magnet or gifted programs in the United States. Programs such as these target students based on standardized testing, providing the more
intelligent or more prepared students better education and more opportunities for success. To decide which students are deserving of these gifted educations, programs use tracking methods involving the testing of adolescences progress in comparison to other students in their age group. (Fennimore 1996) Fennimore even acknowledges certain magnet programs which begin testing children prior to entering Kindergarten. She states her concern as she writes, "early tracking would lead to exclusionary practices that would deny fair opportunities to les advantaged children." Testing this early in a childs education essentially alienates students who are not as educated and prepared at that point in time. (Fennimore 1996) Poor households typically struggle making ends meet, and furthermore find it difficult to provide equal educations prior to Kindergarten through preschool programs. With this serving as evidence, inequality begins before children truly begin their education. Gifted programs serve as examples of the problem with assumptions and prejudices about lower-class students. Educators and community leaders must open their eyes, and begin understanding that the blame must not be place on students or parents, like prejudices tend to reflect. The constitution promises liberty and equality, and it has yet to be realized by many Americans that there is inequality in public education. Without equal education for every child, American citizens become competitors for the best resources to provide for their childs education. (Fennimore 1996) Lower-class students are being discriminated against for reasons beyond their control. They suffer from fewer opportunities to succeed in their lives and move out of lower-class. Fennimore states in disagreement with the current ideology, "Disadvantaged parents may be blamed for not making choices that were unknown or withheld, impoverished children may be blamed for academic deficiencies that result from a lack of resources and opportunities, and communities with smaller tax bases may be blamed for problems of poverty and unemployment beyond their control."
Responsibility must be taken off of the poor and placed on those who can afford to make a difference in anothers life. Middle and upper-class Americans must realize the poors need for assistance. Communities should unite under the common goal of equality in school systems and equal opportunity. Depriving a child the chance of achieving success based on assumptions about their backgrounds is truly disheartening, and should be seen as an outrage. Gordon Allports "The Nature of Prejudice", discusses the effects of prejudice. He summarizes his argument as he writes, "Prejudice is just being down on someone youre not up on." In its true form, prejudice is just an assumption based on little or no knowledge about that given subject. Allports argument also pertains to prejudices formed about students from low socioeconomic class. Students are placed in categories, and educators fail to see these students as individuals who should have the right to equal education. Children who are not provided with the essential resources that many take for granted, have little or no hope at achieving better lives. The continued pressure society places on these students, causes them to overcome far more barriers in their lives. They are stereotyped as being students who have absolutely no motivation and are deemed as automatic failures before given the chance at earning a better life for themselves. Americans must look at the situation as if they were in the eyes of poor students. Would you like to be considered a failure before given a chance to succeed?
works Cited Paul C. Gorski "The Question of Class" The Education Digest October 2007. Beatrice S. Fennimore "Equity is Not an Option in Public Education" Educational Leadership October 1996. Gordon Allport "The Nature of Prejudice" Elements of Argument Eighth Edition.