Inequality in Education

***I did my Class, Power and Privilege paper on the inequality in education in the United States. This topic is something that I am very passionate about because not only do I find it shocking that so many people are oblivious to the cold, hard facts about this huge social injustice, but also because I plan on becoming a teacher so I can relate to the topic. This blog entry is just a general overview of some of the stuff that I found out while doing my research.***

Education is one of the major and most important social institutions in society. This social institution has been around for many, many years, and has changed as time has passed. Within this social institution, along with other social institutions, there is a high level of inequality. Education is important to both society and individual human beings because it enables children to grow into adults that become contributing members of society. Education not only creates jobs for many people, but it is also greatly responsible for the socialization of children. On another level, education is key in a person’s opportunity to break free of poverty. It allows them to achieve and be able to receive a good education, which in turn will aid them in getting a job. However, the inequality in education prohibits some people from being able to break free of poverty. Educational inequality deprives certain resources from certain people in an unfair way. The unequal distribution of educational resources is a complex issue that affects particular groups of people.

The type of quality of education a person receives is dependent upon the educational resources available to them. However, the resources are not distributed equally throughout schools in the United States. Educational resources include many different items, things such as money, textbooks, computers, teaching aides, and facilities. All of the resources and their availability to a child affect the achievement of the student. Inequality among the distribution of educational resources, be it money, quality of teachers, material goods, etc. has a disastrous impact on children. The distribution of educational resources throughout the United States is wildly unequal, and it is very obvious that besides the inequality of education itself, there is inequality in achievement of students. The inequality however awful it might seem, is dependent on race and class. Studies have shown that United States schools still give much more resources and opportunities to white students than African Americans. In addition to that, studies have found that schools that are composed of students from poor, lower class backgrounds have less per-students funding than schools made up of upper and middle class children. However, the inequality of the distribution of educational resources is a major problem in the structure of schools today. The distribution is determined by such factors like the race and socioeconomic status of the school. The decisions about the distribution are made on a federal, state, and local level, thus showing that there is some form of prejudice somewhere among those governmental levels. The inequality in the resources has grave consequences for both the individual student and society as an entirety.

As former Vice President Al Gore said, “There is no greater test of our national responsibility than the quality of the education we provide.” Equality in education is the most important aspect of our society. Everyone having a fair and equal education benefits everyone and everything, and making sure that every child has the opportunity to receive an equal education should be the main concern and goal of our society.