A Call for Educational Reform, Part Two
By Steven Hoelscher, Staff Writer
6/20/2008
Does equality exist within the education system? All children are enrolled in school within a certain age range; the state produces a curriculum that all school districts must enforce; everyone must take the state’s standardized test. With all of these factors, how can a child coming from an affluent family score higher on standardized tests, achieve a higher G.P.A., and enroll in a more prestigious college? Straying away from the classic ‘Nature versus Nurture’ debates, let us focus on two primary factors.
First, the wealthy child has more opportunities due to the nature of the capitalistic society we live in. One can elect a course to raise his or her ACT score by three points by simply paying a price; this would not be difficult for the wealthy child, but the less-fortunate child may face impediments in the future just because he or she could not sign up for this course.
Furthermore, poorer students may have other responsibilities that must be met other than those of school. To provide for his or her ailing, widow mother, a high school student must work at a local store, holding a part-time job during the school year. Yet, this causes a lack of focus on his or her schoolwork based on necessity rather than choice. The segregation of poor and rich schools amplifies this growing problem: if a student lives in a poorer environment, the school loses its emphasis on the child’s life; on the other hand, in a rich environment, school plays a key role in the student’s life.
Obviously, the corruption in these systems is apparent, but they remain in place due to the benefits that the people who designed them and control them reap. From their quick glance over their systems, they can see that no change is necessary, for the same material is taught and the same tests are taken. However, the problem will grow into an economic problem: rich students will continue to attend elite universities, while the poorer students will enroll at community colleges. From there, the rich will enter the upper social classes, and the poor will continue working menial jobs; this creates a social, economic, and educational dichotomy, and the vicious cycle continues.