Inequality in Quality
The American education system is extremely flawed. There are multiple studies and
analysis exposing each issue of this system, from why it was created to its current
development. One of these issues is the fact schools can’t provide the same quality of
education for all the students in this country, usually due to a lack of resources. The
funding schools receive is determined in part by the property taxes of the school’s
district, which leads to low-income areas receiving less funding than those with a higher
income. But schools in low-income areas are the ones that need the funding, since
families can’t afford to give their children the extra education needed to reach the same
standards as their high-income counterparts. The way money is distributed throughout
schools forces this difference in quality to happen.
When students don’t have access to the same quality of staff and resources they
are also deprived of opportunities in the future, creating a divide within the younger
generations that then continues into adulthood. Schools that receive more funding have
higher average scores in standardized tests than those with less funding. This doesn’t
mean the students in lower-income areas are less capable than their high-income
counterparts, but that the education they have access to is of lesser quality. But there
are other reasons this difference in scores exist. Students with high-income parents
usually have access to tutors, extracurricular activities, and specialized study books, all
of which help deepen their education. They also usually have time and a good
environment in which to do their homework and other assignments. Students with lowincome parents, instead, don’t have access to any extra academic extracurriculars, or
any other activities to help them deepen their education. They also usually don’t have
access to a quiet environment in which to do their homework. Some don’t even have the
time to do their homework, either because they must take care of other family members
or because they have an after-school job. The bulk of their education happens in their
school, during school hours. When to all of this we add the fact the students that can
expand their education outside their school also have better resources and more
experienced staff, the difference in quality of education between high- and low-income
children, from one district to the other, becomes abysmal.
Because of the way we fund them, schools have become a tool to keep the lowand high-income classes separated. We understand and are told schools provide an
equal shot at life for everyone, that they are a place where the playing field is level. But
that’s not true. Helping those who don’t need help while leaving those in need behind
isn’t a school system that will benefit a democracy. Not only does it keep the upper and
lower classes separate, but because of the housing segregation issue in this country
schools have also become segregated: the schools with a mostly Black and Latino
population are the same schools receiving less funding because of a low property tax in
the district. In conclusion, schools have become another tool to segregate the
population both by race and economic class, protecting the privileged population and
making sure they get to stay privileged for generations.
The best way to solve this issue (or to start solving the issue) would be to change
how we distribute money to the schools. There are two options on how we distribute
funding: an equal way and an equitable way. Instead of distributing money based on a
district’s property taxes local governments should distribute funding equally among
students: the amount of funding a district receives depends only on the amount of
students enrolled in it. This would be a distribution based on equality: every student
receives the same amount of funding. Therefore, the difference in resources between
one district’s students and another’s would disappear, making schools the even playing
field they should be. The problem with this solution is it doesn’t consider the fact highincome family children would still have the after-school advantage over their low-income
counterparts, therefore having a better quality of education. The equitable solution
would consider this as well when distributing money among districts: instead of
providing the same amount of funding per student, low-income districts would receive a
slightly larger amount of funding per student. This would compensate, although not
completely, for the difference in education outside of school hours.
Either of these policies would help solve the issue of inequality in quality of
education. They would help turn the school system into a tool to give everyone the
opportunity to be successful in life instead of prioritizing those in an already privileged
position. It is true that they wouldn’t solve the issue of schools being segregated by
race, but by giving all students an equal shot at success and a similar quality in
education it becomes less of an issue how different races and ethnicities are distributed
throughout the district. The school system would cease to become a tool to keep the
population separated by race and economic class.