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Over the past decades, poverty has come to dominate the public images of education. Therefore, when considering educational privilege, baseball is an apt metaphor. Rich people start the game at third base with the bases loaded, expecting only a solid hit to reach home and a bright future filled by opportunities. At the second and first are the middle-class people, with a more difficult path, but the home base is still within their reach. Buried in the lineup are the poor.
For them, crossing home base is no guarantee. This inequality is evidential in education, where property taxes, unfair funding, lower parental education, insecure neighborhood have made education increasingly difficult for students from low-income backgrounds.
This paper discusses two assigned textbooks from Jonathan Kozol and Paul C.
Gorski and their views on the effect of poverty on education in America. I will further explore two additional sources to help construe my opinions and research on this thought-provoking topic. Effects of Poverty on Education in America Despite being one of the most developed countries in the world, the United States has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty globally.
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Children born or raised in poverty face several disadvantages, most evidently in education. After reading the assigned books, I believe that poverty is the number one factor affecting education in America. Poor students do not only receive the worst education, but they also fall victim to lifestyle and health issues that hinder their ability to learn. Poverty reduces a child’s readiness for school because it leads to poor physical health and motor skills, diminishes a child’s ability to concentrate and remember information, and reduces attentiveness.
Educators such as Jonathan Kozol and Paul C. Gorski have studied the household structure of students from low-income backgrounds and how their families' needs to focus on immediate basic needs such as food and shelter have put them at a tremendous disadvantage since it inhibits their ability to prioritize education given that the benefits are long term. My take on this is that unfortunately, they're all correct. I agree with these authors that poverty places children at a significant disadvantage to their rich peers both academically and socially. What makes me concur with them, even more, is the fact that these educators wrote their stories with a real connection to or understanding of low-income communities.
I believe that education is an important part of every society because it helps an individual’s development and schools act as the base of the developing stages of an individual. Education does not only set the path for a successful career, but it also helps to shape one’s morals and attitudes. In this paper, my personal ideas will be addressed incorporating ideas from two assigned texts from Jonathan Kozol and Paul C. Gorski and two additional sources pertaining to the effects of poverty on education in America. Kozol (1991) addresses poverty in public schools between 1998 and 1990 by visiting approximately 30 neighborhoods including East St. Louis, the Bronx, Chicago, Harlem, Jersey City, and San Antonio to witness the educational systems. He found that there were wide disparities between poorest inner-city communities and schools in wealthier suburban communities.
Kozol first traveled to East St. Louis, Illinois. where he discovered that the population was predominantly black and that these community lacked the necessary resources needed to support the educational system. He, therefore, made a strong case for children living in this area. He stated that children from the poorest area have a lower ability to read and that they are at higher risk of dropping out of school. Kozol supported this claim by providing evidence to show how left behind kids in the poorest communities such as East St. Louis was. He talked to several kids and found out that some of them didn’t even know what grade they were in; however, they knew everything about rape (Kozol, 1991, p.16). He also added that these kids didn’t know a song they sing at school. Most of them said, “jingle bells” (Kozol, 1991, p.16). In my own view, I agree with Kozol that kids in the poorest communities are left behind in education and the reason I concur with him is that speaking from experience, I believe that the kind of neighborhood these kids are exposed to provides them with no opportunity for growth except, it offers them with opportunities for doom. For example, I believe that these kids witnessed rape on several occasions in their neighborhood to have become very familiar with it (Kozol 1991).
Kozol then traveled to witness the educational systems in Chicago. Here, he visited a kindergarten class in North Lawndale. According to Kozol, it was projected that more students would go to jail than would graduate school (Kozol, 1991, p. 55). Kozol believes that schools in poorest communities such as North Lawndale are affected by magnet schools, a system by which parents compete to send their children to better-performing (Kozol, 1991, p.73). He claimed that “magnet schools” diminishes the quality of the school system that is already suffering so as to favor the wealthier kids. In addition, Kozol blamed the unfair funding system as one of the major factors in establishing inequality against the poor in America (Kozol, 1991, p.66-69). He stated that in the poor, inner-city neighborhoods, properties and housing were less valued as those in the wealthier suburban communities. As a result, the government gave back more taxes collected to the wealthier areas.
Therefore, poorest neighborhoods are underfunded leaving the poor schools with no or limited resources to support education (Kozol 1991). Kozol (1991) criticized the evolution of two curricula and asserted that the curriculum used in the poorest areas emphasizes “job skills” instead of promoting formal and academic college preparation (Kozol, 1991, p. 92). He asserted that people claim that poor students would get the most out of useful skills. However, Kozol (1991) differs in his argument saying that this “diminish the horizons and the aspirations of poor children, locking them at a very early age into slots that are regarded as appropriate to their societal position” (p. 93). He also observed that this is unbiased mindset placed on poor students that they are not as capable as their wealthier peers and therefore do not need the same resources and attention as the wealthier students (Kozol 1991). He used Dushable and New Trier high schools to support this argument from where, he pointed out that students in Dushable high school were not given choices; they were prepared for whatever the school administration choose for them.
In New Trier, on the other hand, students had several choices to choose, Therefore, the system favored only the rich students leaving poor students at a disadvantaged (Kozol 1991). Kozol argued in “savage inequalities” that public education should be free and equal to all children regardless of their economic status (Kozol 1991). He believes that children from poor families are denied a good future through exposure to remote and underfunded schools in the inner cities of America. It should be noted that the majorities of these children are those living in poverty and crime. Kozol also argues that people expect too much of poor children. Poor children are compared to their wealthier peers who have a better quality of education and attends better schools in suburban areas. Kozol asks how people expect children living in poverty to succeed in the future if they are not given the same opportunities as their wealthier peers. He believes that by depriving children living in poverty of their basic needs, we are forcing them into the lives of a never-ending cycle of poverty.
Therefore, Kozol recommends that poor students should be taught that “savage inequalities” does not have to exist between them and their wealthier peers and that all children are equal and deserves an equal opportunity and education (Kozol 1991). Gorski (2013) addresses the issue of poverty in America by seeking to equip educators and school administrators with practical strategies for fighting unfairness in education. He argues that the struggle for educational equity will never be realized in any full sense unless we address bigger economic justice concerns (Gorski, 2013, p.118). Therefore, he asks educators to build more equitable learning environment for children living in poverty. He argues that for educators to achieve equitable learning environment, they must consider the circumstances surrounding a poor student in school (Gorski 2013).
What makes me to concur even more with Gorski’s argument in his textbook is that he uses his own working-class family to support his writing. Referencing to the experiences of his Appalachian grandparents, Gorski asks readers to reconsider their belief in perceiving that America is a meritocracy; a myth based on the assumption that achievement is deserved not rendered and that poor people are not successful because they don’t work hard (Gorski 2013). He states that “if you’ve had parents or grandparents or aunts or uncles who, like mine, worked long, back-breaking, thankless shifts as coal miners or custodians or other sorts of low-paying laborers, you know, like I do, that the suggestion that they are poor because they don’t work hard is ludicrous” ( p.17). This challenges the reader’s trust in the power of work ethics.
He argues that “Working hard is no guarantee, especially not when on top of your poverty, you’re denied equal educational opportunities” (p.17). Kozol therefore, insists that “the system is rigged” in favor of the rich families who can pay for better quality education and educational resources like libraries, field trips, expensive computers, and tutoring (Gorski 2013). Gorski (2013) states that poor families suffers misguided stereotypes in education and he asks readers to reconsider their stereotypes about people living in poverty. He warns that no social class is reduced to a set of qualities, and that we in America continue to demean people living in poverty by “blaming the victim” yet “most of what poor people have in common has nothing to do with culture or disposition. Instead, it has to do with what they experience, such as the bias and lack of access to basic needs” (p.26). Therefore, I agree with Gorski that there is no 'culture of poverty' instead, children and families continue to suffer false assumptions based on their socioeconomic status. I believe that getting out of poverty is very hard.
Education acts as one of the hindrances in the way of getting out of poverty. If a person living in poverty did not receive a good education as a child, I believe it would be very difficult for him or her to go back to school to get a college degree. Here, money comes into play. People in poverty lack money to pay for a college education. Even getting student loans is hard for poor people because there is no guarantee that that person will find a good paying job after graduating. Without obtaining a higher education, it is very difficult to obtain a good paying job. As you can see, there are many barriers for people living in poverty than there are for people who are wealthy. I think that people need to reconsider their unfair and unrealistic comments about others especially when they don't fully understand their situation. Everyone needs to think twice before making a judgment about someone else. That way, we can address our perceptions about poor people and they stereotype we hold towards them. With that being said, I beg to differ from the misperception held towards poor people that they do not value education (Gorski, 2013, p.59).
In my personal experience, having grown up in poverty, I believe that poor families highly value education, especially as a “way out” for their children. My mother highly valued education for us and she believed that it would be the only way for breaking the cycle of poverty. Out of my 8 siblings, I was the only one who attended wealthier schools in Uganda, thanks to my athletic scholarships. I worked very hard and it did pay off for me. I graduated high school on a government academic scholarship. So, I truly believe that children from poor families highly value education. The only advantage rich children have over poor children is that they have access to better facilities and resources such as textbooks, libraries, and good teachers. These disparities make poor children look bad against rich children leading people to believe that children living in poverty are lazy and do not value education. I did some research and found this article that supports my claim that poor families highly value education. here is the link; also, I do not agree that children in poverty primarily speak with an 'informal' register or style (Gorski, 2013, p.66). I believe for someone to be better in life, he/she need a formal register. Knowing a casual register is fine but, to be successful you need to know when and how to use a formal register. For example, I do not speak to everyone the same way.
I speak differently with my friends when I am playing soccer or sports and I speak formally around my teachers, friends, family, and workplace. In order to be successful, one must be able to know there is a difference and be able to successfully use both. I truly believe that. In a recent article posted on paediatrics child health, (Ferguson, Bovaird, and Mueller 2007) argues that poverty affects a child’s readiness for school. Ferguson stated that “children from low-income families often do not receive the stimulation and do not learn the social skills required to prepare them for school” (Ferguson, Bovaird, and Mueller 2007). To support his claim, Ferguson argues that poor children’s background is responsible for their lack of readiness for school. He pointed out to issues like parental inconsistency, frequent changes of primary caregivers, lack of supervision, poor role modelling, and most importantly, lack of support for the parents of low-income children (Ferguson, Bovaird, and Mueller 2007). I agree with Ferguson that poverty affect a child’s readiness for school.
Children living in poverty resonate from unstable families. Some live with abusive parents or uneducated parents who cannot help them at home. By the time poor children go to school, they are already behind in the basic learning that is supposed to be learn from home such as speaking in a formal register. Gorski (2013) recognizes this problem in his text as he asks readers to close the achievement gap. Gorski states that the 'achievement gap' is an opportunity gap, an artifact of the effects of systemic poverty. He points out specific pedagogical ways to address this, and advocates working with rather than on families in poverty. I agree with Gorski that addressing those disparities is the right step rather than focusing on families in poverty (Gorski 2013). Lastly, Fioriello (2018) asserted that accessibility to educational institutions hinders children living in poverty. Fiorello states that “Under most circumstances, most children are forced to walk to and from school, thus making it difficult to continue with education” (Fioriello 2018).
He argues that low-income children lose motivation and as a result, they drop out of school. With this being said, Fiorello's description of accessibility to educational institutions relates to my personal experience because I had to walk long distances to get to school when I was in Uganda. My elementary school was located at least 5 kilometers away from my home and I walked every single day to school and back for 7 years. Many of neighbors dropped out. I was fortunate enough to have survived through the system. Gorski (2013) addressing this in his text as he talks about the educational opportunity gap between low-income families and rich families. In conclusion, I believe that as Gorki (2013) and (Kozol 1991) puts it, poverty greatly affect low-income families’ success in education. My own experience with education has been, overall, quite remarkable. Opportunities were at least there for me. My high school years are some of my happiest especially when I attended wealthier schools. The buildings were nice and were maintained well. Lovely gold colored buildings with a Ugandan flag flying over the entrance gate. The school environment was clean. My teachers were nice, concerned, learned, and competent.
Beautiful lockers and desks were available inside the classrooms. I will never forget the beautiful locker I owned. I suppose that I was naive in thinking that everyone shared a similar schooling experience, or at least had that opportunity here in America. But after reading Savage Inequalities and reaching and teaching students in poverty, I realize how lucky I was and at the same time, I am saddened that all children do not receive the same chances as others. As a prospective educator, reading these two books really flipped my perspectives. I never imagined anyone, certainly not even my father who taught both elementary and high school, having to teach in such terrible conditions. I always took for granted that there would be enough classroom for each student and that no child would have to learn from the bathroom or play in a field full of sewage. Therefore, I agree with Gorski that the struggle for educational equity will never be realized in any full sense unless we address bigger economic concerns and that people need to work with those living in poverty rather than trying to fix those who are living in poverty.
Effects of Poverty on Education in America. (2021, Dec 14). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/effects-of-poverty-on-education-in-america-essay
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