Inequality in Education in the United States

Research question: Inequality in education has been caused by some factors, all which hinder students from accessing equal opportunities in education. How does race impact the education opportunities?

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Public education in the United States plays a necessary role in shaping the society. Education in schools teaches students how to be agents of political, economic, and social concerns. The relationship of education to the society is complicated as well as profound. It is the anchor of the social and the government. Through education, the most basic performances are realized. It is evident that education is the foundation of good citizenship. However, education among most students creates an exceptional life as they encounter life in school. Young people experience a variety of issues such as the divorce of parents, domestic violence, abuse and neglect.

However, the issue of equality in education seems to be taking the most effect on education. The notion of race, mainly, black and whites have brought about the debate on the role of race in education and its effects in giving all students equal opportunities. Equality means that all members of the society are given equal chances to have an education. This is not to say that everyone will have equal status but rather have an equal chance towards education. There has been a great misunderstanding of the equality in education, especially in the public education. Conflicts have been arising in the schools due to equality issues. Multicultural education, vouchers, funding, bilingualism and federal as well as state legislation have made efforts in equalizing the education resources, practices and the opportunities. This essay seeks to find out how race impacts educational possibilities in the United States.

Background on Equalizing Education

The idea of educational equality began the 60s. The intentions were to equalize education which affected the whole school system. The notions of historical inequalities such as slavery and the minority have been the main reason for differences in the United States. Fortunately, many schools have taken the initiative, either voluntarily or coerced to reduce the disparities in giving equal opportunities in education.

On the other hand, the judiciary has given a proactive stance in the definition and clarification of the concept of equality and equality of opportunity in education. In the making of the constitution, the people of color were not considered as citizens and hence were not eligible for same education with the whites. However, the black race gained citizenship and, hence, increased opportunities in education.

Unequal Opportunity in Education

A lot needs to ensure that children and youth experience success in education. Therefore, quality teachers, small sized classes, and access to high-quality programs after school as well as modern and advanced learning facilities. The success in education for all faces translates to improved standards of living and fewer unemployment levels. Therefore, incorporation of equal racial opportunities will ensure education's success. The systematic policies, practices and stereotypes harm the students of color in their opportunity to gain educational success. It is essential that all stakeholders understand the consequences of the inequality in the provision of education and how to ensure they should be eliminated to offer the youth and children equal education success.

Education in the formalized institutions involves human beings teaching other people. This type of setting brings in the context of teacher and students personality in the process of education. Thus, the issue of race and class are bound to impact the way education is delivered and absorbed. Social class has been present for a long time in the world. It defines the way people approach life. For instance, in a mathematical class where all students come from a weak economic society, the questions will linger around the economic problems of the people. Such is the same with race.

The race is in more evident in influencing education. A student of Native American origin is likely to raise issues about Westward Expansion depending on what stories he has heard in his society. Even if the teacher makes an effort to teach the historical facts with objectivity, the personal feelings on the subjects are hard to avoid. The US has had some various races coming together but living in harmony have not always been the norm.

Education tries to teach the younger generation not to dwell on the past injustices, but it cannot be easy for people to ignore the things that happened in the past. All races cannot forget what happened especially the case of black slavery. However, education should purpose on teaching the unpleasant aspects of national history to the children from racial minority families to make sure all races are content with what is being taught.

Race and social class also impact education in other ways. People from minority groups often do not have a history of individuals in higher education. Thus, children from such families do not have people to help them in school. Educators, therefore, should know that this can pose as a disadvantage in getting equal opportunity in education. The students may be considered as slow learners, but the real problem lies in their backgrounds.

Thus, in order, to give all races equal opportunity, teachers must be acutely aware of such situations and ensure that these students do not feel inferior. An encouraging environment would be essential to help increase equal opportunities to all the races such as creating a teacher resource center to cater for different levels and give assessment rubrics that give all equal marks.

Education should not be affected by race, class or gender but with the racial segregations in the past this has to be expected. The teacher should not avoid the role of race in education but rather acknowledge it for them to be prepared to teach a class with diverse people. A teacher should be able to deal with issues arising from racial differences in the education system.

Notably, Black and Latino students are educationally isolated today more than in the past. Students of color who score the same test marks as their white counterparts are less likely to be placed in advanced classes. Schools where the whites students are in the majority, there is a likelihood that they will be offered more opportunity to go to advanced classes that the minority races. Blacks and Latinos are likely to be placed in low track academic courses.

However, to improve efficiency in promoting students success, quality teachers, small sized classes and access to quality higher education are needed. The racial inequality issues have been observed to have adverse effects in the future, regarding employment prospects poverty among many other matters.

On the other hand, race segregation has been associated with the issue in local school revenues. Students in racially segregated schools are not exposed to high-quality curricula in education, teachers and social networks that could offer them great opportunities to have great careers in future. Their capabilities are not fully tapped and utilized. Therefore, even in the future, the available job opportunities go to the advantaged race.

Schools with a high percentage of minorities tend to have low-quality teachers since they are unlikely to afford qualified teachers. In most cases teachers who gain high test scores end up in upper middle class and very few of them are from the African American and Latino races. These conditions make the students in such schools to miss out on good and high-quality education. Since teachers in such schools lack proficiency in English, the type of English taught in such schools is low-quality c0mpatred to other schools.

Schools that have a high percentage minorities, limited English proficiency, as well as low-income students, tend to employ beginning teachers. Thus, education opportunities continue to differ with the advantaged race who have the opportunities to attend the best schools in the country.

Students of color are at a high probability of being punished more than their White counterparts for similar offenses. Notably, 14.6 percent of whites are expelled in grade seven as compared to 38.2, 35.1 and 19.1 percent of Native Americans, blacks and Latinos respectively. Moreover, students of color are more likely to be expelled than the white students. Racial disparities have been observed to drop drastically in the presence of a weapon or drug possession.

According to W.E.B. DuBois, the racial problem in the 21st century still exists and divides people. In the recent years, the race problem exists in school education and employment. Thus, the need to have a fair and equal opportunity for all races needs to be considered. Many people in the country believe that discrimination has disappeared, but unfortunately, it still stands strong, thus the unfair advantage to the minority groups. For instance, in education achievement between the non-Asian minority and the white is measured by standardized scores in examinations.

The assumption that the equal opportunity exists has led to continued low levels of achievement on the part of minority students. It should be perceived that the outcomes of education for the minorities are a function of their equal critical educational resources such as skilled teachers and quality curriculum. The U.S education system is one of the most unequal in the developed worlds. The minority students still attend low funded schools which have low-quality teachers while compared to other white schools. Moreover, most low-income schools do not offer math and science course, have low-quality curriculum all that are needed for a college education.

Studies have determined that learners who are taught by ineffective for three consecutive years score 50 percent lower on achievement tests than students from white schools who have competent teachers given the same duration of time. Amazingly, minority students are twice likely to be attended to by ineffective teachers than the majority. Students who attend the minority schools are 50 percent likely to getting a math and science teacher. This situation translates into having fewer minority professions in the fields of mathematics and science.

Robert Dreeben and colleagues at the University of Chicago reported that African American students were offered low-quality instructions lower than the white students who create a racial gap between the average achievements at the end of the first grade. They also found out that minority children learned less during their first class as a teacher lacked to give challenging instructions. Other studies have determined that African American high school youth who are placed in public housing took a less challenging course that those who attended mostly white and better-funded schools. The performance of the students who attended better-funded schools performed well in the challenging courses in college.

Education resources make a difference, especially funding. Funds are used to purchase well-qualified teachers and high-quality curriculum which makes learning for students in such institutions secure and better. This brings all the difference in the minority seeing such actions as special treatment. This notion of special treatment has caused a high volatility for race and class politics in the country

Funds given to schools should be based on the ability to produce equal outcomes for the minority communities and the whites. On the other hand, the assumption of educational inequality can be said to be the idea of students who attend schools with inadequate capacities and resources is insufficient as the notion of inequality in education has been known for a long time. It is of...