They live in a neighborhood full of crime therefore their main focus is survival instead of learning. Minority kids between 5th and 7th grade go from being B students to D students. As they get older their grades drop so they feel like they are not going anywhere. Sixty eight percent of inmates in Pennsylvania are high school dropouts. The average inmates sentence of 4 years cost $132,000.
For example, in the south, Jim Crow laws prevented blacks from marrying whites. Also, black literacy rates were low in the south because they were not offered the same educational opportunities as whites; states spent ten times more money on white schools than black schools. Also, blacks were expected to address white men as ‘master’ or ‘sir’ whilst being referred to as ‘boy’ themselves. They faced both de facto and de jure discrimination in the south. Also, black housing was significantly worse than white housing – 40% of black housing was substandard whilst only 12% of white housing was.
Public school systems are intended to provide an equal and substantial education to all children who are enrolled from kindergarten through the twelfth grade in high school. However, many urban neighborhoods such as the areas in inner city Houston have been neglected in being provided with education that is of equal stature of those who reside in suburbs and smaller cities. Although budget cuts have happened to schools in the Houston area, urban area schools have been more affected by these cuts before their budgets were lower to begin with. Therefore, urban area schools lack access to education equal to those in suburban areas. This failure to provide equal education is due to economic inequality, teacher quality, and size difference between
Struggling Middle School Reader: Successful, Acceleration Intervention Rosemary Papalewis Leah Sykes-Rangel ED 385 Mrs. Melissa Mainiero Sept. 24, 2010 Many students repeat the 8th grade because their reading skills are not proficient enough for them to move on. In fact, Torgeson and Burgess both agree that one child in eight who show signs of reading difficulties at the end of their first grade year rarely obtain reading skills along their current level. Teachers more than often enough are to blame. However, outside forces such as a student not attending class regularly or financial burdens also play a role as well. Whatever the case may be, reading levels are quickly declining instead of accelerating.
The American educational system has been at large for the past 40 years. Sadly the only growing correlation I can see with supportive information to back-up my theory is the growing number of poverty in America. The link between poverty and the decline in educational achievement in America is very rarely looked at in the educational system. Many years of numerous academic research show that poor children, or those born to parents who are rather poorly educated also, don’t do as well in school as those students who are raised in a middle-class house. Americas problem of poverty is too big to be ignored in the world, as it has the highest poverty rate in the entire western region of the globe with 22%.
Michael Adams Across the U.S., poverty is irrefutably linked to poor academic performance. On last year's national reading exam, nine-year-olds from low-income families scored nearly three full grade levels below their wealthier peers. The gap was nearly as large in math. The poor performance of poor students accounts for all of the achievement gap between U.S. students and their peers in academic powerhouses such as South Korea and Finland. On the latest international reading test, U.S. teens from more affluent schools were at the very top of global rankings, while those from schools with high poverty rates were near the bottom.
RACIAL INEQUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE After completing their education, minorities suffer from further inequalities in the workplace. Evidence of a wage-gap, for instance, is evident in managerial positions. “For every dollar white male managers in the private sector earn, white women managers earn 59 cents, men-of-color managers earn 75 cents, and women of color, on average, earn 57 cents (Giscombe S9).” Fortunately, a decrease in the wage gap has occurred, and affirmative action has been a major catalyst. For instance, between the 1980’s and 1990’s, the “wage gaps deteriorated by 2.5 percentage points for blacks, by 4.1 percentage points for Native Americans, and by less than 1 point percentage point for Hispanics and Asians, (Leonard).” This is low compared to women, whose average wage-gap “declined by 7.6 percentage points” (Leonard). Even though the gap did not decrease dramatically, it shows a slight improvement that may reach greater proportions in years to come.
(Acknowledgment, Notes, Reference, Index, About the Author) $39.95, ISBN 978-0-8077-5407-8 David Kirkland wanted people to understand what African American are going through on a daily base. Most blacks are seen going into school and often to prison. They are suspend from school more often than a white student and for longer period of time. David voice how in 2003 70 percent of Black 4th grade boys read below the level, compared to 27 percent of White children. Black males perform more poorly on literacy test than do other students.
Children growing up in poverty face many disadvantages such as unhealthy levels of stress making it near impossible to successfully complete college, thus making it harder to escape their surroundings. The poverty rates in some European countries are much lower than in the United States because of programs they have put into place to help the poor and unlucky, leading one to think the government should once again re-declare the war on poverty. Krugman’s article not only shows percentages he also lets his readers know what the findings were from scientific studies. Living in the conditions of poverty is stressful for anyone, much less children. I see the effects that poverty has on many people every day, and always think one day that could be me.
Through my research I found that so much of the data presented on minorities has a direct correlation to high-poverty. I found that high-poverty is the number one impact on the achievement gap between students. With high-poverty areas dealing with limited resources inequitable facilities and teachers who generally have less experience we are fostering a dilemma that needs drastic system change throughout the whole country. Recent movements in education have not addressed the achievement gap of low income students it has made them more glaring. “NCLB has made public education itself fair game for profiteers, and this can only mean two things: corruption and higher costs.