To live a lifetime of jubilation and erudition, a majority of people take the path of education. The obtainment of knowledge enables individuals to discover the extent of the world around them and take full potential of it. However, in order to attain quality knowledge, the foundation of it has to be strong. The introduction to education begins in school: a place in which there should, undeniably, be equal opportunities presented to all children. Unfortunately, some students do not have the same likelihood of success as other affluent ones.
In September 2016, a Connecticut judge ruled that the state was obligated to revise its school system since the educational discrepancies between rich and poor kids were so significant. Why is academic failure ubiquitous among poor districts and how can it be rectified? In a 2016 The New York Times article entitled, “Poor Schools Need to Encompass More Than Instruction to Succeed,” the dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Prudence L. Carter, sets forth the innumerable complications of reforming school districts but argues that hope is still in sight. Success in school enhancement is not a simple task, Carter claims. There are complex systems ingrained within school districts that require a full understanding of each component’s function and interaction with other elements.
The Harlem Children’s Zone and districts like Jennings, Mo. observe schools with a broader perspective, elevating the significance of services such as shelters for homeless youth, meals, health care, and support for parents in need of a job. Students deprived of basic needs, most certainly, cannot perform up to par. This concept is accurate when Carter states, “Those struggling with poverty and family instability cannot be expected to succeed at the same rate, on average, as those who will never know hunger and who have little to no exposure to unemployment, homelessness and/or other stress”.
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In addition to the supply of basic survival necessities, schools require experienced, knowledgeable teachers and leaders with a moral compass to educate students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds. Accomplished schools tend to incorporate extracurricular activities and additional courses to further strengthen youth development. Therefore, when families are unable to manage the costs of afterschool programs and personal tutors, efficacious school communities alleviate pressure by investing in programs to counterbalance these opportunity gaps. Every student is competent enough to succeed in school, however, they cannot be expected to do so if the presence of deficits in all major aspects of school districts remain.
Prudence L. Carter concludes by stating that these inauspicious school districts will eventually provide sufficient care to their vulnerable students once there is a strong foundation of insightful educators and tenacious local, state, and national educational policies that consider the entire background of students’ lives. Elaine Weiss, the national coordinator for the Broader Bolder Approach to Education, corroborates Carter’s stance on reforming desperate, insufficient schools. She insists that the lack of guidance is apparent in the atrocious conditions of poor school environments. Exceedingly hot classrooms, poisoned drinking fountains, and disintegrating ceilings are unbearable circumstances to educate as a teacher and attempt to focus and learn as a student. First and foremost, the availability of meals to all students should be ensured to eliminate hunger and increase focus.
Suitable counselors should be employed to diagnose, address, and resolve problematic behavior professionally rather than immediately having students expelled or suspended. These concepts are verifiable when Weiss states, “…districts should build physical and mental health sources into schools to enable teachers to teach and students to learn, and incentivize and support schools’ partnerships with agencies and community organizations since schools cannot do it alone”.
In conclusion, although it may be an arduous task to do so, the reformation of school is not impossible but demands special, intricate attention. Robin Lake claims otherwise, insisting that the chances of rectifying schools are close to zero. In a 2016 The New York Times article entitled, “Schools and Communities Need More Autonomy,” Robin Lake, the director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, argues that nearly everything in the way authorities direct urban public education amplifies inequalities and works in opposition to school enhancement. The most skilled educators and principals move to more affluent neighborhoods to escape the responsibility of enhancing underperforming schools.
On top of that, community politics and the school board make it tremendously difficult for superintendents to determine whether or not ineffective schools should be replaced or labor contracts should be negotiated. These notions are accurate when Lake states, “District central offices too often try to overcome these constraints with top-down dictates that treat educators, schools and students like widgets in a system designed for sameness”. Regrettably, students are taught by the least experienced educators, authorized by principals with no real effect, and whose schools are funded the least accompanied by a less rigorous curriculum. Marguerite Roza, the author of “Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go?” emphasizes that the escalating trend of school failure has still not been eliminated by policies stressed on rephrasing funding formulas and revising schooling prescriptions.
Roza claims that state officials guilt unstable schools and districts, and schools use compliance-oriented district and state policies as scapegoats for the continuous failure of students. “Even when states have given low-income schools additional “best practice” supports, like a social worker or health center, the results are mixed”. The amount of complications school leaders interfere with every day is overwhelming and undeserving; it is nearly impossible for anyone to overcome these obstacles.
Although the sheer scope of interferences school leaders and educators come face-to-face with is, undeniably, compelling; by reassessing urban public education, equalizing funding, and offering a set amount per student to any public school he/she attends can elevate the likelihood of success for a low-income child, provide the school with necessary resources, and attract professional, erudite educators. No student should be excluded from quality education solely due to their living conditions or family circumstances. Not only should these children be served with the utmost care, but they should also be regarded as a unique individual capable of obtaining their dream careers. Rather than grouping individuals based on their financial status, treating them as human beings who are in need of accompaniment, equal opportunities, and consideration is the least we can do. This is only the beginning.
