Post 5) Who's to Blame

Rather than relying on facts and trying to work towards the common good, politicians are usually just working towards their own good. And the educational inequality is no different.

The video, “Obama’s Educational Takeover,” finds several ways in which the current president has “ruined” the education system all by himself. The video blames Obama on wasting a lot of money on reforms that are actually supporting the status quo. The video also claims that California has downgraded its education system to get more federal funding. All of the claims are done in an “educational” format, which throws out pieces of information taken out from the context. These types of arguments are very common. In addition to taking the information out from context they don’t offer any solutions or options for what is happening.

This video happens to be produced by the conservative thinkers so it is logical that it blames Obama and his administration for all the educational problems. For example, it doesn’t take into account the No Child Left Behind act, which was developed under the Bush administration. What makes this video even more controversial is the fact that it also blames “special interest groups” for shaping the educational reforms in a way that they would benefit from it. These special interest groups are made to sound like they would be big corporations. This is interesting, because usually it is the conservatives and the Republican party that benefits from these large corporations in the form of funding.

All of these accusations and arguments that are trying to put down the competition is time that is wasted. The effort should go towards developing and finding answers for the problems instead of blaming the opposite political party. It is no wonder that the problems in educational inequality cannot be solved, because everyone are only trying to put the blame on someone else.

Work Cited

Obama’s Education Takeover. Encounterbooks. YouTube, 14 Feb. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Post 4) Emphasis on African-Americans

Like I have stated before the educational inequality is a concern for a large number of students, but most of all it is an issue among African-American students. The mostly theoretical and statistic based information is put into real life by Susan Modaress in the video, “US Unequal Educational Funding in 2013.” Modaress provides an inside look into schools and individuals that suffer that suffer from the educational inequality.

Creating equal opportunity should, at first, mean equal resources for everyone. This most definitely is not the case. Resources mean such things as good quality facilities, up to date technology and qualified teachers. Modaress discovers several examples in which the schools with mostly low-income, African-American students work with inferior resources whereas at the same time the mostly white schools have everything state of the art. If unqualified teachers teach with equipment that is out of date the results are far from equal. This part of the problem could be fixed by balancing school funding between the wealthy and the low-income neighborhoods. Modaress states that the wealthier students already have a head start because most of them participate in preschool programs and get many other advantages compared to low-income students. So basically there is no point on granting more and more funds to those who would do very well without it as well.

Many African-American students face issues like suspension from school or even pressure to drop out from school. Many African-American students come from low-income families that can’t afford to send their kids into preschools or other programs that would prepare them for schools. What this means is that those kids are not as prepared for school and they are disadvantaged from the beginning. Because the poorly resourced low-income neighborhood schools cant afford to give extra support for their students they will just keep on falling behind. According to Modaress this is a reason why the principals intentionally or unintentionally push away students that would do poorly in the standardized tests. Success in these tests defines part of the school funding.

At the end of the video comes the sad truth about the resent state of the American education. Short-term success is considered more important than what the great purpose of the education used to be.

The fact that this inequality exists is one thing, but it is a great deal more alarming that the inequality attacks basically only one race. 

Work Cited:

Modaress, Susan. US Unequal Educational Funding in 2013. Press TV Global News. YouTube, 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Post 3) The Unfortunate Poor

Forgetting about the facts and making decisions based on politics has a deep effect for the education system in America. In addition to the politically colored suggestions to fix the education system there are already many policies in effect, which contribute to the inequality in education. Usually it is the low-income students that suffer from educational reforms and changes, and the resent history proves no different.

Rebecca Strauss the author of the article, “Schooling Ourselves in an Unequal America,” argues that all the resent changes in the American education system have only benefitted the students that are already on their way to success. The gap between successful and low performing students is widening. According to Strauss the low performing students are performing lower and lower all the time. This is a result of granting educational funds away from the low performing students that are usually also the low-income students. With all the talk about the importance of education this should not be happening. How does it even benefit the politicians to forget about the needs of so many people.

The problem, as Strauss states, is not the amount of money that is put into education but rather that the funds are not used effectively. Education budget per pupil is on line with other western nations, but the allocation of the funds is not. Other western nations allocate more funding for schools districts with high concentrations of low-income students, whereas the American system gives the most for those who already have it all. The question is, how is this possible? I think it would benefit everyone to give better educational opportunities for those who can’t go and school shop in the private sector. The reason for this is because the school funding comes from the local property taxes. It is obvious that the wealthier communities have better funding for their schools. This creates a circle of poverty especially for the African-American students, many of who come from low-income families.

Although some things seem to have changed for the better, it is not always the case. Government policies have gotten more minority and low-income students to attend college, but at the same time drop out rates are increasing. Strauss points out that drop out rates are increasing especially in those colleges that minorities and low-income students attend college. So right now the system is only hiding the failure on higher levels.

Another problematic issue is that funding for programs that have been successful earlier are facing budget cuts. Pell grant has worked decently towards its purpose to provide college education for low-income students, but now it is facing decreased funding by the government.

The only real way for America to provide equal education for everyone is to make sure that the low-income students reach same levels with wealthier peers. Right now it isn’t happening. Politicians are just throwing out comforting speeches about the importance of education.

Work Cited

Strauss, Rebecca. “Schooling Ourselves in an Unequal America.” The New York Times 16 June (2013). The New York Times. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Post 2) Programs for Politics

The federal government has tried to bring equality to the American education but so far many attempts have failed for reason or another. A report about how the American education could be more equal, serves as an example of good intentions gone bad. The report, “For each and every Child,” was meant to be an objective guideline for educational reform but it partially turned out as a statement of political views. The fact that the government doesn’t know how to erase the effect of politics on what was meant to be an objective report, means that they have not understood the gravity of the problem in education.

The bias in the report, “For each and every Child,” is introduced by Valerie Strauss the author of the article, “Report: U.S. Should Focus on Equity in Education,” argues that the resent suggestions to fix the education system are politically colored. Strauss states that the views of the committee that wrote the report are not objective but rather they state the opinion of the education secretary of President Obama.

Originally this report was meant to be a guideline for educational reforms that are needed. Strauss explains that although the report has many viable viewpoints it also serves as a supporter of the standardized tests. The report suggests that teachers should be tested periodically and nationwide in order to know who is suitable to work as a teacher. I would agree with Strauss when she states that this part of the report is only meant to draw attention from the real issue. The real issue, inequality in education, is best addressed by appointing increased funding for troubled schools. Troubled, in this case, meaning the schools that have many low income students and schools that are located in the low income neighborhoods.

The government is playing a dangerous game with the futures of the American children when they fail to come up with a single report that is not biased with politics and opinions. The children that need the most educational help are the ones attending schools in less wealthier neighborhoods. Many kids in these areas have parents that are basically working all the time to provide for their families, others have parents who are troubled in many other ways. Whatever the case may be with the parents the children are not ones that should be held responsible. Education is the only way up and out of these complicated situations. The government has to provide equal opportunity for everyone to educate themselves, because there are many families that cannot buy their children an education that would benefit them in life.

Work Cited

Strauss, Valerie. “Report: U.S. Should Focus on Equity in Education.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Apr.   2014.

Post 1) Inequality for Some

The inequality in the American education system is easily visible and it has an effect on many students. One of the most visible factors in the inequality of education is the difference between races and how well they perform in school. Many neighborhoods and schools that consist of mainly white citizen are performing extremely well. At the same time the racial minorities are participating in schools that are basically segregated and of inferior to their counterparts.

A recent study by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is analyzed by the author Motoko Rich in the article, “School data Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines.” The study consisted of all of the America’s 97000 public schools and it shows significant differences between racial minorities and white students. Rich argues that there are several factors in which especially African-American students are inferior compared to white counterparts. For example, African-American students are more than four times as likely to attend schools where fifth of the teachers do not meet all the teaching requirements. In addition 50% of the African-American students attend high schools that do not offer the full range of higher math and science classes. This research alone is enough proof for the education system’s inequality. With inferior classes and teachers one cannot expect more than the worst.

The worst is what follows as well. Rich states the fact that African-American students get suspended three times more often than their white peers. Even in preschool African-Americans are suspended more often. Only 18% of the students in public preschools are African-American and 42% of the suspended students are African-American. It is really shocking that the discrimination starts as early as kindergarten.

An issue that is also discussed in Rich’s article is the teachers salaries. In the mostly African-American schools teachers get paid a lot less than in other schools. This is mostly due to the fact that these schools are in low-income areas. Rather than placing the least qualified and least paid teachers in these areas, there should be a policy of granting extra funding and support.

Even though we’d like to think that racial discrimination in its every form has distinguished, it is not. Children in all schools should be able to get the same level of education. The troubled schools should be addressed by government programs that would support the success of racial minorities and eliminate the inequality in education.

Work Cited

Rich, Motoko. “School data Finds Pattern of Inequality Along Racial Lines.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2014. Web 1 Apr.    2014.