[4] Social Injustice in Our Schools

            Our modern society, imperfect as it is, has come a long way since the Civil Rights Era, when African Americans suffered from tremendous bias and social injustice, which often led to economic disadvantages. Progress has been made in the areas of some injustices which were once commonplace.  Many people in our country now believe that with the advantage of free public education, any member of society can rise to success. However, one of the more disturbing articles I have read in my independent reading life recently is "In Public Education, Edge Still Goes to the Rich" (Eduardo Porter, New York Times, Nov. 5 2013). This article exposes a tremendous injustice in our public education system which affects the poorer segments of the African American community as well as their counterparts in other ethnic groups. The problem is that many schools that serve wealthier school districts gain larger funding, in contrast to districts serving poorer areas. Current politicians have tried to resolve this issue but have failed to allocate adequate resources, which they must do in order to solve the issue of underfunded schools.

            According to research done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, among thirty-four nations surveyed by the O.E.C.D., only the U.S., Israel, and Turkey allocate more resources to schools which serve wealthier districts, as opposed to their poorer counterparts.  The article "In Public Education, Edge Still Goes to the Rich" states: "In New York, schools spend an average of $19,000 per student. In Tennessee they spend $8,200. The Alpine school district in Utah spends only $5,321. And funding in some states is even more skewed than in New York." The article also says that rich enclaves like Bridgehampton and Amagansett spent $25,505 on each student, while poorer districts spent an average of only $12,861. An even more disturbing fact is that only seventeen states in the entire U.S. spend more on poorer districts than wealthy districts. Those in the seventeen which spend more include New Jersey, Vermont, and Massachusetts, according to the article. It also says that funding is the same for all schools in only fifteen states. And another sixteen states, which provide large sums of money for education and distribute it equitably, are regressively cutting the funding for their schools.

            This issue is one of the most heavily dodged in politics today. David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center in Newark, an advocacy group for disadvantaged students, said on education reform, “To a large extent it is a huge distraction. We never get to the question of what resources we need to get the students to meet the standards.” Education reform and the government will not solve this tremendous problem, however, many activism groups are taking charge and attempting to dislodge this injustice. We can only hope that, in the precedent created by the No Child Left Behind Act, laws which stop this practice will be passed.