Issue Of Education Inequality

I, like many Americans, thought that by virtue of living in the United States, one was entitled to a free education that would set them up for future success. Unfortunately, I have found out that that is far from the truth. The issue of education inequality is a prevalent and significant issue in our society, and it took my being exposed to it first-hand to raise my awareness.

As a child from a reasonably affluent neighborhood, the public schools I attended were sufficiently funded, and I was challenged in school. This was especially true after I joined my county’s gifted program. However, when I joined a tutoring club for underprivileged elementary schoolers, I learned that my experience was not universal, and was not the case for many children

Furthermore, as a native Spanish speaker, Junior, had much difficulty reading passages in English considered to be simple for his age. He would consistently arrive to tutoring upset that he had failed tests, and the teachers still did little in terms of trying to help him. The teachers simply didn’t have the time to assist him because they had over 30 other students in the same class, with similar struggles. Worse still, Junior, and many other students in his school, would frequently get into altercations, subsequently getting suspended and in some cases expelled. One day during tutoring, Junior and I were discussing this as he had received a referral that day for fighting. It stated that Junior was suspended, and the next time he got a referral he would be expelled. Junior’s reaction to this was indifference as in his words, he did not gain anything from school. Hearing this was very upsetting to me; Junior was as entitled to a quality education as any child from an affluent neighborhood, but he did not receive one due to his background and where he lived. As I worked with and grew to know Junior, I appreciated his struggles at home, where economic and other demands did not afford Junior and his parents the luxury of emphasizing learning, reading, and dinnertime discussions focused on schoolwork and current events. In many ways, Junior taught me more than I taught him. Junior helped me realize that there are many different kinds of people from many different backgrounds in my community, which I had not fully realized, coming from an upper-class neighborhood, interacting with very similar people my whole life. As I worked to gain Junior’s trust and understand his challenges, and as I grew to understand the impact of socio-economic disparity, I became inspired by Junior’s innate intelligence and