Educational Inequality Amongst Students of Color in the Five Boroughs

It was towards the end of sixth grade that I had a very clear realization. I was not learning anything in school. School was not challenging me. I did not see the point of going. I was dissatisfied with my education. As a 12 year old girl, I thought this was a very profound realization to stumble across. As I sat down and thought, I could think of several flaws in the education I was receiving. It took me sometime to realize that the root of the problem was the amount of funding the school was receiving. At the time, I did not know all the factors that contributed to the funding of public schools, but I was aware that it was not the fault of my school. 

Even at that time, I knew the school was underfunded. There were many different extracurricular activities that I wanted to partake in, but most, if not all of them were expensive. It cost about 200 dollars to join the school orchestra, and that was just to play the flute. The cheapest instrument. To join cross country, you had to pay 100 dollars. I knew that if I asked my parents for the money that they would be more than willing to give it to me, but it wasn’t the money I was worried about. I was worried about the other kids who would ask their parents for the same money and be denied. It wasn’t fair. I felt as if I had to limit myself. I did not get to explore all of the interests I had at the time. Academically, this school was better than a lot of the schools in the Bronx, but there were some clear deficits in the schools funding and it reflected in some aspects of the curriculum. In our science classes, on the syllabus there would be a trip scheduled for the New York Botanical Garden or the New York Aquarium, but when the time came around for the trip, it would always be cancelled. When the students asked why the trip was cancelled, the answer was usually the same, the school’s budget was not large enough that year or any school trips. That same year, the senior trip for the seniors was going to be cancelled unless they were able to raise enough money on their own to pay for the trip. The seniors protested, but to no avail. What good would be to use the remaining money in the budget for the senior trip when the textbooks were old and falling apart? The projector that was usually used to display the teaching material only worked when it really wanted to. The list could go on. The only way I could see the change that I wanted to see would only occur if I changed schools. I loved my friends and I loved my neighbourhood, but I knew something had to change. I felt like I deserved a better education. And I knew the only way that could happen is that I would have to step out of my comfort zone.

There are thousands of students of color across the five boroughs who are experiencing the same problems with their education as I did. Factors such as drastic underfunding can cause educational disparities amongst white students and students of color. This also causes educational inequality. Educational inequality is defined as “the unequal distribution of academic resources, including but not limited to; school funding, qualified and experienced teachers, books, and technologies to socially excluded communities”. There are a number of factors that can make a student more disadvantaged than another. Government policies help aid in the disparity in academics in children in New York City. The amount of wealth the family has, the ethnicity of the child, the neighbourhood school is in, and the resources that the school is afforded all can affect the quality of the education of the child. 

Concepts such as gentrification and redlining can also help attribute to examples. In the article titled, “The Gentrification of Harlem?”, written by Richard Schaffer and Neil Smith, gentrification is defined as the “movement of middle class families into urban areas causing property values to increase and having [the] secondary effect of driving out poorer families”. Harlem is one of the places in New York City that has been hit hard by gentrification. Housing prices have increased dramatically over the past ten years, which have caused the migration of minorities, specifically, black people out of the neighborhood. When these families are displaced, they usually end up in a lower income neighborhood, with lower performing schools. The middle and upper class families, usually white, send their children to well performing schools. This leaves the lower class families with no choice. For the displaced students that attend public schools, because public schools are zoned, they can no longer attend or even apply to those schools. Zoning means the student is restricted to attending the school that is closest to their home, and usually the zip code is used. Zoned schools are most commonly used for elementary schools and middle schools, some high schools are also zoned. This a major negative effect of gentrification. Gentrification is unfair because lower income families cannot reap the benefits of gentrification, and students of color might have commute longer distances to get the same education as the upper or middle class white students. Many students of color that attend top or “elite” schools in Manhattan usually commute from outer boroughs such as the Bronx or Brooklyn, in an effort to get an education that can compare to that of their white peers. 

 On a good day, the commute to my new school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan would take about an hour and 30 minutes. Some of my new classmates lived about 15 minutes away from school. They usually got more sleep than me. But I was aware that losing sleep was a sacrifice that I would have to make. My sacrifice is something I saw reflected in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The protagonist of the novel, Arnold Spirit, is attending is attending his local school on the reservation, and then has a realization that the only way to “escape” the reservation is to transfer to Reardan. “ ‘I want to go to Reardan,’ I said. Reardan is the rich, white farm town that sits in the wheat fields exactly twenty two miles away from the rez. And it’s a hick town, I suppose, filled with farmers and rednecks and racist cops who stop every Indian that drives through” (pg 46). Arnold lives in a low income town, and as can be predicted the town school was not of good quality. Arnold knows the value of a good education, and that leads him to make the 22 mile hike to Reardan daily. Arnold was able to evaluate his surroundings and come to a realization similar to the one I had at about his age. He realized the value of a quality education in modern day America. He saw that because his parents did not pursue a higher education, his father was unemployed and his mother worked a menial job, and could not fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher. The educational inequality allowed for his family to be stuck in a cycle of poverty that he wanted to escape.

Poverty is a key and defining factor in the academic success of a child. The higher the socioeconomic status of the parents, the higher the chance that the child will receive a favorable education. The lower the economic status, the less the chance that the parents can secure a stable education for their child.  In lower income households, it is proven that parents spend less child talking to their child, which in turn does not help them build their vocabulary. They can also afford less books. Reading books can improve literacy and writing skills. Also, when a child is exposed to more books, they are able to read books that are more challenging, and can increase English standardized test scores. Literacy is stressed in higher income households, as the importance of literacy is stressed. They have access to more books; they can challenge their reading skills at home, all while being in an environment that encourages reading. Children in households with lower socioeconomic status can be placed in more stressful environments causing them to not focus on their schoolwork. A lack of money can cause a tense and hostile environment. An example of this can be the parents arguing over paying of the bills, emphasizing that momentary struggles can be a key factor in the decline of academic success of a child. And if the child is not getting the support to do well at school or at home, how can they be expected to excel? In addition, with the combination of an underfunded school, how can that child be expected to excel in life given the circumstances they are placed under?  Ultimately, the two defining subjects that contribute to socioeconomic status affecting the education of a child: environment and resources. 

Students of color are not allocated the resources they need to succeed in school, and that can negatively impact their life. The risks for unemployment increase up to four times for lower educated individuals in America. Even these people become employed they are always at a higher risk of losing their jobs to people that are more educated. Today’s workplace market is getting more and more competitive, as more people are pursuing higher degrees such as a bachelors or masters. Employment status and income are known to be directly linked to the educational status on an individual. In New York City, the cycle of poverty usually occurs within families that identify as minorities. A lack of money can cause several problems including a lack of adequate medicare. Minorities are usually faced with the challenge of accessing good healthcare. When this healthcare is not required in a timely fashion, or at all, this can lead to a decline in physical and mental health. Many people feel as if there is nothing they can do about this. In the article On Suffering and Structural Violence: A View from Below, written by Paul Farmer, it states: “Everyone knows that suffering exists…Most would also agree that insidious assaults on dignity such as institutionalized racism and sexism, also cause great and unjust injury”(261). This aforementioned educational disadvantage eventually affects all aspects of the average person of color’s life. Some individuals in America  believe that there is no educational gap in America. The educational gap in regards to minority students is so ingrained, and it is because of institutionalized constructs that allow for the educational gap to continue.

There is still a long way to go in order for the educational disparity between students of color and white students to decrease. My transition to the Trevor Day School showed me the drastic difference between public schools, especially in inner boroughs, compared to the elite private schools in New York City. Trevor was up to date on the newest technology and they even gave me my own personal laptop. The class sizes were much smaller, allowing for a more personalized educational experience.  I suddenly felt aware that I was actually learning. I could join any club I wanted without having to pay a fee to join. I felt more privileged than the other kids at the school I had left, but still felt so much less privileged compared to other kids at Trevor. It took me until now to accept that I, along with the other students of color in America, would always be disadvantaged educationally.

Works Cited

1. Semuels, Alana. “Good School, Rich School; Bad School, Poor School.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 25 Aug. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/property-taxes-and-unequal-schools/497333/.
2. Pineda, Marilyn, “The Effects of Gentrification: Inhabitants, Education, and Displacement” (2017). Honors College Theses. 28. http://scholarworks.umb.edu/honors_theses/28
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8. Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Cornelsen, 2011.

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