When we hear the words, “public education,” most people assume that students across the country receive the same or almost the same quality education. And certainly, students living within the same state have access to equal resources. Few people see those discrepancies firsthand when news stories report on the inequities. Therefore, they cannot truly comprehend the horrifying reality that many districts face. 

Kris, the mother of five special needs children, agreed to share the unique educational journey that her family traveled.

Kris lived with her family in a high-income suburb outside Richmond, Virginia. Although they weren’t in the same tax bracket as their neighbors, they had been able to find a rundown ranch house across the street from her parents. Because of the condition, the rent was reasonable, and she had access to the family support she needed with five children under five.

Before long, her oldest started kindergarten at the picturesque elementary school less than a mile from her house. She joined the PTA, where the meetings had standing room only, packed with wealthy suburban couples dressed in their Brooks Brothers suits, Louboutin heels, and Prada bags. The PTA didn’t do anything as gauche as selling candy or Christmas cards. Instead, they sent home a discreet envelope asking parents to check the donation they would like to make for the year. Her family could barely afford to buy groceries and pay for electricity from the same paycheck, much less donate one to five thousand dollars to the public school.

All the students in the district were given laptops to use for the school year. The PTA gave the students storybooks several times throughout the year to encourage reading. And each classroom was stocked with supplies. 

When two of her children were diagnosed on the autistic spectrum, the district had a flagship autism program. She watched her non-verbal three-year-old gain his voice and learn skills that the doctors said he would probably never master in the two years he was in the program.

However, this ideal situation was not to last. The landlord realized he could make much more money by flipping the house. So, their family had to move. The place they were in was a needle in a haystack find. There was no way that they could continue to live in the upper-class community. They searched high and low, but with their limited time and budget, they found themselves moving to inner city Richmond, ten miles away from where they had lived.

Moving ten miles might as well have been moving to a different world entirely. There were the expected differences between living in a suburb and a city. McMansions, Prada handbags, and nannies gave way to once beautiful old houses now in ruin, plastic Walmart bags blowing in the wind, and overworked, exhausted single moms. But the most significant change was the schools.

When she stepped into the rundown, 100-year-old building, she knew that things, as she had known them were going to change. The students did not receive laptops. In fact, their school had no library or library books. They could not afford that. There was no playground for the kids to play on at recess. And forget about classrooms stocked with supplies, her child’s teacher didn’t even have a math curriculum to teach from when school started. They had to create their own. 

Once again, she joined the school PTA. The first meeting had a dozen or so parents, still dressed in their work uniforms, exhaustion and concern replacing the high-end suits and designer purses. 

The teachers and administrators at the inner-city school were some of the most dedicated, extraordinary people she had ever met. They continued to fight against impossible odds to educate the children placed in their care. They provided food for kids who had no food, supplies for their classroom and students out of their paycheck, and even donated food to families in need for Thanksgiving.

But no matter how dedicated and resourceful they were, there was no way to compensate for the massive discrepancy in the resources provided for students that lived ten short miles from each other. 

People rarely go from one side of the spectrum to the other in one step the way her family did. It gave them a unique perspective into the vast chasm between the education provided for the haves and the have-nots in America today.

You may read this story and think, “This is just an extreme example. Things can’t be that bad in my state.” In 2015, the Federal Department of Education reported in the decade between the 2001/02 and 2011/12 school years, the gap in funding between high and low-income districts grew by 44 percent. This translates into $1500 more spent per student in the top 25 percent highest income districts compared to the 25 percent lowest income districts nationally.

These statistics contribute to what is known as the income achievement gap. The income achievement gap is the gap in educational achievement between high and low-income districts. Sean Reardon, a respected Stanford researcher and expert, has found that the academic achievement gap grew by over 40 percent between those born in the 1970s and those born in 2001.

“Why are there such significant discrepancies between students receiving public education,” you may ask. “Isn’t public education the great equalizer?” Unfortunately, nothing is further from the truth. School districts receive a large portion of their funding through property taxes. So high-end suburban communities with their McMansions and luxury stores receive much more money than working class and poor urban and rural districts. 

High-income districts keep redrawing their boundaries to ensure that they have only the wealthiest neighborhoods and areas and create strict laws that fine or even imprison parents who try to work around those imaginary lines to get their children into the school districts with more resources. These practices ensure wealthier students receive better education, giving them a significant advantage when applying to elite universities, getting scholarships, and entering high-paying professions. They then have kids who attend higher-income school districts, perpetuating the cycle of wealth.

However, students in low-income or impoverished schools lack the resources needed to achieve a high-quality, competitive education. They struggle to receive acceptance to and scholarships for the elite universities. They are more likely to go to community colleges or straight into a blue-collar or minimum wage job. Thus, the cycle of poverty continues.

This system is not imbalanced because of oversight or ignorance. No, this inequity is intentional. The districts with more money fight hard to keep the status quo, thus maintaining the resources and funds within their schools.

In 1830, Horrace Mann proposed what we now call a public school (which he called the “common” school.) Mann, a legislature from Massachusetts, suggested that all children should have access to a free education funded by the states. He argued that a common education would benefit the entire country by producing educated, moral, and productive members of society. One of the original goals of common education was to create social cohesion between the classes. Mann argued that the only way for public education to work was for upper-class students to attend the same schools as students from working class and low-income families. Otherwise, education would not be equitable.

Needless to say, not everyone was thrilled with the idea of a public education system. Many wealthier people argued that they should not have to pay to educate other people’s children. However, by the 1900s, public education was standard across the country.

The fight for equity in public education goes back to its very inception. Though often touted as the great equalizer, the truth is much different. The public education system demonstrates that equality is yet to be achieved. As it stands today, it is the American caste system on display.

Barshay, J. (2020, June 29). A decade of research on education inequality in America. The Hechinger Report. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://hechingerreport.org/a-decade-of-research-on-the-rich-poor-divide-in-education/ 

Kober, N., Stark-Retner, D., & Ferguson, M. (2020). History and Evolution of Education in the US. Washington, DC; Center on Education Policy – Georger Washington University. 

Owens, A. (2018, January 27). Income Segregation between School Districts and Inequality in Students’ Achievement. Washington, DC; American Sociolgical Association. 

Russ, S. (2020, March 26). The other achievement gap: Poverty and academic success. Child Trends. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.childtrends.org/blog/the-other-achievement-gap-poverty-and-academic-success