Inequality is Dead.
*For the White Male Student Whose Parents Make More Than $200,000 a Year

There’s so much discussion today about educational flaws and the cemeteries of failed reform programs. With so many issues and so many failures, it may seem a massive feat to undertake change. In the case of one recent educational and social dilemma however, one of the most powerful steps toward change can be very small.

In a country where we have tried so hard to stamp out inequality, it still holds its grip on our population. People are still (intentionally or unintentionally) persecuted and even separated into ghettos due to a continuously widening income gap. One realm unliberated of inequality is education. One of the most visible signs of inequality can be seen in our youth. While some work jobs after school to support their families and some don’t even have a home, others are comfortable, driving new sports cars at 16 and living in mansions. I specifically have a personal, first-hand connection to a certain form of this inequality. I grew up in Long Beach, California, a suburb of LA known for its beaches and spectacular atmosphere. Its school system is getting steadily better, but still has gaps in distribution of funds and contains a massive range of students from very poor to relatively rich. I attended school in a generally middle class area until eighth grade and saw some isolated cases of poverty, but mainly a simple indifference towards education that plagued a large percentage of students. Recognizing this (and possibly over-accentuating some other concerns,) my parents decided to transfer me to the district my mother teaches at for high school. Palos Verdes is an isolated hill not necessarily recognized by and not necessarily recognizing the communities that surround it. A generally wealthy community, it was a shock to see how amazingly different it was from my home district when I began attending. The students, mainly from affluent families of working parents, took school so seriously, interweaving every aspect of their lives around education.

This change-of-pace never settled completely into my system and instead of assimilating fully, I found myself moving more towards the sideline. This isolation of sorts however, has allowed me to look at the social separation between the place I call home, still live, and keep the majority of my friends, and the place I go to school. It seems like every day now that my old friends (who live walking-distance near my house) come by to see if I want to “hang out”. I have not fully indulged myself in these activities for months now however, preoccupied with homework, studying, projects, extracurricular activities, etc., floating with average grades and having seemingly planned out a future for myself. My peers in Palos Verdes work day and night, their parents placing them in after school SAT tutoring courses years prior to any testing, at least two sports (of course), piano lessons, and “volunteer” programs, all while lugging around a nine hundred page prep book and a 5-point-0 GPA. Looking back at my old school friends, staying out late and easily maintaining A’s, I can’t help but question the affluent “rigorous” education system.

I still recall the students at my old school who received free school lunches and were discreetly given simple things some of us take for granted. I now understand that school isn’t cheap. Of course there are payment-aid programs, but they could never make up for the plethora of aid already discussed, (prep books, prep courses, etc.) and the priceless “support” of the oh-so predatory “tiger mom.” Wedged between two communities, it isn’t difficult to see the inequality many look over, but I have come to look further than the two communities I have a direct connection to and see those that fair worse. On my nearly hour long drive to school, I’ve seen brawls, drug deals (large scale and otherwise,) prostitutes and armed police raids, and in the middle of it all, schools and their communities. The financial gap between places such as these and even the community where I live is daunting and this divide makes the need for reform ever increasingly dire. This financial inequality is something I strongly believe needs to not only be addressed further, but made absolute top priority.

This inequality affects students in so many ways, both physically and mentally and can reflect on motivation and performance. New data has been collected that supports an absolutely conclusive, direct correlation between social features and grades on standardized testing. According to data collected by the College Board and publicized by Washington Post editor Zachary Goldfarb, the SAT, “favor(s) rich, educated families.”  Though not exactly a surprise, looking at the data itself is startling. The data was compiled into four separate charts, focusing on family income, parental education, race, and PSAT participation. Goldfarb outlines each chart thoroughly, but the most dramatic grade gap comes from the ethnicity chart. “Asians top the test with an average score of 1,645,” says Goldfarb, “while African-Americans record the lowest score with an average of 1,278.” All other ethnicities are represented in the chart in between the two juxtaposing ethnicities, with white in close second and the Hispanic cultures in second to last. These results can be viewed many ways, as the data is influenced by many factors, but the results are undeniably startling.

One must ask, “Why is there such a massive gap?” One of the answers corresponds directly to the College Board’s data. According to the US Census Bureau, the average household income for Asians is $67,065, while the average income for black households is $34,598.  This displays that on average, Blacks make about half as much as Asians. If we use these pieces of data, we can see the correlation growing more and more relevant, more and more extreme. The connection can be made even more dramatic when one looks at scores based on the College Board chart showing average general household income. According to Goldfarb, “Families earning more than $200,000 a year average a combined score of 1,714, while students from families earning under $20,000 a year average a combined score of 1,326. All the income points in between correlate directly with the data and show a steady, constant rise in score as income rises.

The inequality present in our school system, no matter how dire, cannot be tackled at once by one action. Reform programs come and go, but are often expensive failures. This is why we must take every chance possible, no matter how small to reform. One proposed small, nearly free solution that has been put in place by many schools and communities is a prep book collection. In an averaging of about 212 prep books ranging in price from $13 to $45, I found the average prep book price to be about $24. Not a massive expense for most people, but put on the shoulders of an already strained family, it can be a burden. Making educational resources such as prep books as accessible as possible can boost students’ confidence and improve their scores. Programs such as “DoSomething.org” incentivize students to collect and donate school materials and prep books.  According to the organization’s page, “Increased access to test prep materials can help increase a student's feeling of preparedness and her overall score on standardized tests.”  It is simple programs such as these that truly help individual students grow and gain new opportunities, and we should not simply focus on large overhaul-style reform programs.

This specific inequality, this specific injustice surely is not isolated, but spread throughout the country and the world. It may be considered by some to be an expense for the success of more fortunate children or even a balance, keeping some on the bottom and some on top. Some may even claim that it is irrelevant, because every student can break down social and economic barriers if they try hard enough. The homeless boy who became a neuro-surgeon. The formerly trafficked girl who rose up to own her own company. These stories are common place, but do not and cannot represent the majority. We must put far more emphasis on this divide and continue to find new ways to break down barriers and give those with very little opportunity the opportunities they need and the opportunities they deserve.