Looking Deeply at a Social Problem
education (United States)
When We See More Than We Were Taught To See
By Anonymous
The school district wanted to do everything in their power to close our school. The test scores meant more to them than anything else we were achieving as individuals and as a school. I was in second grade when we marched from the school to the Santa Barbara School District’s office. This was a peaceful march, and just like we had learned that Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King Jr. protested peacefully on a grand scale, we got to apply these practices on a much smaller scale.
Toward Equality in Education
By Emily Huang
At those SAT prep classes, the students came from all different types of high schools, public or charter. Everyone had very different high school experiences even though our high schools were not even that far apart in terms of distance. One of my classmate’s high schools had sports such as water polo, archery, and even golf. I was quite surprised to hear that because our high school did not even have these facilities to support these sports.
The Inequality of High Stakes Testing
By Anonymous
In our number-heavy society we live in, it’s hard to grasp how our minds are affected by the small inequalities we are trained to live and bear with. Psychological studies have barely begun to focus on nonWEIRD - Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic - populations and uncover how people of color potentially view the world in a different perspective. Yet it is an unwavering fact that black people have been systemically harmed and blocked from the same path to success that white people are allowed to take for granted.
Achieving Our Full Potential
By Anonymous
People from surrounding towns, which are predominantly white, would assume that minorities weren’t smart enough to succeed academically or in life. This is something that is not only happening in my community, but in communities all over the United States. Minorities, especially Hispanic and Black individuals, are viewed as academically inferior to their white and Asian counterparts.
I Want What You Want
By K.
I watched the interview with James Baldwin... He was explaining a little bit about how it is being a black man/person in America, the things that you have to deal with on top of the things issues that life throws at you. He then continues to go into the question, “what does a negro want?”, and he continues, “I want exactly what you want. And you know what you want. I want to be left alone. I don’t want any of the things that people accuse negroes of wanting and I don't hate you. I simply want to be able to raise my children in peace… I don't want to be defined by you…” (Baldwin). This was a very powerful statement for someone like me. I felt I could definitely relate to that. I did not want anything more than my peers, I did not want a hand out. I just wanted to be respected, go to school to get my degree, and create a better future for my family and I.
The Achievement Ideology
By Anonymous
The achievement ideology suggests that success is earned through hard work. By assimilating to these ideologies, everyone should be able to succeed, right? However, this achievement ideology does not work for everyone. No one ever wants to fail; we all crave success, but we are given life circumstances that often lead minorities to a downhill spiral.
Confronting Inequities in Special Education
By Carolina Rosa
My family’s history with special education began around 2009, when my then three-year-old brother was first diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)… For the past nine years, my family has engaged with several public schools, getting to know others who also had to navigate this system. In high school, I became a volunteer at a therapy center for people with special needs, where I met others who had a similar experience with public special education, either as students, caretakers, or educators. From our own experience and by interacting with others, I began to see that while some schools provide proper and consistent assistance, others lack resources to maintain the necessary educational programs.
Challenging Racial Wedges
By Anonymous
The term idealizes Asians as an ideal group of minorities that prevailed and put an expectation on us to be smart and hardworking. In high school, this meant that I was always expected to have the highest grades, and be the one that would know the answer to all the questions. In reality this was not the case, and oftentimes I could see a hint of frustration on my teachers’ faces when I’d get an answer wrong in class. This type of behavior put additional stress on me to go above and beyond just learning the material.
The Inequitability of the American Education System
By Brandon Mazur
There are several layers to this inequitable access, ranging from the underfunding of certain schools (which contributes to the existence of good and bad schools) to the biased placement of students in special academic programs. It is also important to understand the historical contexts that that have led to the development of these flaws. In understanding both the issues in our education system and the historical contexts in which they arise in, we can begin to suggest solutions that will move our education system in a more equitable direction.
Separate and Unequal Schools
By Reneejoy Paran
Where I live in a suburban city called Murrieta where new houses and stores are continuing to be built making it a thriving city. Nothing looks worn down or used. There are even nearby wineries that attract people to come to visit and enjoy themselves. In contrast, my cousin lives in a low-income community in downtown San Diego. The buildings around her look old and ruined. Many of their streets have so many cracks and potholes with roaming homeless people.
The Violence of Assimilationist School Policy
By Anonymous
Assimilation in schools isn't actually gone; it's just subtly hidden behind these school policies. In the past, students were being sent to “Americanization school” to ensure that they assimilate and pick up on what it means to be American. Today, students are not allowed to learn of other cultures and express themselves through their own culture, all in order to keep American ideology alive. This is assimilation, and it's happening now.
Minding the Gates
By Kevin Gallegos Mendez
Being in the GATE program gave me access into this world of privilege; classes were challenging yet engaging, campus security knew of you, they didn’t hassle you much about being out without a pass or being late to class, you didn’t have drug searching dogs come into your classroom. My councilors liked me at one point. They knew of me and my parents, but their interest in me seemed to fade after I was removed from the GATE program.
Is it Worth it to be an Art Student?
By Jason Wang
Two years into my studies, and over $10,000 in student loan debt, I asked myself if it was worth it to put myself in so much debt to get a degree that was unlikely to be profitable. The reality was that I didn’t think my net gain from attending art school and eventually graduating with an Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts would outweigh the opportunity cost from debt I was putting myself in.
The Effects of Neoliberalism on Higher Education
By Jessica Voce
As a first-generation college student, both of my parents continuously encouraged me to pursue higher education so I could avoid physical, financial, and emotional suffering that occurs in today’s workforce. Many of us were fed a similar narrative to succeed from our families, schools, and society to the point of internalizing ideologies without a second thought. We are shown a highly convergent path of education that emphasizes entrepreneurial success and corporate business models, leaving no room for our passions and creativity.
Who Suffers in an Imperfect Education System?
By Sierra Rose
The final decision on the case was made in 2018. The court favored Connecticut’s “imperfect education system,” not disagreeing with the fact that the system is imperfect, but determining that it was not the courts job “to create educational policy” (CCJED v Rell). The justification for this decision reveals what seems to be standing in the way of any progress: responsibility.
Class and Race Inequality in Standardized Testing
By Anonymous
Despite the raw evidence to illustrate the consequences of racial and class disparities, proponents of the SAT, argue that “bias in SAT performance due to increased tutoring and resources is negligible” (Au). Such thinking fails to show an understanding of how groups like African-Americans and Latinos have historically been sectioned off to live in ghettos, where they would continually have access to lower quality education as a result of living in impoverished communities their entire lives.
Breaking the Stigma of Community College
By Tiffany Joa
I still remember when I would run into old classmates who were genuinely surprised to see me at my community college. One of them even remarked to me that she thought I was attending UC Berkeley and asked if I was visiting home for the weekend. These remarks used to sting as I was constantly reminded of my failure, but I came to be proud of being a community college student.
The Structural Violence Experienced by ESL Students
By Anonymous
You feel like no one takes you seriously or that your ideas are worthless. Like if you were just taking up space and using a seat that could be taken by other smarter and English speaker student. At times you would wish to never have left your country. You may find yourself blaming your parents and be angry at everyone all day long. Every day of school was unexpected, there were good and bad days. One of the struggles I faced was the fact that my first year of school my counselor didn’t speak Spanish. Another struggle was that there was this big presentation for career paths, and ESL students did not get the memo, basically the school “forgot” to invite us. We found out about it because one of my teachers talked to us about it. Or what about segregation when important test needed to be taken, ESL classes would be placed in a different room whereas regular students would be place all together in the auditorium, and it wasn’t just for this kind of activities, it was for everything. The structural violence of the system was creating the feeling of impostor syndrome in students.
What Society Loses When Market Values Rule Education
By Johnny Carniello
The issues of the education system, even if they don’t affect you personally, indirectly impact our entire society. Education shapes the present and future generations that will soon run all facets of the nation. If this generation goes through the education system that is bogged down by neoliberalist values, the problems of increased costs, decreased diversity, and emphasis on high market value, then the whole population will suffer.