The Fight for Educational Equality According to The New York Times article “Good News About Educational Inequality,” research shows that it will take 60 to 110 years for all racial, economic, and poverty-stricken children to become equivalent to their far more affluent peers. The changes needed to stop this substandard progress starts with these important areas: school readiness gaps between low-income and high-income children, the quality of education that differs between rich and poor students in resources and in quality, and income inequality.
The first obstacle that needs to be overcome is the school readiness gap between low-income and high-income children. Studies show from the social scientist Ximena Portilla “Good News About Educational
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Now it is easier for poor families to find publicly funded, high quality preschools for their children. Today 29 percent of 4-year old’s are enrolled in state funded preschools, up from 14 percent in 2002, which may be the reason why poor kids’ are starting to catch up, a little to their affluent peers, but more poor children attend public schools that are far inferior to those available in affluent communities. Research from the U.S Department of Education states that “More than 40% of low-income schools do not get a fair share of state and local funds”. They also state that “Poverty does not cause academic failure, but it is a factor that profoundly influences the character of schools and a student’s performance…. in most cases, considerably less money is spent on the education of poor children.” Joe Williams from the Education Equality Project says he “believes that what happens inside schools plays a tremendous role in shaping the achievement gap that exists in this country between the haves and the have-nots.” Ways that we can improve educational equality is to invest in our children’s’ education. This investment should extend from early childhood through primary and secondary schools. Education should also not be thought of as a private investment, it is a public good that helps both