The Price of Education

Growing up in a small southern town, I remember at times resources being low at my public elementary school.  It could be seen subtly, like sharing whiteboards with my peers because there were not enough to go around, or drastically, like opening textbooks that had been in circulation since 2000. While I was fortunate enough to be labeled as “gifted” and had extra resources provided to me, most of the students around me did not. Not because they were not intelligent enough to have extra dollars spent on them, but simply because there was not enough to go around. Money was always the problem, but then again it was also always the solution. This phenomenon is not privy to a small town in the US, but can be seen globally too, with students all the way in Australia struggling because of economic factors they have no control over. Students who do not have the same opportunities because of income level are often left behind and forgotten.

Unfortunately, income does play a factor in the level of education parents are able to provide for their children. In the US, higher ranked school districts are typically located in affluent neighborhoods, leaving little opportunity for median or low-income students to receive the same instruction. Parents who did not have the opportunity to pursue higher education for themselves often earn less, and therefore are unable to provide better opportunities for their children. In Australia, this is not different, with rich and poor students showing a learning gap “equivalent of five years of learning by year 9”. If this is not enough, parents may also not be able to provide their children with additional help for classwork or even behavioral health that may be available via the education system if their income does not allow it. Author Caitlin Cassidy described how “25% of students whose parents were not in paid work needed additional support” but, “less than 5% of students of highly educated parents…need additional learning support”.

Parents are not the only ones to blame, however. Median and low-income students are also being left behind by the schools themselves. In the Australian example, “98% of schools [have] yet to meet the … minimum standard agreed to by governments to provide a baseline education to students”. This means, their government is funneling most funds to private schools and leaving little to offer to the public education system. This system is almost reminiscent to one in the US, where money is also funneled to private schools, but typically by politicians who need some sort of influence over them. If parents are limited by their own education levels and income, and the school system is almost literally leaving students and instructors to fend for themselves, everyone is losing.

Without the proper support, students can be lost in the education system, and not have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Unfortunately, the reality is that “proper support” comes in the form of funding for schools and education programs. While parents and instructors carry some responsibility for their students, they cannot advance further without help from the government. Students should not be forced to deal with the burden of differing income levels they did not choose to be a part of.