EDUCATION Laura Solano Sociology 1

HOW DID EDUCATION EMERGE IN USA?  Education was a private practice in private institutions or through home schooling prior to the late 1800s. Timeline of Education:  Horace Mann worked to create a statewide system of professional teachers in Massachusetts  Massachusetts passes first mandatory attendance law  John D. Rockefeller created the general education board.  Every state requires students to complete elementary school

EARLY EDUCATION IN AMERICA  Academic Curriculum  Early curriculum did not focus on modern day academics (math, English, science), but family, and religion.  Girls were only taught how to read, not write.  Racial Conflicts in American Education  In the 1960s, America had a racially segregated school system.  Despite the 1954 Brown vs. Board Supreme Court ruling.  In 1970, segregated schooling in the US was eliminated.

1954 BROWN VS BOARD  What was the Brown vs. Board case?  Was one of the most important supreme court cases in the United States.  Declared that the separation in public schools for white and black students is unconstitutional.  How did the case emerge?  Brown vs. Board consisted as 4 individuals cases, grouped together.  Problem in the cases:  African American minors were denied admittance to certain public schools due to the laws allowing segregated of race in public education.

MODERN DAY – MAJOR PARTICIPANTS IN EDUCATION?  Every since 1918, every state required students to complete elementary school.  Now, education is required for grades -12 in American public schools.  Thus, all minors living in the United States participate in education.  From low income to high income students, everyone participates in education.  “Equal access of education”

HOW DOES SOCIETY PERCEIVE EDUCATION?  “Equal access of education” – Is it truly equal after all?  New problem:  Inequality and unequal access to education.  Inequalities in education access all comes down to income!  The wealthy have better access to education than the poor.  Society sees equal access as a problem!

STUDENTS SEE UNEQUAL ACCESS AS A PROBLEM:  From “Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools” by Jonathan Kozol:  Two schools were compared to each other:  East St. Louis High School  Low income community  No water supply in the science laboratories.  Short hand of staff  Outdated physics and chemistry labs  Mostly African American students  Private school in Rye, New York  Higher class community  $400,000 auditorium renovation  White and Asian students  Students in East St. Louis asks, “Are we citizens of East St. Louis or America?”  Wake up call, America! Students in low income communities feel denied of equal access to education.

HAS EDUCATION CHANGED OVER TIME?  From segregated schools in the 1960’s, to unequal access of education in low income communities.  Problem then: segregation  Problem now: unequal access  The change is occurring gradually, but disparities are still present in education.  Reported by the U.S Department of Education:  Out of 7,000 school districts, 3,000 do not offer Algebra II, and more than 7,300 high schools do not offer calculus classes.  No equal access to these classes, that students need to be successful.

WHAT HAS CAUSED EDUCATION ACCESS THIS TO CHANGE?  Although the change is extremely gradual, change began occurring decades ago.  The Equal Educational Opportunities Act, 1974:  A federal law that prohibits discrimination against students, and faculty, including racial segregation.  Goal is to have equal participation of education with students in America.  What has not changed?  Although racial segregation is eliminated, unequal access to education is still present.  Unequal access is also seen with undocumented students.  Gradual change is coming with the DREAM Act.

WHAT WOULD I DO TO IMPROVE EDUCATION ACCESS IN AMERICA?  Questions I ask myself?  Why do the low income communities have less resources than the wealthier?  How I would address this current issue?  Government funding is KEY  Taxes paid by the wealthy, will be EQUALLY spread over low income schools, to high income schools.  Equal funding in schools, will allow students to have equal access, meaning equal opportunities for all.  Question for society/professor:  Why is this hard to overcome? Why can’t education be equally spread between the wealthy and the poor communities?

DOES EDUCATION WORK BETTER FOR SOME MEMBERS OF SOCIETY AS OPPOSED TO OTHERS?  As explained before, the wealthy clearly benefit much more than the poor.  The wealthy has more funding, from the government AND donations from wealthy families.  The lower income communities face less resources, due to lack of funding.  Personal experience:  Low income charter high school in my neighborhood:  Lack of staff  AP Calculus class, does not have a formal classroom setting.

FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE  Functionalists focus on the order that is in society, in which would focus on social stability.  The problem with functionalist is that they neglect the negative consequences of social order.  Functionalist do not believe in taking action in changing the social environment, even if the outcome benefits society!  In other words, functionalist would not care about the inequality in education, and they wouldn’t care about making a change in order to better education.

CONFLICT THEORY PERSPECTIVE  The reasoning conflict theory, is that problems rise when resources are unevenly distributed between groups in society.  Thus, conflict theory then leads to changes in society.  Conflict theory originated from Karl Marx, and mentioned that there was conflict due to the unequal distributed resources among the wealthy and the poor.  Thus, the unequal education access present now, would be alarming for people who follow conflict theory like Marx.  It is seen that socio-economic factors influence the unequal access to education in our society – further leading to influence individuals who follow conflict theory to step up, and take a stand, and to fight for equal access to education.

SOURCES 1.Walia, Arjun. "The Origin Of Education And Mandatory Schooling." CollectiveEvolution RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr Frederick T. Gates, “The Country School of Tomorrow,” Occasional Papers, no.1 (New York: General Education Board, 1913), p. 6.Frederick T. Gates, “The Country School of Tomorrow,” Occasional Papers, no.1 (New York: General Education Board, 1913), p "EDC." Codes: Code Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr FIORIELLO, PATRICIA, Dr. "The Educational System in America: Modern Day Problems." N.p., n.d. Web.. 5.By, and Antonella Corsi-Bunke. GUIDE TO THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 6.School desegregation: An evaluation of predictions made in Brown v. Board of Education.. Stephan, Walter G. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 85(2), Mar 1978, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools, by Jonathan Kozol, "Types Of Educational Opportunities Discrimination." U.S. Department of Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr Martin Carnoy (1983) Education, Democracy, and Social Conflict. Harvard Educational Review: December 1983, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp