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Increasing Access to Education Hasnt Fixed Americas Inequality - The Atlantic

Education Reform and the Failure to

Fix Inequality in America
An abridged history of the misleading connection between
classroom opportunity and economic mobility

Teachers Carla Smith and Laura Johnson pose with their third-grade class at Jesse
Sherwood Elementary School in Chicago.
Jim Young / Reuters

JULIE A. MUJIC

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OCT 29, 2015

EDUCATION

AstheU.S.continuestoreckonwithawideningincomegap
betweenthewealthiestAmericansandmarginalized
communities,politiciansandadvocateshaveoftencited
educationaccessasoneofthegreatercontributorsand
potentialsolutionstotheproblem.
Improvingeducationalopportunitiestoshrinkincome
disparitiesdependsonincreasingtheresourcesavailableto
schooldistricts.Butfundingaloneisnotenoughtoequalize
accesstoaqualityeducation.Schoolsneednewand
innovativeapproachestoturnresourcesintostudentresults
thatbegetsuccessintheworldbeyondtheclassroom.Alook
backathistoricalchallengestoeducationaccess
demonstrateshowfartheU.S.hascome,andhighlightsthe
obstaclesfacingstudentstodaycomparedwiththoseofprior
PREVIOUS

generations.

NEXT

AccesstoeducationintheU.S.hasimprovedfor
demographicgroupsacrossfourimportantcategories:race,

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class,ethnicity,andgender.Butprogressonthesefrontshas
beenslowandcontentious.Historically,local,state,and
federalleadershaveinsteadusededucationasatoolto
controlminoritypopulations.
RELATED STORY
How Education Policy Went Astray

ConsidertheforcedassimilationofNativeAmerican
childrenduringthelate19thandearly20thcenturies.These
childrenweresenttoboardingschoolstoacculturatethem
intoadominantwhiteAmericansociety.Theywere
forbiddenfromspeakinginnativetonguesandwere
renamedforheroichistoricalgureslikePhilipSheridanand
UlyssesS.Grant.Meanwhile,ChineseandLatinochildren
weredeniedequalaccesstoeducationinmanypartsofthe
countryasschoolsystems,spurredonbycommunities
xenophobicfears,pushedforlawsorfoundloopholesthat
allowedthemtosegregatepublicschools.
Theseexperiencesextendedtolargerimmigrantgroupsas

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well,suchastheWWI-erapressureonGerman-American
parochialschoolsinTexas,California,theMidwest,and
majorcitiesthroughouttheNortheasttoforgotheirtiesto
Germanculture.Thisdiscriminationgrewtoinclude
forbiddingnon-EnglishinstructiontostudentsofGerman
descent,aspoliticiansandtheAmericanpublicquestioned
whetherschoolsfoundedbyethnicreligiousorderscouldbe
loyaltotheU.S.inatimeofwar.
Minorityethnicgroupspushedbackagainsttherestrictions
astheywereimposed,callingontheU.S.governmentto
addressinequalitiesineducationaccess.Progresstooktime,
accumulatinginpiecemealgainsforminorities.
Buildingonothereducation-relatedlegislationthroughout
the20thcentury,Congresstookasignicantstepforwardin
1974withthepassageoftheEqualEducational
OpportunitiesAct,whichrequiredschoolstoaccommodate
bilingualstudents,amongothermeasures.Inmoststates
today,insteadofshuttingoutnon-Englishspeaking
students,K-12schoolsanduniversitiesnowoerprograms
teachingEnglishasasecondlanguage,andhirereadingand

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languagespecialiststoworkwithstudentstogetthempast
thelanguagebarrier.
Inasense,improvedaccesstoeducationcameasaresultofa
moreinclusivedenitionofcitizenshipinthelastcentury.
AfricanAmericans,however,havebeenatthecenterofthe
mostcontentiouschallengestothatinclusivity.In1899,
Cummingv.RichmondCountyBoardofEducationbuiltupon
theimpactofPlessyv.Fergusonthreeyearspriorbyupholding
acommunitysrighttochoosenottoprovidepublic
educationforblackstudents.Parentsofblackchildrenwho
wererefusededucationbytheirlocalschoolboardswerestill
requiredtopaytaxestosupportpubliceducationfortherest
ofthedistrict,andweretoldtomovetoadistrictthatrana
segregatedschooliftheywantedtheirchildrentobe
educated.
Decadeslaterduringthecivil-rightsera,manyAmericans
realizedthataccesstoeducationwasaneasymeasuringstick
tojudgetrueprogressformarginalizedcommunities.That
awarenesswasntlimitedtoU.S.citizens.Government
leaderswereshamedintotakingactiononintegrating

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schoolsandrollingoutnewbusingpolicieswhentheSoviet
UnionmockedsegregationasevidencethattheU.S.couldnt
backupitsclaimedprinciplesoflibertyandequality.

There is still a 20-point gap in graduation

rates between African American and white
students.
Today,AfricanAmericanenrollmentatuniversitiesis
steadilyincreasing,butthereisstilla20-pointgapin
graduationratesbetweenAfricanAmericanandwhite
students.DespiteBrownv.BoardofEducation,segregationis
reemerginginK-12schools,aswhiteschoolsgetwhiterand
blackschoolsinpoor,inner-cityneighborhoodscontinueto
sueramarkedachievementgap.
Scholarsevenpointtolackofaccesstoqualitypreschool
programsasoneindicatoroflaterstruggles.Inmany
districts,blackstudentsinK-12schoolsarealsostill
suspendedatratesdisproportionatetotheirnumbers,and
college-educatedblacksexperiencedasharperdropinnet

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worthandincomethancollege-educatedwhitesinthelast
decade.
Itshouldbenotedherethatpoor,whiteschooldistrictsare
alsocuttingprogramsinthearts,physicaleducation,and
extracurricularactivitiestokeepdoorsopen,whichhas
causedconcernsaboutgraduationrates.Aswithother
countries,raceandclassaresointertwinedintheU.S.thatit
isoftendiculttodistinguishwhetherinferioreducational
opportunitiesstemexclusivelyfromonecategoryorthe
other.
Recognizingthis,thegovernmentattemptedtoaddressthe
impactofclassoneducation;then-PresidentLyndonB.
JohnsonsignedtheElementaryandSecondaryEducation
Actin1965,whichwasdesignedtoalleviateaccessto
educationissuesforlow-incomestudents,andwas
reauthorizedbyPresidentGeorgeW.Bushin2002asNo
ChildLeftBehind.YetmanyAmericansteachers,parents,
administrators,andpoliticiansalikedebatewhetheraccess
hasimprovedandwhethertheroleofclasscanbeaddressed
withoutaddressingraceaswell.

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Asschoolshavemadeprogressinclosingachievementgaps
amongracialgroups,gender-relatedinequalityhasshrunkin
theK-12classroomoverthelastseveraldecades.Infact,
educatorsandscholarshaveevengonesofarastoquestion
whetherschoolshaveleftboysbehindintheeortto
enhanceeducationforgirls:MostuniversitiesintheU.S.
todayrecordgenderratiosthattipfartowardafemale
majority.Thisisespeciallythecaseforblackwomen,who
attendcollegeinlargernumbersthanblackmenandboasta
nearly10percenthighergraduationratethantheirmale
counterparts.
Whilefemalestudentscouldobtainaneducationatseveral
publicandprivateuniversitiesbythemid-20thcentury,they
stillfounddoorsclosedtothemprofessionally.Manyof
thosedoorshavesinceopened,buteventoday,women
experienceanincomegapof21percent.Forwomen,
improvedaccesstoeducationhasnotyetmeantfreedom
fromincomeinequality.

The skyrocketing costs of higher

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education have served as a restriction on

access.
Thoughthecountryhasmovedpastexplicitpoliciestokeep
particulargroupsofcitizensfromacademicopportunity,the
skyrocketingcostsofhighereducationhaveservedastheir
ownrestrictiononaccesswhichbringsustotheissueof
student-loandebt.
Asof2013,nearly70percentofgraduatingcollegeseniors
hadstudent-loandebt,averagingaround$28,000each.
Manyuniversitieshavestruggledtokeepupwithshifting
expectationsinthelasttwodecades,duringwhichstudents
havedemandedincreasedluxuriesoncampusandskillbasedprofessionalprograms.
Desperateforacollegediploma,studentssometimesresort
topredatoryfor-protuniversities(anindustrynowunder
growingscrutiny),worseningtheirchancesofsuccess
outsideofthelecturehall.Evenforthosestudentswhotake
thetraditionalroutethroughvetteduniversities,postgraduationincomesformanypositionshaveremained

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frozenatpre-9/11rates,leavingstudentstowonderiftheir
degreeswillhelptheminthemarketplaceatall.
Thisinturnhurtsthegreatereconomy:Anxious,cashstrappedgraduatesaremorelikelytopostponetherststeps
ofadulthood,suchasbuyingacarorhouse,orgetting
married.Thisentirecrisissuggeststhatcollegehasnot
overcomeclassissuestoimproveaccesstoeducation.
Instead,Americanshavecometovalueacollegeeducation
somuch,theyarewillingtomortgagetheirfutures.Student
debthasbecomeapetissueamongpresidentialcandidates,
manyofwhommakeapointofappealingtoyounger
Americanswithasympatheticstance.Itremainstobeseen
whatimpactloweringthenancialbarrierstohigher
educationmighthaveonincomeandacademicequality.
TheU.S.hasmadeheadwayineducationalopportunities
witheachgeneration,butimprovedaccesshasthusfarnot
servedasanimmediatesalvefordeep-seatedsocietal
problems.Whileresourcesforschoolsremainscarceinthe
currenteconomicenvironment,traditionallydisadvantaged
populationscontinuetosuertheconsequences.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JULIE A. MUJIC is an assistant professor of history at Sacred Heart
University. She is the author of the forthcoming book Why They Stayed: The
Mind of Northern Men in the Civil War Midwest.

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