Poverty and Sudent School Performance

Does poverty play a role in poorly educated children?

There always seems to be a great deal of finger pointing when it comes to the issue of minority children in poverty areas, inner cities,etc. falling behind their more affluent peers  in school performance. Popular educators and authors like Jonathan Kozol and E.D. Hirsch have often made reference to this schism.

The scenarios usually include parents who don’t have the time or resources to buy books and computers for their children or to expose them to institutions like museums and concerts.

However, there are those who believe that all fingers should not be pointed at socio-economic issues. The quality of teaching taking place is also at issue. In some districts, the newest (least experienced) are assigned to the schools with the worst problems- poor attendance, violence, and low test scores. A number of teachers have given up on true teaching and have resorted to “baby sitting” rather than dealing with unruly and unmotivated students.

In many states, starting with this coming school year, teachers will be assessed on their the   performance of the students on the state assessment tests. Pay raises, tenure, and even the job itself will depend on how the student progress during the year.

Throwing money at the problem has not proven to make a difference. Neither has encouraging teachers to earn advanced degrees and certificates had an impact on student success.

There is no one solution to the problem of an under-educated population. As you begin to prepare for the next school year,  we urge you to make a concerted effort to make a difference in the lives of your students. Reach out to those who need extra help. On the political front, try to keep education on the front burner of the upcoming Presidential election campaign. We cannot afford our children to fall further behind, not even for one day more!

The Government's Role in Education

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States was a strong proponent of making sure America became an educated country. Since democracy is advanced civics, it was important that the citizens of the new nation were enlightened individuals.  Yet any reference to the importance or method of education is conspicuously absent from the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment specifically states that, anything not the domain of the federal government falls under the jurisdiction of the individual states. Thus we have 50(51 including DC) state departments of education each with statewide curriculum requirements, teacher certification standards and high school graduation requirements. This also means that locally elected school boards play a critical role as to what goes on in America’s public schools.

At the federal level, the increasing role of government in education goes back to the 1950s. The National Defense Education Act was a knee jerk reaction to the Soviet launch of Sputnik, the first satellite in space. America realized that it was far behind in the “Space Race” and therefore appropriated funds to encourage college students to pursue careers in science and math.

President Lyndon Johnson was responsible for passing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). President Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education and the cabinet level position of Secretary of Education that went with it. President George W. Bush was responsible for the broad reaching and controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and President Obama enacted the Race to the Top Program.

While there has been public resentment for these intrusions into education, it has not stopped interest groups from focusing on single issues when it comes to education in this country. These issues have included:

School Prayer

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in schools

Sex Education

Charter Schools

Inoculations

Textbook selections

More recently the issues have included teacher tenure, performance evaluations, and collective bargaining issues.

In short, education has become politicized with the adults doing battle without really addressing the needs of America’s children.  It is about four months until a very important Presidential election. It will remain to be seen whether education becomes a campaign issue. At the local level it already has, since a decline in property values has led to a decline in tax revenues used to fund public schools. As educators