The Economic Segregation Between Schools

In this world, the only form of segregation known to us is racial and gender segregation. Up until the Civil rights' act of 1964, there had thought to be an end to segregation. However, history repeats itself and now another form of segregation has awoken—economic segregation. Horace Mann states in his policy document that, “According to the European theory, men is divided into classes”(Mann 271). Mann evinces that men need to be separated into classes,, however they should all have equal opportunities. Economic segregation is the degree in which people in different social classes live among others, therefore this degree creates a negative impact on education throughout these socioeconomic developments, making a decrease in students enrolled in public schools and an increase in private schools in which families will not be able to afford (www.thesocietypages.org). Over the years urbanization has taken over the world, however this urbanization is a form of gentrification. Gentrification is taking a lower socioeconomic area and build it up. This drives up rent and is portrayed negatively, suggesting the displacement of the poor who tend to have been there first. This then goes into effect when it comes to education, these areas being gentrified will drive in wealthy people. These elite people will want to send their students to a good school but will want to build up an elite school among the poverty drivin area. As seen in Class Divide investors open Avenues, a private school in which tuition is about 40,000 dollars a year and is located 115 steps away from the Elliot Houses - a housing project in which a family of fours income is only about 21,000 annually (Class Divide). Therefore widening the gap in the social class pyramid. Economic segregation is a negative effect on education because it will create unfair advantages for the low class students.

Economic segregation does widen the gap in educational achievement between high-and low income students (Russellsage.org). When high income households increasingly isolate themselves in gentrified neighborhoods, they experience an increase in educational accomplishment that is somewhat equal to the fall in accomplishment that low-income students experience as economically stable peers leave. Furthermore, communities that have economic segregation will have racial segregation creating unequal rights and won’t get the same fair education. During the mid 1950’s civil rights movement laws ensured that Black Americans have the same rights to public schools as white Americans. Hannah-Jones underscores how economic segregation began to flourish in communities, “but after federal housing policies helped white americans buy their own homes in the suburbs, black americans, who could not get government-subsidized mortgages, languished in public housing”(Hannah-Jones 261). Overall this reveals that the government is overly racist and are encouraging economic segregation. This can be shown through Betsey DeVos, Secretary of Education, she grew up in a well to do home and as she grew up she went to a private school. She highly supports private and charter schools but the problem with these schools is that they are only for children in well to do homes who can afford these school. Although charter schools are openly public the only way to get in is by lottery. However if this school isn’t well funded and standardized testing is bad then the schools get shut down and ultimately students and families have nowhere else to go. Some parents want to separate their students. This then leads to racial segregation because a community will have both racial and economic segregation. “But as Black Americans became part of the public, White Americans began to pull away” (Hannah-Jones). All of this can create a negative impact on education because growing up in disadvantaged communities and attending schools with disadvantaged peers has negative impacts on children’s future, educational and economic outcomes.

The increase in economic segregation between schools and districts suggests that children are increasingly exposed to unequal rights, indicating that inequality in their future outcomes may grow and no matter what they do they can get nowhere in life. In continuance, economic segregation, in which low-income students are forced into poorly funded and resourced schools is ultimately a negative impact on education because only 4% of those born in poverty will ever make it out (Class Divide). Therefore, if students are going to a public school and not being cared for because the government is now worried about private schools to make sure wealthier families are satisfied because the government gets paid more from private schools than from public schools. In a political cartoon it shows government workers removing bricks from a public school and using them to create a charter school (). This cartoon shows public schools as a dead end for children education however where will the people who get kicked out of public schools and can’t get into the new school they build? Since economic segregation is a big factor in communities, the negative effect it brings to education is huge because of how wealthy parents pay their way for their child to go to a good school and gentrify their community which drives away low income families to bring in investors to the community. However once everyone does this the lower income families have nowhere to go and nowhere to send their students which is unfair for the students to get a less advantage. Low-income children who live with wealthier ones are likely to lose in competition of for grades and markers of material success, which are provided by parents.

Eventually, they would feel proportionally underprivileged and would not want to try in school and compete thinking they have no advantage when juxtaposed to their wealthy neighbors. Economic segregation does expand the hole in educational achievement between high-low income students. According to Susan Mayer, an increase in economic segregation between neighborhoods or census tracts causes a wider achievement gap than an increase within a neighborhood (russelsage.org). In conclusion, economic segregation creates a negative effect on education because students in low-income houses will eventually be kicked out of public schools due to the widespread of private schools and will not get the education they deserve making it unfair for them. For upwardly mobile parents on a house hunt, the benefits of living in a well-to-do neighborhood with a good school district are clear. Not only do such attributes make for high property values, but their children can count on a good formal education as well as the good informal education that comes from associating with successful, accomplished adults and peers outside of school. Unlike parental folk wisdom, social science research is less equivocal on the effects that life in a low poverty neighborhood can have on children’s school success.