As I was reading the Purceil-Gates piece, I went through a lot of emotions. I was mainly upset when Jenny said that, regarding how to read, “some people think it’s easy… but it ain’t.” That just broke my heart. Why is it hat so many of those in a lower socioeconomic status lack these resources to improve and get a better life? Why is it that these city schools that truly need exceptional teachers, really don’t seem to make the impact they need to, or to push the students like they need to? And the public then dares to blame these people on “not trying to better themselves” and “just skating by” when it truly does not seem to be their faults, at least not in the case of those like Jenny and Donny. My question is how do we begin to address this issue of literacy in those of a lower socioeconomic status, like the ones living in the rough areas of the city?
2 thoughts on “Is there a way to address the disparity in literacy due to socioeconomic status?”
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I had a very similar reaction to this article. There were so many factors about their life that I wanted to pinpoint and do something about, but then realized that there was a deeper problem than not only having books to read at bed time. This specific area has been documented as a “food desert” because there is no full grocery store within a short distance of their home. Families education goes beyond literacy to issues of health and total well-being. It is such a huge issue that I do not believe one plan will solve it. If I were going into this area I would initially change the elementary and middle school programs. They need to be changed in order to teach children practical things and insure that they are leaving school with resources to bring home. This could be as simple as large libraries, or individual tutors that give children an hour of time outside of public schooling. Obviously the more in depth these changes are, the more they will cost the impoverished community.
I felt, and have felt for much of my young adult life, similarly as strongly about the unfairness that stems from socioeconomic disparity and educational outcomes that you did after reading that particular piece. In lieu of becoming too political (I feel as though this is the biggest theme of the current political election right now) I will venture for a more real life experience. I recently signed up for a group called City Year in which predominately college age recent graduates pledge a year of their time to addressing the disparity between rich schools and poor schools (which are often the most diverse) and the resources they have access too.
Basically, I am a teaching assistant to teachers and schools who desperately need them yet don’t get them from where they should be (i.e. state/local governments). While this is all fine and good and I am sure it will be a rewarding experience as well as a useful one, I do not think this is enough. Schools and school districts should not have to outsource resources they should be receiving anyhow.
Ultimately, (yes we are getting political sorry I tried) education needs to be viewed more as an investment in the citizens by their government than it currently is viewed, and as such, greater attention/funding needs to be given than is currently given. We need to stop blaming people for the outcomes, much of which is out of their control. We also need to have an informed discussion before we can even hope to get there in which the consensus is “how do we fix this?” rather than “what’s wrong with kids today.” While I cannot confidently given you a technical based answer to your question without going on for too long, I am confident in saying that the problem is solved when we have discussion like these, but taken from the ivory towers of higher education (because let’s be honest) and expanded to a much grander, national scale based on informing each other and dispelling misguided assumptions. I find it hard to see how this is accomplished outside of the political sphere.