When someone is in an area of common low socioeconomic levels, they usually lead to poor funding for school due to income from a percent of property taxes in their area. This means that unfortunately, many students that live in underserved areas, receive poor education.
For the most part, people who are from low-income households choose to attend university in their neighborhood. It is known that “more than 57 percent of incoming first-year students who enroll in four-year schools attend college within 50 miles of home” (The Atlantic). Usually, the smaller public schools are less prestigious and funded by the same taxes used for grade schools. These students deserve a better education than what they receive because most of them work equally as hard. People who grow up in higher-income neighborhoods more elite private schools where education is better. Private universities also encourage higher class families to attend their universities by wanting alumni and by trying to receive donation money from their students and their families. Another example is how simple application fees cost more than what a low-income student can afford and they are required for most colleges. There are many other examples of what low-income students are required to afford like uniforms.
Students are forced to continue the life of their parents because of the way of society. There are way too many children that settle for living where they grew up because it is the easiest way out. It is difficult for students to get out of their small town without always feeling like they are not good enough just because of their socioeconomic status. This is an insecurity many people have, so it is frightening to get out and apply to the bigger universities away from home. Even though many colleges want underprivileged youth, it still is not easy to get out of the cycle that their families have been going through. There is also a community where they live that is difficult for them to leave. It always seems like they are a disgrace for leaving and not staying and supporting their neighborhood.
Although there are many instances where students get scholarships and elite schools, students with money will always triumph. When there is a student whose parents donated to the school and attended the college, that student will succeed in getting accepted. Many students do not have the luxury of having alumni in their family and that is one of the guarantees for many private schools. Furthermore, if many families are new to the neighborhood, they do not know what schools are the best for their children. The disturbing thing is that depending on where they decide to live, practically decides their child’s future and can either be a very positive experience or a very negative one.
All in all, the public school system favors children with money and takes little consideration for low-income students because they have less to offer. This is unfortunately the constant battle between socioeconomic classes that highly influence many people’s education. One way of helping out is by helping out students in underserved areas through free tutoring, volunteer work, and educating them on how they can get into better colleges than what they are expected of. This will ensure that they know their possibilities and will help them have hope when it comes time to apply to college.
Work Cited
The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/02/where-we-put-schools-matters-most/460068/.
School quality has a mighty influence on neighborhood choice, home values. www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/school-quality-has-a-mighty-influence-on-neighborhood-choice-home-values/2015/09/03/826c289a-46ad-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html.