Poverty Affects On Education Final Copy

Poverty: Affects on Education Final Paper
Beatrice Walker
Dr. Phillips
EDFN 475/575, Human Relations
7 May 2014

Poverty: Affects on Education
Poverty is the lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing, clean and safe shelter along with safe drinking water, all of which determine the quality of life. Poverty can be a lifelong problem for children in the United States. A child living in poverty will face many difficulties, the most important their education. Unfortunately millions of children are born into this battle, having a disadvantage and never being fully equipped. How can a child overcome poverty when lack of education is considered the “norm”? How can a child strive for an education when they are fighting for their own survival?
What causes a child to become poverty stricken? Most times children are born into the situation due to the parents being too young, single or possibly their parents never received a proper education and in other cases the child is just following a cycle that has been established generations before them. Research preformed by the US Census (2007) shows, “5.8 percent of all people in married families lived in poverty, while 26.6 percent of single parents lived in poverty.” Students face problems much bigger then getting their home work done, its survival, and then school. Many have major issues at home (such as mom is on drugs or pulling tricks, or dad is in and out of jail). Children that are poverty stricken are placed into schools that are also struggling. Teachers are working in an extremely impoverished area. A teacher not having proper tools, funding or environment due to poverty can lead to a negative impact on the student’s academic achievement and is not uncommon that dropping out of school will follow. Poverty is an issue that more children are coming face to face with, most times being forced into gangs and drugs rampant.
However, the problem of today’s society is the fight against poverty. With many societies today having in low-income areas, education seems to be the first thing to be put on hold. Education is a social problem in the mix of poverty. In many low-income cities, a good education is very rare for many leaders of the household. Marty Strange, a writer for Kappan Magazine, wrote an article called “Finding Fairness for Rural Students”. In this article, she states that schools are poorly funded and have inadequate supplies and educators. This problem came about because most public schools are funded by property taxes. But, the homes in low- income communities give little money in which these schools receive from property taxes. In results, these schools in those communities end up being poorly funded by the state and cannot afford good supplies or teachers. Public taxes are mostly funded by property taxes, so if the houses cost less, that means less funding for computers, good teachers, books, and anything else a school need in order to thrive. When the No Child Left Behind act was passed in 2002 by George W. Bush, it awarded the schools that preformed better than other school, by awarding them with a source of supplies and materials, while schools that performed unwell, were punished by less funding to the school. I believe that the NCLB act was not reasonable, because the schools that perform better are usually the schools that are in higher income areas and above the Poverty Line.
What is the Poverty Line, anyway? According to the 2011 U.S Census Bureau, “it is a family of four (two adult, two children under the age of eighteen) that earns less than twenty-three thousand dollars a year. More than 11 million kids in the US live below the poverty line and do not have the basic supplies that they need to succeed”. Most people who live at or below poverty level do not have the opportunity to or do not have the drive to obtain an education. These factors lead to a lifestyle that can be the demise of their lives. This can lead to the problem with poverty and the way in which the students have struggling efforts in the progression towards their education. Poverty affects everyone who is around those living in poverty. Students’ achievement in the classroom shows that a child’s learning success is being affected when students are unchallenged, unmotivated, and belittled by their peers and community. When students are faced with general patterns of poverty, their education becomes a factor. Some of the causes of poor education stem from the background and financial situation of a family. It seems the closer to the poverty level one may be the less of an education they will receive. Family history of lack of education also plays a role in the lack of education. If parents have a high school education it is more likely that each generation thereafter will graduate high school.
Therefore, a good thorough education should be considered an essential part of life. Without an education people are very limited in what they can do and what their future may include. An education is where a person true self and potential is brought out. The purpose of a good education is to teach people about the past, present and future and to allow people to reach their own full potential. One who lacks real learning will be poor because when there’s a lack of education, the possibility to apply for a job is limited.

Works Cited https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032009/pov/toc.htm http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=psycd_fac

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-Poverty-Affects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx

http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/poverty-dropouts.aspx

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/12/10/education-poverty-international-student-assessment-column/3964529/

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cce.asp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/study-poor-children-are-now-the-majority-in-american-public-schools-in-south-west/2013/10/16/34eb4984-35bb-11e3-8a0e-4e2cf80831fc_print.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865589624/Inequality-in-education-across-United-States-result-of-poverty.html?pg=all

http://povertyandpolicy.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/rethinking-no-child-left-behind/

http://www.ruraledu.org/articles.php?id=2651

Cited: https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032009/pov/toc.htm http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=psycd_fac http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-Poverty-Affects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/poverty-dropouts.aspx http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/12/10/education-poverty-international-student-assessment-column/3964529/ http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cce.asp http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/study-poor-children-are-now-the-majority-in-american-public-schools-in-south-west/2013/10/16/34eb4984-35bb-11e3-8a0e-4e2cf80831fc_print.html http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865589624/Inequality-in-education-across-United-States-result-of-poverty.html?pg=all http://povertyandpolicy.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/rethinking-no-child-left-behind/ http://www.ruraledu.org/articles.php?id=2651