Problems of Schools and Families from Low Income Areas

By: Elif Unal

“It’s hard to focus on algebra when you’re hungry or other kids are looking at you because you smell,”  “It impacts children socially, emotionally which always has an impact on their academics” said Alison Draheim, the coordinator of at-risk programs who works with low-income families in the Green Bay district.

Schools around low income areas have problems. They have problems because people living around there have problems. People there don’t have the money to afford school supplies for their children, they don’t have the time to read to their children or help them with their homework, and they don’t have the motivation to encourage their children.

It’s not only about the families, it’s also about the budget cuts and how they affect the decisions of the schools. When schools get budget cuts, they reduce the services they give to students and they increase the class sizes. When the class sizes are increased, teachers decrease the amount of time they spend with each student. In this case, teacher’s attention to his/her students is important because these students are already distracted because of their families’ financial problems at home.

One of the other problems is; neither the schools around low income areas nor the families living there have the money to afford educational trips or extracurricular activities for the students.  Just like the students from high income areas, the students from low income areas should also have various opportunities to enrich themselves. They also deserve the chance to explore, to create and to find different ways to get involved. This blog’s purpose is to outline the causes of student’s education suffering as a result of living in poverty-stricken areas.

Works Cited

Kushner, Jacob and Pease, Krissy. "Wisconsin’s low-income school

population rises, includes nearly 4 in 10 elementary students"

Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Sept. 2009.

Low-Income Property Taxes

By: Loredana Petriello

The most important cause of education disparity is the fact that school funding comes from property taxes in the area. The concept is simple to understand; if you live in a pretty affluent area, you are likely to have higher property taxes which provide for the funding of your school. The more funding your school receives, the more the students benefit. Your school will be able to offer elective classes, which provide students with sports, arts and music, better teachers, etc. Now let’s say you live in a less affluent area where property taxes are pretty low. This means that your school will receive little funding which can severely affect your experience in school. Lower-income schools have less money to work with, meaning they have to cut a lot out of their budget. This might include some art classes, music classes, theater, high qualified teachers, sports, and elective classes. All of these aspects are what make school fun and interesting. When a school has little funding, it simply does not have the means to support the interest of every student.

People are arguing whether or not property taxes are a just way to fund a school district. Daphne A. Kenyon, an economist at Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, talks about this issue and shares both sides of the argument in her report “The Property Tax-School Funding Dilemma.” Some people think that the way we fund our schools now (with property taxes) is fine because it is very important for strengthening the local government. People who argue for this certainly do not live in low-income areas. On the other side of the argument, most people would agree that property taxes are an unjust way of funding education. “Property taxes fail to adequately finance school budgets and a steady stream of state and federally mandated programs. Poorer cities simply don’t have the tax base to provide adequate schools…” (New York Times). So why is it fair that people who come from lower-income areas to be poorly educated just because of where they live? By funding our schools with property taxes we are making social mobility extremely difficult.

Works Cited

Brady, John. "Retire the Property Tax." Retire the Property

Tax. New York Times, 16 Dec. 2007. Web.

8 Mar. 2011.

Kenyon, Daphne A. "The Property Tax-School Funding Dilemma."

The Property Tax-School Funding Dilemma. Lincoln

Institute, Dec. 2007. Web. 08 Mar. 2011.

Life Outside School

By: Loredana Petriello

Not only are students from low-income areas ill equipped with tools at school, but they also have a lot of problems to deal with outside of school that other students from higher-income areas may not have. Students that come from low-income families usually have to start getting a job at an early age so they can help support their family. They may have to work long, tough hours, on top of going to school and getting an education. What happens in some cases is that students may drop out of school because they become discouraged and don’t see themselves going anywhere. By dropping out, they will be able to work more hours and make more money. “…it’s just unfair to expect students who face so many challenges outside of school to do well at school. And, many will say that until the parents or the communities or poverty itself changes, our schools are powerless to do much more than they are doing now.” (Haycock) Unless we give them the proper tools and a fair chance at education, we can’t really expect them to be on the same level as the rest of the students in the country. It is unfair to low-income students that they cannot be on the same level as everyone else just because they come from a lower-income family. That shouldn’t determine how well they do in school and how far they get in life, but unfortunately that is becoming the case for most students. These students simply cannot succeed with what they are given at school because what they are given is not enough.

Works Cited

Haycock, Kati. "National Journal Online -- Education Experts –

Consensus? Bipartisanship? Really?" National Journal

Online. National Journal Group, 4 Feb. 2011. Web.

1 Mar. 2011.

New Teachers Face a Support Gap Based on Income Levels

By: Shane Rooney

A major problem in today’s society is the differentiation in the education received by students due to their income level. The article “The Support Gap: New Teachers’ Early Experiences in High-Income and Low-Income Schools,” written by education professors of prestigious universities, discusses how poor support for new teachers causes negative outcomes for low-income students.  Two studies were conducted and outlined in this article based on surveys of randomly selected first-year and second-year teachers. The studies proved “that a “support gap” exists: new teachers in low-income schools receive significantly less assistance in the key areas of hiring, mentoring, and curriculum than their counterparts working in schools with high- income students (Johnson).” The support gap translates into an increase in the achievement gap between high-income and low-income students, meaning low-income students have a lesser educational performance than higher-income level students do. This is due to the inability to attract new highly-skilled teachers and retain them. The next two posts will outline how the support gap effects education in low-income schools.

Works Cited

Johnson, Susan Moore, Susan M. Kardos, David Kauffman,
            Edward Liu, and Morgan L. Donaldson. "The
            Support Gap: New Teachers’ Early Experiences in 

            High-Income and Low-Income Schools." Education
            Policy Analysis Archives, 29 Oct. 2004. Web.
            25 Feb. 2011.

Quality and Turnover Rate as a Result of Support Gap

By: Shane Rooney

The support gap affects the quality of the teachers at the school, as well as the rate of turnover of new teachers.  Low-income schools generally hire teachers that are under qualified, and many teachers teach outside of their subject area.  “Teachers in such schools also, on average, score lower on various standardized tests, and have graduated from less competitive colleges (Lankford).” The turnover of teachers in low-income schools is significantly higher than the teachers in high-income schools. “Although some attrition is certainly desirable, chronic turnover such as that experienced by many low-income schools can disrupt children’s education, fragment a school’s instructional program, and waste substantial funds already invested in a teacher’s professional development (Guin).” Teachers who do leave low-income schools and stay in the profession of teaching generally leave to high-income schools where more support is received.  This increases the achievement gap as high-income schools get the more qualified, highly-skilled teachers as a result of poor support from low-income schools.

Works Cited

Guin, K. (2004). Chronic teacher turnover in urban
           elementary schools. Education Policy Analysis
           Archives, 12(42). Web. 25 Feb. 2011 

Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2002). Teacher
           sorting and the plight of urban schools: A
           descriptive analysis. Educational Evaluation and
          Policy Analysis, 24(1), 37-62. Web. 25 Feb. 2011

Factors Contributing to Support Gap

By: Shane Rooney

Graph depicts data retrieved from: "The Support Gap:
New Teachers’ Early Experiences in High-Income
and Low-Income Schools."

 

The graph above displays many complications that ultimately result in hurting the education of low-income students. The first four bars represent the interviewing process. In each category, the high-income schools have a greater percentage of interview opportunities than low-income schools. Ultimately, less interview time results in new teachers unfamiliar with the school processes and teaching standards. The next two bars represent observation, which helps the new teacher learn what it is like to teach there. The tendency for observation sessions in high-income schools is more likely than sessions in low-income schools, which makes new teacher in high-income schools more prepared to teach. The last bar represents the time in which the teachers were hired. A higher percentage of teachers were hired after the school year started at low-income schools. This means that the new teacher was less prepared to teach, was less aware as to what the job entailed, and was more than likely less qualified for the job since they were hired so late. All of these factors negatively impact the low-income student’s education as poor preparation and qualification of teachers ultimately result in a worse education.