What's Happened to Education?: Effects of Income Inequality

     By almost all measures, as an overall average, our children in the US are not emerging from the education system (public or private — but more so with public) as well prepared for the world as they were 40 years ago. This is true in most measurable areas — but especially true for the non-measurable areas. Education (public, private, home schooled, or self-schooled) should end up with people able to use knowledge, able to research knowledge, able to evaluate knowledge, and with a desire to continue to grow in knowledge and the ability to use it. For most, that’s not the case.

     Overall, people have not changed that much in their potentials. This is true for all humans no matter the gender, ethnic background, nationality, or other qualities. There is, of course, a range of abilities from not so capable to enormously capable. We have now also recognized that there are different types of intelligence and each type is most useful in particular situations. Often we emphasize intellectual (or academic) intelligence but other types of intelligence are often more important in the pursuit of happiness and “success”.

     Assuming (though not likely to be something upon which all agree) that this is true, what has happened? What has happened over the past 40 years to lend support to such a trend? There are many things that are possible causes — environmental contamination and change, educational methodologies, social support, and societal expectations, and on.

     I propose that one of the primary reasons for our faltering educational system is that of greatly increased income inequality.

From the Pew Research Center:

     Okay. These are the numbers, but what does it mean for the general populace in the US? It means that a much larger percentage of people in the US find it difficult to support themselves within our economic system. Note especially the widening gap between middle-income and upper income. Some specific outcomes, for lower and middle income people, are:

• People are spending a higher percentage of their income on rent or mortgages.
• People are having to tightly prioritize expenses.
• There is less of a cushion available in case of emergencies or fast changes in income (such as layoffs). 
• Parents are working more hours — sometimes more jobs — and spending less time with families.
• Due to lack of time and energy, parents are also interacting less, with teachers and schools, in a direct manner.
• In regards to education, one direct result of income inequality affects tax support of schools. Funding for schools is different for each state in the US but they all involve some combination of property tax, local taxes, state taxes, school levies, and federal support. Increases in taxes must be approved, directly or indirectly (through representatives). As budgets tighten, there is a desire to reduce taxes and expand classes.

     An example of the direct effects of the expansion of class sizes could be an example from my wife’s situation as a teacher within a much-too-numerous student class-size. During the last year that my wife taught 5th grade, she had 39 students in the class. Assuming six hours in the classroom (it varies from state to state and district to district), that allowed less than ten minutes to be spent with each individual child. Of course, that is not how classroom time is structured. Most of the time is allocated to the class as a whole and the amount of time, to be allocated among those 39 individual children, might not even be an hour (or less than two minutes apiece) and the majority of that time will be spent with children who have attention-seeking behaviors (usually via misbehaving).

    With less time available to get to know the teachers and the schools, parents are left with what is said by their children, and by other teachers and groups, to determine what is going on in the classroom. Not a surprise to the children but, somehow, a great surprise to the parents is that the children do not always tell the truth or take responsibility for their own behavior and actions. And other parents and groups are not always a good source of information as they may be responding to things said to them — with similar lack of direct interaction with the teachers and the schools.

     This lack of adequate awareness of what is really going on within the classroom can lead to an antagonistic relationship between parents and teachers/schools. After spending a 60-hour workweek (40ish at school and another 20ish at home grading papers and preparing lesson plans), it is difficult for teachers to find time or energy to disentangle parents’ misbeliefs.

     Expanding upon the last three bullet items stated above, income inequality can directly lead to fewer resources to the schools, unworkable increases to class sizes (and a decrease in the amount of time available for the teacher to work with individual students), and lack of positive communication between the teachers and schools with the parents. Another large factor in educational performance is a shift in emphasis from qualitative experiences to a hyper-focus on quantitative experiences. I will expand on that in the next newsletter. Ideas & Interpretations is a reader-supported publication.

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