equality in american education

The United States of America has always prided itself on its equality. The equality factors lie in many aspects of the country, even in its core values. The Americans are proud they are given the equality of opportunity in which they are created equally and granted an equal chance to thrive in life. This value also runs in the education system of the nation. Throughout history, there have been many policies and events occurring around American education that help demonstrate this matter.

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First, the establishment of public education is claimed to be an equalizer (Horace Mann, 1848, as cited in Growe & Montgomery, 2003). It means that this type of education, i.e. public schools, is free and available to everyone, as opposed to private schools in which the tuition is high and somewhat unaffordable. With public schools, all U.S. citizens can have equal access to the same education systems. However, the outcomes of public attendees are often poorer than those of private ones. Hence, the existence of public education, in some ways, promotes inequality among learners. Considering this issue, charter schools are proposed as a solution. Charter schools run on aids from the government or donations, which means they are tuition-free, but they are given the liberty to choose the types of curricula and assessment methods for their systems. Even though the number of students accepted into a charter school is limited, the application is open to everyone and the selections of students are implemented by the means of lottery (NYC Charter School Center, 2021), in which they will be chosen randomly regardless of the children’s race, gender, social and domestic backgrounds. Therefore, it is a fair chance for everyone. Additionally, the equality aspect of this is also complemented with the “No Child Left Behind” Act by helping the underprivileged children to get good educations and heal themselves out of the loophole of their wounds ("No Child Left Behind Act", 2021).

Second, there have been several policies in the American education system that help the disadvantaged to be equal with others. During the time of great urbanization and immigration, the schools in the United States helped “Americanize” new immigrants coming into the States. They taught them English for better communication, the values of democracy, and the necessary skills to become good American citizens ("An Introduction to British and American Studies (for internal use only)”, 2020). Another event is the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” policy. The doctrine was believed to promote racial equality; however, it actually enhanced racism and made racial inferiority worsened (History.com Editors, 2021). This problem was later saved by Brown v. Board landmark. The policy demolished the Plessy v. Ferguson one and promoted mixed-race schools in which white and some African American students were given equal access to the same education. This helped to fight against racial hatred and fueled the Civil Rights Movement fighting for equality for Black Americans (History.com Editors, 2021). Another remarkable event is the affirmative action during the early 1970s that welcomed women and marginalized people to go to school and have access to good education ("affirmative action", 2021). Servicemen’s Readjustment Act in 1944 is another example of equality in the U.S.’s education system. The bill is about the fundings of the government to veterans to help them get better livings and have access to better higher education; hence, they are given opportunities to have a better life and thrive as everybody else in the U.S. after serving the country for years (O'Brien, 2021).

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It is apparent that there have been several occasions in history where the “equality” value is promoted in the education of America. Though there might have been some inappropriate policies introduced at times, the system usually seems to bounce back to maintain its core beliefs and values.

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REFERENCES:

- Growe, R., & Montgomery, P. S. (2003). Educational Equity in America: Is Education the Great Equalizer?. The Professional Educator, 25(2), 23–29. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ842412.pdf

- Faculty of Linguistics and Culture of English-Speaking Countries. (2020). Chapter 6: Education systems (pp. 99-129). In An Introduction to British & American Studies (for internal use only). University of Languages and International Studies, VNU Hanoi.

- History.com Editors. (2021a, January 19). Brown v. Board of Education. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka

- History.com Editors. (2021, January 20). Plessy v. Ferguson. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson

- O’Brien, C. (2021, March 11). A brief history of the GI Bill. Military Times. https://www.militarytimes.com/education-transition/2021/03/10/a-brief-history-of-the-gi-bill/

- affirmative action. (2021, August 25). In Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/affirmative-action

- NYC Charter School Center. (2021, September 23). Enrollment Process. New York City Charter School Center. https://nyccharterschools.org/policy-research/fact-sheets/enrollment-process/

- No Child Left Behind Act. (2021, December 5). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=No_Child_Left_Behind_Act&oldid=1058674307