Another country

Since its birth, the U.S. has defined itself as egalitarian, fundamentally distinct from the class-ridden societies of Europe, writes Matt Phillips in Quartz. This has sometimes been true: On the eve of the American Revolution, income distribution for American colonists was much better than in England, slavery aside (if you can put it aside). Yet the U.S. has become increasingly unequal since the Civil War. For an interval in the 20th century, parity existed; since the 1980s, inequality has climbed sharply, and social mobility has plummeted. A poor Moroccan kid in France is now much more likely to join the middle class than a child born to a poor family in Mississippi. Many agree that any change must be driven by the American education system, but this system itself is an offshoot of an increasingly class-driven society, Phillips writes. Since the 1950s, the proportion of Americans who are middle-income has shrunk, with effects spilling over to schools. Some effects stem from schools themselves: Poorer kids receive lower-quality, poorly financed instruction. Other issues stem from a low-income monoculture in schools segregated by class. Perniciously, the effects of socioeconomic and racial segregation linger in college: Lower-income kids graduate at far lower rates, further indication of the socioeconomic gulf that keeps Americans from different class backgrounds living in what are effectively different countries. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

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Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.