Public Schools Are Not Failing Us; We Are Failing Our Schools (and Our Children)

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When my family relocated to the suburbs a few years back, we had some fundamental criteria. We wanted to be relatively close to our extended family, live near public transportation, and, most importantly, reside in an area with strong public schools. After some searching, we found a charming fixer-upper just three blocks from the train, 15 minutes from family, and within an excellent school district. We felt fortunate and blessed.

It’s hard to miss the ongoing discussions regarding the struggles of America’s public education system. Complaints about inadequate curricula, rigid standardized testing, overcrowded classrooms, and failing schools abound. Politicians, the media, and various commentators love to point fingers, claiming our children can’t compete globally and that the blame lies with schools, teachers, and the educational system. But let’s face it: It’s much easier to express outrage than to confront the uncomfortable truths at play.

The reality is that our schools aren’t failing our kids; we’re failing our schools—and, by extension, our children. We’ve been misled into believing that issues like standards, curricula, and supposedly unaccountable teachers are the root causes of educational struggles, but that’s simply not the case. The harsh truth is that family income is the single most significant factor influencing educational success.

Acknowledging this reality makes us uncomfortable, as it forces us to recognize our roles in perpetuating educational inequality. It’s easier to blame others, isn’t it? The shortcomings of the public education system do not impact all students equally, and some individuals are comfortable with the status quo.

Educational psychologist David C. Berliner highlights that family income strongly correlates with standardized test scores. In essence, as a family’s income rises, so do a child’s scores. When a community’s wealth increases, so do the overall test scores in its schools. While some argue that American students are unable to compete internationally, data reveals that students from affluent families perform competitively with their peers in high-scoring nations.

“When compared with other nations, some of our students and some of our public schools are not doing well,” Berliner stated.

This raises the question: which students are lagging behind, and why? A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education indicated that the quality of teachers in low-income schools parallels that of their high-income counterparts. Therefore, we can shift our blame away from teachers, who are often underappreciated and underpaid.

Moreover, the curriculum cannot be the issue either, as wealthier students in public schools with similar curricula perform well against their international peers. So, if it’s not teachers or curriculum, what is to blame? Brace yourselves: the answer is us. We all share in this problem.

As Berliner asserts, we’ve constructed a system that confines low-income students to the outskirts of public education, segregating schools by socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity. The main culprits? The upper-middle class, wealthy families, and anyone with the means to choose homeschooling, private schooling, or reside in affluent districts. The wealthy often protect their interests behind self-imposed district boundaries, cloaked in the rhetoric of “local control.” Berliner argues that we’ve established a separate and unequal educational system reminiscent of apartheid.

This division will only worsen with proposed budget cuts, including a $9 billion reduction in federal education spending in 2018, which disproportionately affects our most vulnerable students. We’ve created a system of haves and have-nots, and it’s on all of us to address it.

I may be a passionate advocate for public education, and you may have valid reasons for selecting private schooling for your children. However, turning a blind eye to the problem because it doesn’t directly affect you is not an option. If your children attend a private school or thrive in a good district, you bear an even greater responsibility to contribute to the solution.

Instead of diverting funds from schools that serve lower-income families, we need to allocate more resources to them. We must cease funding schools through property taxes and invest in quality summer programs, parent education, and after-school initiatives. We also need to ensure that low-income students are not battling food insecurity or arriving at school hungry. It’s time to stop fundraising practices that give advantages to some children over others and to offer teachers better compensation, evaluating them based on performance rather than student test scores.

Change will require additional funding, which may mean that families benefiting from the current system are asked to make some sacrifices. While it might feel oppressive to those who have been accustomed to privilege, we must remember that education should not come at the expense of others. We all want the best for our children, but that cannot overshadow the needs of other innocent children.

Berliner also points out that investing in the education of future generations is beneficial for communities, leading to a more skilled workforce, which in turn results in higher tax revenues, reduced incarceration rates, and lower health care costs. Most importantly, it’s the ethical thing to do.

In conclusion, we are discussing innocent children—our future. They should not be treated as pawns in a political struggle. Public education transcends politics; it’s a moral issue. All children deserve access to quality education, regardless of their family’s wealth or neighborhood. They are blank slates, deserving of the same opportunities.

My children are fortunate to attend an excellent public school, but I also recognize that I am, in a roundabout way, benefiting from a flawed system. If I do nothing to change it, I become part of the problem. And so do you.

This article was originally published on April 3, 2017.

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Summary: The public education system in America is not failing; rather, society is failing the schools and children within it. The disparities in educational success are largely tied to family income, with wealthier students performing better. Blame should not be placed on teachers or curricula but rather on systemic inequalities perpetuated by socioeconomic segregation. To address these issues, we must invest more in underfunded schools and create equitable opportunities for all children, recognizing that education is a moral imperative, not just a political issue.