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Economic Inequality

Sociological analysis

By Katelind SkyPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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Money doesn’t solve your problems. At least that’s what people keep telling me, but is this true? Does money really not affect happiness, or is happiness not the point at all? It’s obvious that at certain levels money doesn’t affect our life satisfaction but it is also important to note that once bellow a specific level of income much more than happiness is influenced. According to the data received, money has a great deal to do with all four conditions specified. Though I cannot determine the statistical significance of the data fluctuations, I can observe many patterns that are involved with poverty level, educational environment and achievements. When comparing the averages of the five poorest schools and the five richest schools, the most concerning result is the inconsistency of the percent that pass reading curriculum.

On average, less than fifteen percent pass reading in the poorest school districts yet more than fifty-seven percent pass in the five richest schools. This number is problematic because it shows that it’s not just happiness being affected by income, it’s our education. How can it ever be justified that if you are born poor, you are not given the opportunity to learn the way someone born into a financially stable family? Though, by studying sociological patterns there are many factors that influence this, the common factor seems to be money. Local spending also shows this gap, the children in the poorest schools receive 1657.20 $ less per student than the richest schools. Think about how many text books and tutoring that would afford! This fluctuation of money is also greatly associated with race. The average minority percentages among the poorest schools are almost eighty percent, while the richest average bellow twenty-three percent. This displays the minority disproportions according to financial status but this is assumedly greatly affecting the minority’s ability to increase their financial achievements also. We are all aware that education is the key to success, yet minorities are obviously disadvantages by this standard.

We pride ourselves in universal access, or our equal ability to participate in the education system, however, according to the reviewed data, not all education is equal. Though minorities are attending school they are not receiving an equal education which can greatly disadvantage them later in life. These results support the conflict theory, in that there are many hidden curriculums within our educational system. The inequality in these results can even be related the functionalism due to the fact that if poor students aren’t receiving equal manifest functions of educations, there is little doubt they are also receiving less latent educational functions, deterring them even more from our cultural definitions of success.

The no child left behind movement was meant to resolve these inequalities but according to this recent data set, it hasn’t. The funding provided by this is based on test score achievements, meaning the students already falling behind are still left behind. This also reinforces social promotion, rather than failing someone and risking losing district money, many are simply passed through. This is problematic for many reasons but specifically, it promotes the ides that it’s okay to not teach the individual. There has also been a lot of concern about grade inflation; what used to be considered C work is now earning students an A. Further illustrating that funding is the main concern, which further disadvantages those who are not receiving the equal education guaranteed to everyone regardless of their financial position. A self-fulfilling prophecy, as a symbolic interactionist would say.

I qualified for free school lunches; I lived in section eight housing and the school I attended, though not the worst in comparison, received very little local funding. I knew from a very young age that if I wanted an education and if I wanted to go to college I’d better earn it because it wouldn’t happen any other way. Not just because of my school opportunity but also my financial opportunities. My parents could never afford to put me through college, though I know they would if they could. This was not the problem for me though, I’m smart, I always earned high grades and I got high placements on the standardized tests I took, as well as placement into the advanced classes. The problem was that because of the school I attended, I knew that even if I got all A’s forever and got perfect scores I probably wouldn’t receive admittance into a school like Harvard or Yale. Even if I did, I could never afford it because scholarships are given to private school attendees and other well to do students.

I may have been wrong in those assumptions but it’s something that you just learn to assume, not just me but most in my school, even the well-off students, so what chance did I have? Neither of my parents even went to college. This affected me because I never tried to achieve all A’s, just enough to be above the curve. I planned and did attend a college with practically no requirements of admittance and as I planned once I got a high GPA and my gen-ed complete I transferred to a state university. To think, if I had grown up with money and attended a private school, I know I may have of done more to get all A’s and I could have gone to Yale or Harvard. My high school didn’t offer even half the classes offered at other high schools. I never had an option of specified learning, like psychology, sociology, etc. in high school. Luckily, I always knew I wanted to learn about psychology and sociology, but when I learned about those things it was only on my free time. This actually has helped me, it motivates me to learn because now I’m passionate about it. If they had been subjects I had to take for school, I might not have found my personal interest in it and I might not want to be a psychiatrist.

Spending Physical Condition Reading Achievement Minority Composition

5 Poorest $4,939 53.4 14.84% 78.46%

5 Richest $6,596.20 61.8 57.34% 22.88%

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