Poverty and the Future of Public Education

I was reading an article on Scientific Learning about Poverty in Education. According to the article, “Today, low-income students are four and a half times more likely to drop out of high school.” In Georgia, 60% of students are living in poverty. If you aren’t from Georgia, you can check your state’s statistics by clicking this link. http://www.southerneducation.org/Our-Strategies/Research-and-Publications/New-Majority-Diverse-Majority-Report-Series/A-New-Majority-2015-Update-Low-Income-Students-Now

Other Alarming Statistics

• The 14.7 million poor children in our nation exceeds the populations of 12 states combined.
• ·       In 2013, 15 million children in America lived below the poverty level ($23,834 a year for a family of 4).
• ·       1 in 5 children live in poverty.
• ·       SNAP benefits average less than $1.40 per person per meal.

So far, I’ve only worked in schools were children are severely impoverished.

From my personal experiences, I’ve discovered that poverty affects students' health and nutrition. It is extremely hard for students to concentrate on academics if they are hungry or malnourished. Students living in poverty are often underexposed to academic related topics, but on the flip side, they are often over exposed to topics and issues they are inappropriate for children such as drugs, sex, and violence.

How does poverty impact children’s ability to learn?

• ·       Child poverty creates gaps in cognitive skills in babies.
• ·       Children of parents in poverty are less likely to be read to.
• ·       By age 4 poor children have heard 30 million fewer words than well-off children.
• ·       Poverty affects health. Health affects the ability to learn.
• ·       Poor children are less likely to graduate from high school.

So, why did I bring this up? Well, if you’re up to date with the current buzz around the U.S. Department of Education and Besty DeVos, then you know the proposed budget is a privileged child’s dream and poor child’s nightmare. The proposal affects impoverished children…period. It will affect funding, programs, meals, and resources. The question is, if these proposals pass, what are we going to do? As a teacher of low-income children, I know, as some of you do, that often a school meal is the only meal. We buy the children clothes, toys and gifts for Christmas, school supplies, and the list goes on and on. Often, we make these purchases with our own money because the funding at our schools has already been delegated to other expenses or in some cases, there isn’t any. If the “little money” we have is cut, how will we survive? I’m concerned about the future of public education. If you've missed any of this, I strongly suggest you google the subject and start reading!

You can start here… http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/06/05/trump-devos-demolition-of-american-education/