The U.S. Education System has Never Been a Great Equalizer written by Maya Petrick art by Malaya Johnson
The American education system is pretty fucked up — and it always has been. The United States’ history has shaped the country’s education system into one that perpetuates white supremacy, classism, ableism (discrimination in favor of able-bodied people and people without mental illnesses), and toxic productivity (a culture that favors constant productivity over mental health and well-being). UCLA actively participates in this system. However, there are steps that can be taken to combat this harmful system on both personal and structural levels. The school system in the U.S. has always been shaped by those in power — that is, rich, white, cis men — and these are the people who are most priveleged in this system. Many consider Thomas Jefferson the founding father of democratic education in the United States, and during his time, the American public and elites considered his ideas for education radical. However, many components of his vision for public education served to reinforce pre-existing power structures rather than serve as a great equalizer. He designed a “universal” public school system immediately after the American Revolution with a goal to “[promote] civic ideology to perpetuate the social order,” and to instill early on a thoughtless sense of patriotism. He proposed a two-track system: one for students going into leadership positions, and one for “those destined for labor.” About 20 students every year were, in his words, “raked from the rubbish,” to enter the leadership track, which was otherwise composed of the sons of Virginia’s aristocracy. Although a lucky few white men benefited from this system, white women were only allowed to attend through primary school in order “to raise the virtuous male citizens on whom the health of the Republic depended.” Jefferson fails to mention Black children (or any children of color) at all. Clearly, this is not a system meant to promote equitable education and opportunities. Jefferson formed his plan for American education in a vastly different time period, but the inequality in his policies laid the groundwork for systematic discrimination against poor people, disabled people, and people of color today. American education has a long-standing relationship with the criminal justice system, providing a disproportionate amount of students of color, low-income students, and
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disa b l e d students with a criminal record before they even reach adulthood. Students who aren’t incarcerated and have the option to go to college are subject to tremendous expectations to achieve high grades, do well on standardized tests, and participate in extracurriculars to get into their college of choice. This promotes a toxic lack of work-life balance and alienates students who may have conditions preventing them from concentrating for long periods of time and otherwise adhering to the rigid format of grade school. Furthermore, college admissions requirements are not nearly as merit-based as they claim to be. They are instead biased toward financially privileged students, even though income is entirely out of students’ control. Those who are able to afford attending a private school or living in an area with well-funded public schools are given an edge in the admissions process (in many states, school funding is largely determined by property taxes, meaning wealthier areas have better schools). Also, standardized test scores are highly correlated with students’ income, putting low-income students at an even greater disadvantage in this process. Once students are admitted to college, these high expectations remain, along with the necessity to pay increasingly expensive tuition.
