The Effects of Poverty on Education Essay

School budgets are being cut lower and lower year by year. For the past 6 years, after the recession, the funding for education has decreased tremendously. The new budgets are providing less per-pupil funding to kindergarten through 12th grade. At the same, the nation wants graduates to excel in their technical and analytical skill but the decrease in educational funds are contradicting and raise concern. The budget cuts in education systems delay the school district’s ability to deliver high- quality education to their students. Restoring school funding should be a top priority.

Many children live in poverty around the world, the effects on these developing minds of these children can hurt their development to adulthood. Kids in poverty tend to have lower education than other families that are richer. Their health is also effected from poverty, their life expectancy is 8 years lower from richer families. The communities they grow up can affect them in making choices, choosing money over education. In this paper, i’ll explain the effects of poverty on children’s education, health, and communities.

Virtually every school district in the country has been or is currently facing the need to reduce their budget. In the last two years, budget cuts have become far more common in school districts than ever recorded. Some schools are able to cushion the effects of the reductions by shifting fundings around or pulling out reserves, but there is no debate to the fact that these cuts have, in one way or another, a negative impact on the education of students in school districts.

For centuries, people have lived in poverty and many have been deprived of a high quality education because the schools where they live are not very good. The families being affected typically live in low-income parts of cities or states. Oftentimes, families in this situation don’t have the money or support to relocate to a community with better schools. In Boston, children as young as 3 or 4 can be affected by this issue, and it can last their whole lives. When learning about this topic, it is very important to understand why many schools in high-poverty communities are not very good. This is true for many reasons. The first reason is that the school may not have the financial abilities to keep the facilities in good shape. This can come in a variety of forms, including decaying walls, leaking ceilings, or even broken heating and cooling systems. Even if the campus is in great condition, inside the classrooms can be teachers who are not on the higher end of their profession, and lack the skills to expertly educate their students. Lastly, many students in these situations face additional burdens purely because they live in poverty. This may include hunger, fatigue, homelessness, or lack of access to

Budget shortfalls have become a regular occurrence in the public education field. State, federal, and local aid is declining due to uncertainty in the American economy. School districts are forced to stretch every dollar while keeping up with state and federal demands. State and local taxpayers are also becoming increasingly frustrated with higher taxes while reports show little to no increase in students achievement. Political figures are hard pressed for school districts to justify expenditures with data for increased scoring on mandated standardized testing. With all the uncertainty on education, “school boards and administrators are faced with the hard task of making painful resource decisions, knowing that some aspects of schools will

In such times of austerity, increased poverty is an issue that more of our nation 's families are having to cope with. Sadly, the resulting cost that children pay in their education when encountered with deprivation is also equally high. Each year, increasing numbers of children are entering education with needs and circumstances that schools are not prepared to or are unable to meet. Within this essay I will look to highlight the impact poverty has on children and young people’s education. I will also attempt to identify the reasons why poverty impacts on education. I will reference some studies that highlight the factors that put children and young people at risk and acknowledge some of the recommendations to bridge the gap in attainment from research carried out on this area.

“These factors include: incidence of poverty, the depth of poverty, the duration of poverty, the timing of poverty (age of child), community characteristics (concentration of poverty and crime in neighborhood, and school characteristics) and the impact poverty has on the child’s social network (parents, relatives and neighbors).” Any one of these factors can contribute to a child not being able to focus in school which can ultimately lead to a child falling behind in their education. With the current trajectory the education system as a whole, not taking into account those disadvantage students that may struggle at school because they have to worry about trying not to struggle at home when the school day is

As of 2013 approximately 45 million people in America lived below the poverty line. In an average three-person household, an annual income of $20,090 is federally considered to be at poverty level. In the year of 2014, 44 percent of children under the age of 18 were living at or below the poverty level. Coming from a low economic standing can be detrimental for children’s physical and mental states. Pursuing a higher education without proper funding can become nearly impossible. Most importantly however, without income of some sort children can go hungry. The poverty crisis in America not only affects the adults but it truly affects children through nutrition, education, and psychological factors.

Research shows that there is a high correlation between poverty and educational outcomes. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), there were approximately 20 percent of school-age children who were living in poverty ridden households in 2014 (NCES,2016). The quality of education a student attains is associated with their parent’s educational attainment and household poverty status (NCES,2016). Children who live in poverty during their early childhood years have a higher chance of attaining a lower level of academic performance, creating a readiness gap in schools. The readiness gap begins in kindergarten and extends through elementary and high school, contributing to lower rates of high school completion (NCES,2016). School readiness is defined as “a measure of how prepared a child is to succeed in school, cognitively, socially and emotionally,” and it separates the disadvantaged children from their more affluent peers (Attendance Works, 2016). Children as early as 18 months from low-income families who come into school with a readiness gap, experience disadvantages in vocabulary development and begin falling behind in reading, leaving them unable to read at grade level by 3rd grade (Attendance Works, 2016).

"Society has been trying to reduce poverty for over 500 years" (Indigenous) and has never succeeded. The education and skill level, health or handicap status, and discrimination play a vital role in poverty. So why does society keep trying the same approaches: give them money or give them jobs? Neither one ever worked. A major factor determining whether someone will end up living in poverty, education or skill level can make or break an income. Education plays a vital role in acquiring jobs, learning new skills, and bringing home necessities and comforts of life. A person who does not receive an education has a very small chance of making much money and acquiring skills that would bring home a desirable income. Many who do not have an

Populace, destitution and sexual orientation are the three interconnected elements, assuming huge part in access to essential instruction. The measure of populace, its development rate and arrangement has made unfavorable consequences for the financial advancement and thusly opened the conduit for lack of education and extraordinary destitution the nation over. While the part of instruction as an impetus in taking out neediness and imbalance from society has been generally perceived related with financial development, sound administration and institutional viability, poverty is still a principal out of school component adding to lack of education. Difference in access to instruction among populaces and gatherings exists because of various demographic, social, and social elements and sexual orientation is the overwhelming component.

Poverty in America has always been a big issue, but one can debate that the majority of the population chooses not to acknowledge it – especially about poverty in education. This was claimed by Senior Director of Global Outreach at ASCD, Sean Slade, who stated that people and the systems related to education are ignoring the issue. He marked, “If you are born into poverty, you are likely to stay in poverty” (Slade). The effects of poor education and poor communities are definitely a contributing factor to the performances of children in academics. With no positive growth and help from the system, the people and education performance in underprivileged socioeconomic areas will always remain inadequate. In “Poverty Affects Education – And Our System Perpetuate It”, Slade exercises clear articulation of logical persuasion techniques, elaborates on suggestions to make changes, and use proper ethical communication to cite and support his statements to successfully argue that the systems are unwilling to take progressive action towards the issue of poverty in education and low income communities.

In highly developed countries such as the US, the issue of poverty is overlooked in many cases. Many households, however, suffer from not obtaining adequate water, lighting, food, etc. due to their failure to obtain financial comfort. “Families are considered to be in poverty if their pre-tax income is less than a certain money income threshold that varies by family size and consumption. Of this money, in-kind benefits such as food stamps and earned income tax credit are not included”(D’Aoust R.F.). Being considered underneath this threshold brings about many issues associated with standard of living. Children, especially, from these low-income families face many downfalls, specifically in their educational lives. Due to the heightened effects of poverty, the social and academic well-being of students in American public schools has decreased significantly.

My hometown of Lawrence is a vibrant immigrant city, with its proud roots now riddled in poverty and corruption. The poverty level in the city is one of the highest in Massachusetts, violent crime has been on the rise for years, and the high school dropout rate is more than 50 percent. Growing up, many of my classmates struggled with schoolwork as a result of the language barrier and lack of funding for transitional bilingual education programs. Countless children, with limitless potential, eventually learned to see the futility in participating in a system which had abandoned them. I was lucky enough to be accepted into Bellesini Academy, a school which provides support for low-income, at-risk inner-city students and helps its students gain acceptance into private college preparatory high schools on scholarship. Without this opportunity I am not sure what would have become of me. I would not have been able to attend the Groton School and may not have been blessed with the opportunity to attend Boston College. My experiences in the Lawrence education system continue to shape my views on the importance of education, while inciting my political consciousness and engagement in my community. I plan to further study education policy in graduate school and, hopefully, be able to attain extensive knowledge of government policy in order to improve the education standards in my hometown. I would love to be a member of my City Council after obtaining my degree. In general, I know

Children in school that have insufficient basic resources struggle with getting the best education. Basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing, and health care is a necessity. Students get distracted, and suffer with physical and mental health issues if their basic needs are not taken care of. Underresourced schools in poorer communities struggle to meet the learning needs of their students. Therefore, students that struggle with meeting their basic needs tend to struggle more in school than others.