Education and poverty in america Research Paper

Education and poverty in america - Research Paper Example Something should be done! The link between poverty and education is inextricable where education is a medium that enables those people born into poverty to be able to rise and scale in society. To illustrate this, studies have shown that 46% of those Americans who were brought up in low income households but failed to earn college degrees did not make it past the low income quartile. This can be compared to 16% for those who managed to earn a college degree. (Arora, 2012) It is possible to see the link between poverty and education at all educational levels. Poorer Americans begin their pre-primary education at a disadvantaged state. For children whose parents earn under $15,000 annually, their pre-primary enrollment rates are about 20% lower than those whose parents earn over $50,000 a year. (Friedman, 2012) This has a much deeper impact since children who went to pre-school are 31% less likely to repeat a grade and also 32% less likely to even drop out of school. This pre-primary education is believed to reduce crime rates because studies show that children who attended pre-school are one-fifth less likely to become chronic criminal offenders. (Friedman, 2012) Even in cross-country exams, the educational disadvantage of poorer students is evident. In the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examination, higher-income schools have a higher score than the lower-income schools. It was also apparent that the PISA scores by students from America were much more influenced by the backgrounds of their parents than in any other country. Students from richer homes perform significantly better than those from deprived backgrounds due to the quality of education they receive. Students from deprived backgrounds have fewer facilities, less qualified teachers and above all receive the least care. These among other factors come into play when the scores of various students are evaluated. It therefore does not come