Are our schools responsible for increasing societal inequities? essay sample

Social inequality is inherent at all levels of the organization, from education to management, if individuals of a different background are involved in one and the same process. We cannot deny inequities faced by children at high schools if their parents all have a different income and are placed on different levels of the societal hierarchy. Within the system of education, we can distinguish public schools, private and charter schools as well as homeschooling practices. At first sight, it may seem that some of them exacerbate inequalities while the others promote equal opportunity for all kids. Nevertheless, equal opportunities are impossible within the American society where most parents come from the entirely opposed social environment.

Parents who enroll their kids in paid establishments are frequently criticized for buying high scores and privileged social environment instead of letting kids socialize with diverse peers. Offering more or less equal opportunity to those kids whose parents can pay for that, private schools look appealing to most of them. Public schools, on the contrary,  are a breeding ground for inequalities based on the parents’ income and student’s abilities. Children of different backgrounds attend free-of-charge public schools and even there some kids have more privileges than the others. Students who perform well are more appreciated by teachers and they can enroll in additional classes while those who struggle with education have few chances to come up with their successful peers. Children of middle-income families are more likely to take private classes before their SAT or enroll in sports teams and other extracurriculars. Therefore, well-off children will always have their advantages, which means that the low-income families have few chances to promote their children.