No Educational Divide? Think Again.
Next weekend, a high school in La Puente will send a team to the 2006 Solar Cup boat competition. Forty high schools from the greater Los Angeles area will compete for the fastest and strongest boat.
The high school, Nogales, finished third in the competition two years ago, and is hoping its “Black Rose” will snatch up a victory this year. A recent newspaper article cited the team’s experience with fixing cars and knowledge of electrical systems as factors that could deliver a win.
Their advantage–the reason they know so much about cars and electrical systems–is also their weakness. La Puente is a lower income community, and its students have a hard time facing opponents with access to more resources.
Mobilize is part of a coalition: “Reverse the Raid on Student Aid,” that is demanding Congress address the problem of higher education expenses. The fear is that, as college costs continue to rise, people from lower income communities will be boxed out of higher education. Right now, the average cost of a four year public school is $15,566/year, or one third of the annual income for the average La Puente family.
Loans, and more specifically government loans, have been a good way for families to finance college. But, with interest rates set to double in July, the option loses its appeal. “Reverse the Raid” groups want to keep interest rates where they are (around 3% for students and 4% for parents) so that more young people can share in the American dream. If the increase goes through, the average student will be forced to add $7,000 in interest alone to their educational expenses. This will only exacerbate the socio-economic divide that gives richer students more resources than poorer students.
In some cases, those “resources” are obvious–take Glendora, a town 15 miles north of La Puente. Students from Glendora High placed second in the Solar Cup boat competition two years ago. They live in more expensive homes, have richer parents, and attend better schools. There are also safer. In 2003, La Puente had 402 assaults per 100,000 residents, in Glendora the number was 85 that year. Simple as pie.
Such is not the case when putting Nogales next to Canyon High, in Anaheim (which has won the last three Solar Cups). While Anaheim has better property values and less crime, the average income for Nogales is $41,222. Anaheim’s is only marginally higher ($47,122).
The difference, the “resource,” is education. An Anaheim resident over 25 years old is 40% more likely to be a high school graduate than his counterpart in La Puente. He is 300% more likely to be a college graduate. When talking about employment, the Anaheim resident is 50% more likely to have a job.
If this doesn’t clearly delineate the educational divide in America, I’m not sure I know what does. That the high school students of La Puente can place among students with more access and privilege is comforting. What’s more, their outlook is almost heartwarming.
“We’re ghetto, but we’re smart ghetto,” one Nogales senior is quoted as saying. The article doesn’t mention if the student is going to college in the fall, but statistically he stands as great a chance of going as not, and that simply isn’t okay.
Please support “Reverse the Raid.” Our coalition wants to open up our institutions of higher learning to a wide audience of Americans, Americans who have ambition and spirit, but perhaps not the money.
To learn more, please visit www.mobilize.org/studentdebt.
DP
The high school, Nogales, finished third in the competition two years ago, and is hoping its “Black Rose” will snatch up a victory this year. A recent newspaper article cited the team’s experience with fixing cars and knowledge of electrical systems as factors that could deliver a win.
Their advantage–the reason they know so much about cars and electrical systems–is also their weakness. La Puente is a lower income community, and its students have a hard time facing opponents with access to more resources.
Mobilize is part of a coalition: “Reverse the Raid on Student Aid,” that is demanding Congress address the problem of higher education expenses. The fear is that, as college costs continue to rise, people from lower income communities will be boxed out of higher education. Right now, the average cost of a four year public school is $15,566/year, or one third of the annual income for the average La Puente family.
Loans, and more specifically government loans, have been a good way for families to finance college. But, with interest rates set to double in July, the option loses its appeal. “Reverse the Raid” groups want to keep interest rates where they are (around 3% for students and 4% for parents) so that more young people can share in the American dream. If the increase goes through, the average student will be forced to add $7,000 in interest alone to their educational expenses. This will only exacerbate the socio-economic divide that gives richer students more resources than poorer students.
In some cases, those “resources” are obvious–take Glendora, a town 15 miles north of La Puente. Students from Glendora High placed second in the Solar Cup boat competition two years ago. They live in more expensive homes, have richer parents, and attend better schools. There are also safer. In 2003, La Puente had 402 assaults per 100,000 residents, in Glendora the number was 85 that year. Simple as pie.
Such is not the case when putting Nogales next to Canyon High, in Anaheim (which has won the last three Solar Cups). While Anaheim has better property values and less crime, the average income for Nogales is $41,222. Anaheim’s is only marginally higher ($47,122).
The difference, the “resource,” is education. An Anaheim resident over 25 years old is 40% more likely to be a high school graduate than his counterpart in La Puente. He is 300% more likely to be a college graduate. When talking about employment, the Anaheim resident is 50% more likely to have a job.
If this doesn’t clearly delineate the educational divide in America, I’m not sure I know what does. That the high school students of La Puente can place among students with more access and privilege is comforting. What’s more, their outlook is almost heartwarming.
“We’re ghetto, but we’re smart ghetto,” one Nogales senior is quoted as saying. The article doesn’t mention if the student is going to college in the fall, but statistically he stands as great a chance of going as not, and that simply isn’t okay.
Please support “Reverse the Raid.” Our coalition wants to open up our institutions of higher learning to a wide audience of Americans, Americans who have ambition and spirit, but perhaps not the money.
To learn more, please visit www.mobilize.org/studentdebt.
DP
posted by Mobilizing America's Youth at 12:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home