The Inequities Of Back To School

For the past several years, I have witnessed an increasingly inequitable school supply list define a child in school based on class. As an educational professional, and as a parent I am concerned how the school supply list defines a child's sense of self. Increasingly, children are growing up in a caste system defined by the corporate nature adopted by our educational system. Unfortunately, the divide between have's and have not's can be defined by a child's level of preparedness in our schools and their ability to provide their own supplies for learning.

This year, the supplies for my children have sky rocketed past the 200.00 level. The lists are extensive. In middle school, each teacher has a list and it is very specific. As I shop for supplies every year, I wonder how a child in poverty, or a child going through unfortunate circumstances can afford the lists that haunt so many families.  School supplies will define a child on the first day of school. It is literally the first impression their classmates and teacher will have to define who a child is economically.

A child's ability to provide for supplies is more important than some realize. Kids and adults notice the differences. Many communities try to compensate the divide through giveaways. Giveaways unfortunately have a habit of  defining the child's social status. For example, kids know the difference between the expensive backpacks that are reserved for the upper class children versus the giveaway backpack. Brand names for supplies will also define who a child is when they start school. There is a big difference between name brand supplies versus the inferior products children will get in their backpack giveaways.

Technology is another barrier. Calculators for example define status. Kids will come to school with one that their parents purchased, or they will have to sign one out from their school. There is a big difference when a child loses one from their parents, versus the countless reminders their teacher will give them about taking care of the school's calculator. This defines class, as surely as a free and reduced lunch provides a sense of self in school.

Some children will come to school unprepared as they missed the backpack giveaway. All year, a few will hear the chatter of frustrations from teachers and classmates. The phrase "Can I borrow" becomes a lightning rod of frustration. "Why can't you just come to class prepared" is their new mantra that greets many kids that are unprepared.

The United States Public Education system has become by definition, a symbol of class warfare. The kids with expensive I Phones and Nike Shoes sit along side their classmates with minimal means. The school supplies add to the frustrations of kids who lack the proper resources due to poverty. Kids will learn about an unjust world in which some children struggle for basic clothing and supplies. The disparities serve as a daily reminder of their status in the world they live in.

The caste system that exists in schools has long term detrimental effects on children in poverty. Some children coming to school with minimal supplies. They will be grouped with their peers of "unprepared to learn" learners. This reduces their access to educational opportunities due to their status, versus their ability to learn. Research has shown that the disparities due to poverty are barriers to access to educational opportunities.

Equitable funding is the only solution and it seems we are nowhere close to considering an approach that provides school supplies for children anytime soon. It is a simple solution, however our current political landscape will not allow for such thinking. In the meantime, our country will continue to remind kids that the caste they are born into, will be increasingly difficult to leave without an equitable system of education funding and opportunities.


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