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Fears for Tiers: The Fix Is In
Part 2b: Systemic Discrimination sets the stage for the DeVos Agenda
In Part 2a, we saw an example of how the DeVos Department of Education uses racial inequity in school discipline to strengthen wealth inequality. In a more general manner, this strategy permeates the DeVos Agenda, which uses problems within the educational system as a sledgehammer to destroy (rather than improve) the system. The DeVos Agenda promises equal opportunity for all, but it delivers opportunity to only the very wealthy.
The fix is in.
Systemic racial / economic discrimination has existed in America’s school systems from the very beginning. Although we have made progress in providing equal opportunity for traditionally disadvantaged groups, the gap between education for the wealthy and education for the middle and working classes is still jarring.
A report from Georgetown University, Born to Win, Schooled to Lose, points out that
Among the affluent, a kindergartner with test scores in the bottom half has a 7 in 10 chance of reaching high SES [socio-economic status] among his or her peers as a young adult, while a disadvantaged kindergartner with top-half test scores only has a 3 in 10 chance.
