Fighting U.S. Education Gap at Its Core

As a student at UC Berkeley, I have studied how poverty, disease and political instability determine a country’s developmental capacities. I—like most Americans—associated dire poverty as an occurrence which largely plagued underdeveloped regions and did not exist to such a severe degree on American soil. Hurricane Katrina however, instantly changed my perception. I would have never imaged the bloated bodies, the stranded children or the appalling government response as a part of U.S. history: Unlike other nations, we have the political infrastructure and capital to not only respond to such events but also to prevent them. However, the United States failed to protect its own. In the end, the aftermath exposed the savage inequalities that divide American society.

As a society, we claim that education has the potential to alleviate American poverty, while decreasing drug use and crime rates. Education then, serves as a panacea for our nation’s social ills. Sadly however, the “Katrina fatigue” that quickly developed over the national concern for the poor has enveloped the debate over educational inequity. And like U.S. poverty, the state of our country’s educational system remains dire as a result. Statistics reveal that nine-year-olds growing up in low-income communities (primarily black and Hispanic children) stand three grade levels behind their peers in wealthier communities. More shocking, half of them will not graduate from high school, and those who do manage to graduate will, on average, read and do math at the level of eighth-graders in high-income communities. This is the achievement gap: the disparity in academic achievement between low-income minority students and their middle or upper-class white counterparts.

Across the campus, we experience the consequences of the achievement gap with the dwindling numbers of black and Hispanic enrollment. And while the issue of affirmative action divides, critics and politicians across the board agree that the educational system must change dramatically to provide quality education for all U.S. youth. Teach For America is working to do just that. For the past 16 years, Teach For America has remained determined to close the achievement gap by recruiting passionate college graduates of all majors and pursuits from the nation’s top colleges to teach in low-income public schools across the country. From bustling urban centers to rural Southern landscapes or amidst the wreckage left behind by Katrina, 4,400 Teach For America corps members are implementing high standards in low performing schools with impressive results. Studies show that Teach For America corps members make more progress in both reading and math than is typically expected in a year, and three out of four principals where corps members work rate Teach For America teachers’ training as better than that of other beginning teachers.

The organization has taken the lead in the fight towards equal educational opportunity and its impact is powerful. Since its creation in 1989, Teach For America has impacted nearly 2.5 million children around the country. Corps members create immediate change in the lives of students in low-income communities by giving them the tools they need to learn and succeed. But Teach For America’s long-term impact is perhaps even more important: After their two year commitment ends, Teach For America alumni become part of a movement. More than 60 percent of the program’s alumni continue to work in the field of education, becoming school board members, principals and founders of new schools, while others go into fields such as public health or public policy to address the structural issues that perpetuate both poverty and the achievement gap. They are a 12,000 person army for systemic change. And the movement continues to grow.

I applied for Teach For America because I—like many of my peers—became frustrated with simply learning about national and international inequality. Although I mentored students in West Oakland and joined various international campaigns, I still felt that wasn’t enough. I was on the periphery of these movements, not in their midst. Moreover, I found the idea of simply replacing my parents in the work force to make money unsettling and dissatisfying. So I applied, and after the interview process, I was invited to teach elementary school children in New York City next fall.

It wasn’t until after I accepted the invitation to join Teach For America that I realized the genuine potential of our generation. While we have been called jaded and cynical by politicians and commentators, I believe we are looking for a cause. Something to fight for, something to believe in. We don’t just want to talk about problems any longer: we want to act.

After Hurricane Katrina, it is young people who continue to spend their Spring breaks clearing the wreckage left by the storm. It is also our generation that is helping to fight the war in both Iraq and Afghanistan. After coming to UC Berkeley and meeting some of the most critically astute young people in the country, I am certain we are among the brightest, most informed generations this nation has seen. We care about issues, not partisan politics. Whether it is Habitat for Humanity, the Save Darfur Campaign, or Making Waves, we have taken on the fight to bring about equity both here and abroad. We have the potential to impact change. And I cannot wait to start.

Tags: