Urban students face issues in and out school

Op-Ed by Edward Foxworth III/Tell Us USA News Network

DETROIT (Tell Us USA) - With a new school year officially underway, there remains a concern that the United States ranks 16th, globally, in terms of college graduation rates. In 2010, just under 40% of adults ages 25 to 34 had earned an associate’s, bachelors or graduate degree, which is only a one half-percent increase since 2009.

A question that lingers; Does this problem exist solely on the collegiate level or should we be digging a little deeper into high schools, middle schools or even elementary in an attempt to fix this problem? Or, is it simply a matter of suburban school districts versus inner-city systems?

In an attempt to avoid the debate of race privilege, the fact is, wherever more tax revenues can be collected, the better off the school district is likely to be. More funding means more competitive educator salaries, smaller class sizes, more access to technology within the classroom, cleaner and more advanced facilities, newer books and classroom resources, and even healthier and more nutritious foods. It also means that those who have access to more money tend to get better access to more desirable educational opportunities. Students in such school districts tend to outperform those without these resources.

As a result of this trend, when students in rural or inner city schools get surpassed, they tend to have less of a chance to get into competitive and highly recognized Universities that have coincidently been the institutions where higher paying employers disproportionately recruit.

Yes, teachers in inner-city schools where revenues are lower, are embarrassingly underpaid, often lack the necessary supplies and are forced to be more than a teacher to their students. Yes, students in either of the three school systems, along with their parents, must want to succeed in this area of their lives. And Yes, there must be more weight given to the inherit challenges faced in urban America, including the antiquated buildings that students are forced to learn and teachers teach.

A highly under recognized example, released by the U.S. Education Department for the first time, is the number of homeless students in America topped one million at the end of the 2010-2011 school year. These young people live in shelters, on the streets, in hotels and on the couches of friends and relatives.

If education is truly the number one predictor of economic and social upward mobility then where are we headed as a nation if we operate separate and unequal school systems yet are graded as one nation?

In the end, to achieve higher global ranking, the Department of Education needs at least 60% of young adults in this country to earn a college degree. A statistic that doesn’t always get communicated back to urban households, communities, school districts or the way funds are allocated.

Edward Foxworth is the author of The Six Routines of Self-Discovery, which is available online at www.edwardfoxworth.com and Host of the television show, American Entrepreneur, which airs Saturday’s on the Impact Network.