The founding fathers of the American constitution meant well when they said "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed with certain unalienable rights." However, they might be living in a dream world because that certainly hasn't been the case throughout the history of the United States. One area where discrimination rear its ugly head strongly is in the American education system.
One does not need to go far to find evidence how racial, ethnic, religious, social, and gender discrimination is at play in schools. Just read the headlines and there they are staring at you in big black and white letters.
A glaring example of this discrimination can be seen in the public school system wherein public schools are funded by property taxes that come from the residents of the community. Consequently, if a community belongs to a low-income or poverty-stricken group, there will be a lack of funding as well which affects the quality of education received by students in that particular area.
This inequality becomes much greater with racial practices, such as redlining and gentrification. In redlining, banks deny loans to people of color further impending them to own homes in particular neighborhoods or communities. The Washington Post had an article revealing that such practices are still alive in the modern society.
Gentrification, on the other hand, is the process where a large number of affluent families move into communities driving housing costs higher. As a result, those who cannot afford these housing costs are forced to transfer to another area. A report made by Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service showed that this practice is still happening.
These practices create a culture where low-income families and people of color are driven into specific neighborhoods which are densely populated, with a lack of funds, and low quality of education offered to students.
While these practices are going on, experts and lawmakers are still debating for an effective way how to redistribute funding to areas which needed it the most. One proposed method in order to eliminate these existing inequalities is to allocate property taxes to areas where there is a lack of funds. It's an effective and sustainable method but it is still in the hands of legislators who will decide whether they will deem it effective or not.
