It’s hard to argue that poverty does not affect education. It’s hard to argue that children who come from homes where they may be wanting—wanting for food, for time, or for resources—don’t enter the school door with a little less than others. And it’s hard to argue that children living in poverty and attending schools that are underfunded, underresourced, and understaffed are not literally up against the system.
We have established a system where those who are poor are more likely to stay poor, and lately we have seen a sharp increase in those considered poor. In fact, a recent research bulletin from the Southern Education Foundation highlights that, as of this year, the majority of public school children come from poverty. According to the bulletin,
As a country, we have deep-rooted negative stereotypes about people living in poverty, despite the fact that people who live in poverty are as diverse in their norms, beliefs, and behaviors as people who live in any other socioeconomic stratum. Poverty spans geographical and ethnic boundaries, from urban cities to rural towns. There are many communities that have battled poverty for decades and many where poverty has arrived recently, unexpectedly, and in a rush.
So what do we do? Rather than just get angry, we must get active.
We can and should commit to addressing poverty via intersectoral alignment, change the formula by which we fund our schools, and ensure that inequities are at the heart of all policy discussions. Funding education via property taxes aligned to varying algorithms of local, state, and federal streams results in fundamental inequities. Such systems reward those who require the least rewarding and instruct those living in the poorest areas that the only way out is to relocate, which undermines the notion that education is the great equalizer.
If we dive deeper into these broad systemic changes, we see that there are a number of specific intermediate actions that we can all demand our policymakers undertake in order to directly and profoundly influence the education, well-being, and living conditions of children in poverty today.
Maximize Meal Programs
Just over a fifth of U.S. children live in a household that is “food insecure”—that is, having limited or uncertain access to adequate food at some point during the year. For some children, the food they receive through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs is their only sustenance. These efforts should remain priorities when the Child Nutrition Act is reauthorized, and states with low direct certification rates should receive support to improve their systems and expand child access.
Improve School Climate
According to Eric Jensen and the Center for New York City Affairs, high-poverty schools are more likely to struggle with school climate concerns such as absenteeism and truancy, bullying, and trust and engagement issues that can weaken the learning environment. Research by the National School Climate Center has consistently demonstrated that a positive school climate is associated with academic achievement, effective risk-prevention efforts, and positive youth development.
Improve Access to Advanced Coursework
Students in poverty should receive just as much access to relevant and challenging coursework through multiple pathways (e.g., Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual-enrollment programs) as their wealthier counterparts. But simply offering them the same number of rigorous courses isn’t enough. They should also be provided with the academic supports they need to thrive and succeed in those courses.
Poverty affects our education, our economy, and our future. It is becoming the norm, and we appear reluctant to address it. What was once a local, regional, or state concern is now a national issue and will affect our national progress. But we have the steps in place to change it—and we’ve had these steps for over half a century. What has been waning is our will to act and our determination to succeed.
The benefit we have is that we know what we need to take to make a difference in the longer term and even within the current systems. There are steps we can take tomorrow in our classrooms and this year in our policy decisions. We know the direction the trend is heading and we know the consequences of inaction, but are we ready to make the change?