Inequalities in Public Education Systems - Essay Example

According to the structural-functionalist theory, it expounds on the limitation of public education schools in preparing students for the labor force and competing globally. In this regard, contemporary public education is not producing well-educated students as leaders of the next generation. For example, in 2007 sixteen percent of students in grades K-12 were enrolled in a select public school, seventy percent to an allocated public school, and twelve percent went to a non-sectarian or religious school. The implication is that almost seventy percent of the student populace failed to achieve the level needed to be a national or global competitor.

According to the critical conflict theory, it poses that the main function of education institutions is towards the reduction of social inequalities pervading society. On the contrary, the public education system perpetuates inequalities based on race, class, and gender. In this regard, class is an inequality pervading the public education system since students enroll in such institutions with varying amounts of cultural capital attained at home. Examples of the varying cultural capital include education and financial status. Consequently, class inequality pervades based on the different levels of exposure to cultural capital.

The symbolic interactionist theory exposes the problem of the public education system through labeling within the classroom. In this regard, most public education systems are guilty of labeling students with different labels based on race, special needs, or family income status. These labels are instigated by fellow student peers, teachers, or the school's administration when registering the students. Consequently, the ‘labeled’ student identifies herself or himself from the perspective of teachers or students.

How the articles by Kozol Cookson and Persell (Ore, 22), and Sadker and Sadker (Ore, 24), demonstrate how the educational system provides a sense of status and upward mobility for some while maintaining an oppressive situation for others.

According to Kozol Cookson and Persell, Prep teams compete with other prep teams, college freshmen teams, and at times public schools. This presents the possibility of humiliation on the field for the defeated team as well as the increased risk of fraternization in the stands when the townie meets prep (316). Another example of such inequality is evident when Kozol Cookson and Persell state that the position of power in coeducational schools is normally monopolized by schoolboys about their female counterparts (319).

According to Sadker and Sadker (337), there is inherent gender segregation in school-going children. In this regard, they established that more than half of children exhibited communication across race when compared to gender in elementary learning institutions (337).

Education created a sense of oppression in my life through the gender segregation in performing certain school activities. For example, certain sports activities such as lacross were limited to a select click of students with a perceived level of cultural capital.

From the findings above it is evident that there exist stark inequalities within the education systems that ironically contradict the basic tenets of education. In this regard, the education system contributes towards the social problems and inequalities instead of providing solutions to the same.