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Education Inequality in the United States: a Wicked Problem with a Wicked Solution

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Education Inequality in the United States: a Wicked Problem with a Wicked Solution Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2021 Education Inequality in the United States: A Wicked Problem With a Wicked Solution Lincoln Bernard Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses Part of the American Politics Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Economic Policy Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Education Economics Commons, Education Policy Commons, Infrastructure Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Public Administration Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Public Policy Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons, Social Policy Commons, and the Social Welfare Commons Recommended Citation Bernard, Lincoln, "Education Inequality in the United States: A Wicked Problem With a Wicked Solution" (2021). CMC Senior Theses. 2780. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2780 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Claremont McKenna College Education Inequality in the United States: A Wicked Problem With a Wicked Solution submitted to Professor George Thomas by Lincoln Bernard for Senior Thesis Fall 2020 – Spring 2021 May 3rd, 2021 Abstract A problem wicked in its complexity and detriment; the United States has failed most of its students in its inability to address the unashamedly rampant inequality throughout its public education system. The inequality in American public schools appears evident and boundless, but the causes of that inequality, and especially its solutions, are not as obvious. It is easy to explain away the system’s failures as a product of the United States’ ultra-varied environment, but further investigation reveals much of the systems problems are self-caused, resulting from the United States’ uniquely local approach to supporting its schools. A misguided fear of education investment and reform has led the country to rely on localized funding, with minimal redistribution among districts and states. While state and federal governments have taken a hands off approach on funding, anxieties about how those funds are used have left schools accountable to governments out of touch with the schools and communities they control. Rather than give schools and teachers the autonomy they need to counteract unequal circumstances, teachers in high-need schools find themselves limited by the government, the resources available to them, and the communities they find themselves teaching in. A school in a high-needs district or state is typically suffering from not just one problem, but a proliferating collective. Schools that need the most help, are typically getting the least. It is an education system of many components strung together to be to the benefit of some, and the detriment of most. No government reform has taken a big step forward in addressing the inequality of school quality, but recent increased transparency has granted education researchers a collection of school funding data finally extensive enough to reveal solutions. Relying on that data, and an understanding of American education inequality built over the first two sections, feasible reforms to the system arise as they never had before: An equitable system for funding, found in Wyoming, that presents itself as a viable model to be applied nationwide. The state and federal government are shown to be able to fund education as it requires to be funded, reversing the current trend of underfunding. Teachers remain a big part of the solution: much of the problems that plague United States education can be addressed by preparing teachers better, giving them more autonomy, and paying them more. Finally, through expanding Head Start, the country builds the strong foundation its most vulnerable children need. In solving a complicated problem, what results is a complicated, yet profitable investment in America’s children, exhaustively demonstrated to be affordable and possible. In reforming education inequality, the country ensures a collective greatness for generations to come. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 4 Part 1: The Widespread Inequality 9 I. Ineffective Schools ………………………………………….……………. 9 II. A Descent …………………………………………………….…………… 9 III. Among Race and Ethnicity ………………………………….…………. 12 IV. Among Districts and States ……………………………….……………. 19 V. Among Teachers ………………………………………….……..……… 28 Part 2: Causes of Inequality 31 I. The Misguidance of Previous Research ……………………………….. 31 II. Property-Taxes …………………………………………………………. 39 III. State Funding Allocation Policy …………………………….…………. 42 IV. Title I (Federal Funding) …………………………………….…………. 44 V. Teacher and Curriculum Inequality ……………………….………….. 50 VI. The Charter School Distraction ……………………………….………. 55 VII. Lingering Qualms About Significantly Increasing Investment in Public Education ……………………………………………………………….. 61 Part 3: Addressing Inequality 65 I. How a Proper Investment in Education Pays for Itself…………………65 II. The Allocation Problem ….……………………..……………………….. 67 III. The State and Federal Role ……………………..……………………... 106 IV. The Teacher, Curriculum, and Accountability Problem …………….. 138 V. Establishing a Solid Foundation through Early Intervention ……….. 178 Conclusion 183 Bibliography 186 2 Acknowledgements This thesis would not be possible without its advisor, Professor George Thomas, who not only pushed me to solve something more than just “the teacher problem,” but stuck with me throughout the whole process no matter how crazy it got. Thank you for your feedback, and your words of encouragement throughout this whole undertaking. This thesis began as an idea I had in a philosophy paper back in 2018, and if it was not for Professor Paul Hurley entertaining my wild and unfocused ideas, there is no doubt I would never have been able to foster and focus half the proposals that appear throughout this paper. Thank you Professor Hurley. Professor Thomas of course deserves credit as a fellow enabler. To Professor John Pitney, who helped me write like a college student like no one could and who throughout writing this, has taught me much more in his feedback. Few professors embody the “teacher” aspect of being a professor like you do. I thank you every time I have to write a paper, as I thank you now in writing the biggest one I have ever written. To my parents who took so much time out of their busy lives to help me write this, being there to make sure every word I wrote was in order. I feel this paper was an editor’s nightmare, but that did not stop you from going out of your way to help. Thank you. To my “support” team, C5, Ken Kong, Thomas Chalothron, Mason Chiu, Yusuf Ismaeel, and Brandon Piel. Your comments were not always helpful, but they were appreciated. You all helped me get through this thing. To Ali McKersie, who probably inspired my love of reforms and proposals back in 2014, only to help me with the most meaningful academic proposals of my life in 2021. If you were every child’s teacher, I think it would only be a matter of time before most of the world’s problems would be solved. To Mr. Miller, the legend coming out of retirement to tirelessly help his former student with one last essay. You are the embodiment of an effective teacher, and I would not be at this wonderful school without your dedication to teaching, and to your students. You especially, made me think it was possible for the United States’ education system to be successful; that a system could take individuals that the country had failed on many levels, and lead them to success no matter the circumstances. Thank you for all the time you have given me throughout the years, I am trying not to waste a second. And, finally, to all the teachers in my life who believed in me, worked with me, and pushed me to be the person I am today. I think you are all the foundation of society, and you better the world like almost no other job can. I probably never thanked you, and I want to say I have only the deepest gratitude for all you have done for me. I owe a lot of my teachers everything. 3 Introduction The tools to succeed have been kept from prospective pediatricians, governors, artists, veterinarians, doctors, ballet dancers, astronauts, obstetricians, nurses, designers, architects, presidents, captains, police, actors, musicians and teachers (Common, 2005). Children who achieve their dreams in the strikingly broken United States school system are not the norm, but the lucky few. In not only underfunding their education system, but allowing a rampant level of inequality to flourish throughout its schools, the country has set up its future taxpayers, voters, and Samaritans for failure. As things currently stand, the United States has all but given up on their future. For the last half-century there has been a diverse breadth of literature detailing the shortcomings of the United States education system, and especially inequality within schools. But, without much information on how the thousands of local districts support their schools, not to mention a state and federal system shrouded in complexity, finding the causes remained a lot harder of an effort then spotting the problems. Only in the past few years have education researchers interested in the inequalities of school funding had access to exhaustive data on how the United States funds their schools
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