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The Gap Between the Rich and Poor

Society is blinded by stereotypes! It is believed that everybody has the same
opportunities in life to get ahead. Meaning no matter where a person grow up or what situation
they are in they can be successful. This isnt the case all the time. It takes more for some people
to be successful. Even though most people believe that everybody has the same opportunity
when attending school, the rich has a greater advantage than the poor because the educational
gap is growing! There are multiple factors that tie into the advantage the rich have over the poor.
Influences, money, resources, environments, are all examples.

This
chart shows the percent of the lowest income people who receives a bachelor degree by the age
of 24 and the highest income people who receive their bachelors degree by the age of 24. The
chart shows an almost consistent rate of staying below ten percent. The chart also shows the
highest income people starting at forty percent and reaching up to eighty percent. In year 2010

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the chart shows a sixty eight percent difference between the high income students and the low
income students.
The gap between the rich and the poor and education is a study of why the success rate of
children in low socioeconomic backgrounds is so low based on people in high socioeconomic
backgrounds. College completion is the single and most important predictor of success in the
workforce. (Mcglynn 2) The gap between rich student grow each year starting from kindergarten
and by high school the gap is huge.(Mcglynn 2). By the time a poor child is one years old, she
has most likely already fallen behind a middle class child in the ability to talk, learn, and
understand. (Mcglynn 3).
A doctor once told me All you touch and see is all you will ever be. Meaning the
successful people in a persons environment that they see is who they will look up to be. In a
persons mind thats what they put as being successful. So if growing up all they watch is rap
videos and thats what seems as being successful to them, they are going to want to be a rapper.
If growing up a persons parents are doctors and lawyers they are going to want to follow their
path and become something similar if not the same thing. Influences in a persons life impact
greatly who they will want to be in life and ways to go about achieving it.

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This image shows the success rate of schools test scores with less than ten percent in poverty and
the rest wealthy students and the way down to schools test scores where seventy five percent or
more student are in poverty. Showing the schools with less poverty deprived kids scoring almost
six hundred in math and science in fourth and eighth grade, versus kids with more poor students
only ranking in the four hundreds. This chart shows an almost 200 point difference.
Money plays a huge factor in the gap between the rich and poor and education. If a
person doesnt have the money to attend school, how will they do it? The rich believe that the
poor are taken care of because of the federal program they are granted. This isnt the case
because the cost of college is higher, grants dont cover as much, and grants were decreased.
(Armario 4) . With the cost of college being higher and the amount a person receive in grants
decreased it sometimes mean that poor people have to come out of pocket to help pay for
college. This is often times hard especially if a person dont have money for the regular things

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they need in day to day life. Whereas rich people can afford to pay for college whether they have
to set up a payment plan or just pay it all initially. Income can affect how much time a students
have to study.(Rubin 3). If a poor student is barely making it they cant afford to just go to school
and to not work, whereas the rich people have parents or other resources funding them money.
So since the rich dont have to work they have more time to study.
Resources also tie a big factor into the gap between the rich and poor and education. If a
person is rich their parents can afford to pay for extra tutoring lessons, provide essential books,
provide cultural enrichment through travel, and other advantages that parents can buy. (Vance 1).
Technology has become essential to learning but if poor parents cant always afford the
technology needed for students to be successful.(survey 1). When a persons parents actually
invest in their education it helps them to achieve the resources they need to be successful. The
better educated parents lavish on their childrens education they invest their money in things they
know will benefit their childs education. (porter 2). In comparison, some poor people dont have
people investing in their education because most of the time they are headed by a single parent
who dont have the time to fully involve themselves to take their kids to basketball practice,
cheerleading practice, etc.(Tavernise, 2). Poor people invest their time in their childs education
but is very limited on what they can do due to the lack of resources.(Mcglynn 3). Children in low
socioeconomic environments are seven times more likely to be born to a teenage mother. Only
half of the students born in low socioeconomic environments have both parents in the home.
(Porter 2). Whereas, the rich having eighty three percent of college graduates having both parents
in the home. Its like a person going to work and not having their uniform on in a strict work
environment. Their job will most likely send them home. The same applies to school, a person
can go to school, but if they dont have all the tools necessary they most likely wont be

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successful. The tools necessary to be successful in school are things such as, guidance, support,
or even knowledge.
If a person lives in an environment where nobody even has the thought of going to school
or nobody has really done it how will they want to go to school and think they will be successful
at it? Whereas, if a person lives in an environment and everybody around them has been to
school and doing something positive with their life how would they not feel it is destined for
them to go to school and the need to be successful at it? A persons environment they grow up in
plays a significant role in their choices they make in life. (Berg 4). Traits habits, attitudes and
values play a significant role in a persons academic achievement in school and all these factors
are environmentally determined.(Berg 4). So if a person is around people who start things and
when things get tough they dont have the drive to finish them successfully, when its that
persons turn to achieve something and it gets too complicated they most likely wont achieve
their goal either.
Everybody gets judged. Its not right, but it happens! I like to base my thoughts on facts.
It is clear thats the rich have an advantage over the poor in the education system because they
have all the right influences, they have a sufficient amount of money needed, they have the
resources, and they grow up in nice environments. If two people were thrown in the maze (rich
student, and a poor student), told to race their way out (complete college), one has directions to
halfway through the maze (the rich student), the other is thrown in completely unaware of their
location (poor student), who do you believe will win (complete college)? Kids that have college
educated parents are 2 times more likely to go to college versus a student who parents only
graduated high school. Kids thats have college educated parents are 7 times more likely to go to

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school than kids with parents that are high school drop outs. (Porter 2). The achievement gap
between the rich and the poor is wider than ever!(Porter 3).

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Armario, Christine. "College gap widens; Study measures growing rich/poor divide." Telegram
& Gazette (Worcester, MA) 2015: InfoTrac Newsstand. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Berg, Gary A. Low-Income Students And The Perpetuation Of Inequality : Higher Education In
America. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
McGlynn, Angela Provitera. "The Rich-Poor Gap Widens." Education Digest 79.6 (2014):
55. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Porter, Eduardo. "Education Gap Widens Between Rich and Poor." The New York Times 2015:
1. Academic OneFile. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Rubin, Mark, et al. "I Am Working-Class": Subjective Self-Definition As A Missing Measure Of
Social Class And Socioeconomic Status In Higher Education Research." Educational
Researcher 43.4 (2014): 196-200. ERIC. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
"Survey Finds Gap In Internet Access Between Rich, Poor Students." Newsletter On Intellectual
Freedom 62.3 (2013): 102. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with
Full Text. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Vance, Noelle. "Privilege And Disadvantage In U.S. Education." Research Starters: Sociology
(Online Edition) (2015): Research Starters. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Digital image. The Education Trust, 21 May 2013. Web.

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< http://scied.ucar.edu/blog/equity-access-opportunity-and-will>
Digital image. TIMSS, 2003. Web.
<http://sitemaker.umich.edu/salas.356/more_money__better_grades>.