The Myth of Equal Education

There has been a strong push to ensure equal educational opportunity to all American citizens since the mid-1950s. Efforts have included court cases, state legislation, and a re-aligning of state funding to individual school districts, but the disparity continues without much change. Across the country, inner-city public school facilities are in poor condition, staff tends to be less expert, and equipment and supplies are clearly inferior to that of their suburban counterparts.

The characteristics of the poverty culture housed in these schools, moreover, mean that these student populations are far more at risk for educational failure than than suburban counterparts. There have been herculean efforts on the part of most cities to integrate their school populations, in an effort to provide more equality, but, in most cases, these plans have resulted in the more capable poor children being moved to formerly white schools...