Barriers to Educational Equity
Disproportionate Poverty and Trauma
Barriers to educational equity include disproportionate poverty. This type of poverty remains one of the most significant moral dilemmas our society faces today. Labor, housing, and education laws, particularly during Jim Crow, primarily set-up a racial caste system. This system continues to make it very difficult for people of color to achieve upward mobility.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (2016), 12% of White children are poor compared to 34% of Black children. Similarly, 17% of Black children live in deep poverty, while only 5% of White children experience the same living conditions. (Koball and Jiang 2018). Nearly two out of three children born into the bottom fifth of the income distribution remain in the bottom two-fifths of the income distribution as adults. (Isaacs, Sawhill, and Haskins 2009). Meaning, for a child born into poverty, there's an excellent chance the child remains in poverty as an adult.
Additionally, because of the disproportionate nature of poverty, a higher number of Black families face multi-generational poverty. Meaning the lack of resources and income get passed down from one generation to the next.
Poverty and Trauma
Although not often included within formal definitions of trauma, poverty also is considered a traumatic event. Low-income families are more likely to experience higher levels of prolonged stress which can contribute to difficulties in later adjustment. (Blair et al. 2011; Jiang, Granja, and Koboll 2017; Wadsworth and Santiago 2008). Previous research suggests that economic hardship negatively affects the overall well-being of a family. The healthy development of brain circuits is dependent on good experiences. (Shanks and Robinson 2013; Tierney and Nelson 2009).
Negative consequences of poverty appear to intensify the longer a child remains impoverished and exposed to stress factors. Because of the intersection between race, poverty, and trauma, many children and families experience complex trauma from historical trauma.
Lebron and colleagues (2015) states, historical trauma is the cumulative adverse effects of racism on the lives of Black people. The trauma of racism has produced negative psychological, health, economic, and social impact on generations of people of color. As a result this repetitive, unresolved trauma overwhelms a person’s and a community’s ability to cope. Also, it creates feelings of powerlessness that continues to perpetuate the cycle.
Lack of Access to High-Quality Early Childhood Education
Likewise another barrier to educational equity includes lack of access to high-quality early childhood educations. Decades of research indicates high-quality early childhood education is one of the most significant investments we can make as a society to level the playing field for all children. Studies also have shown that Black children are the least likely to have access to high-quality care and education. For example, 36% of White children who are enrolled in child care attend high-quality programs, whereas only 25% of Black children participate in such programs. (Barnett and Nores 2013).
Head Start, designed to serve children from very low-income families, focuses on implementing high-quality early childhood services. However, only 26% of programs that serve Black children are considered high-quality. Unlike the 48% of programs where White children receive services are high-quality. Research on accessibility to childcare indicates low-income neighborhoods often are ‘childcare deserts meaning little to no access to high-quality programs.
Neighborhood wealth, maternal employment, and education levels tend to influence the supply of affordable, high-quality childcare. Another influence includes the presence of community-based organizations that advocate for state and federal funding. (Fuller et al. 2002). As such, the supply of high-quality early childhood programs often is limited in high-poverty neighborhoods.
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