Educational Inequality: An Impediment to True Democracy in the United States

Abstract

Many people believe that democracy is something that can lead everyone toward a better nation and a free and fair society. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education fundamentally changed the education system in the United States and was a turning point in the evolution of U.S. democracy that made the beautiful American dream available for each individual. However, six decades later, the debate over educational inequality continues. People are still fighting for their equality and well-being.Along with dramatically influential political, economic, and social factors in the United States, educational inequality destroys the commitment of this democratic nation to offer equal opportunity, care, and social justice to younger members of the community. This paper discusses the current problem of educational inequality as it relates to racial and socioeconomic discrimination in urban schools. The aim of this study is to explore knowledge of inequality in the U.S. school system and to raise social and educational awareness to help American children to have equal chances in education and to achieve future success. KeywordsDemocracy, public education, social mobility, racial inequality, socioeconomic inequality Public education is a constructive mechanism that prepares children for citizenship and educates them to live in a healthy civic society, and to foster a nation with democracy (Hochschild and Scovronick 2003;Gutmann 1999;Labaree 1997). The early framework of the democratic purpose of education was associated with the public good and aimed to promote the formation of moral character in citizens of the United States (J. Goodland, Mantle-Bromley, and S. The goals of public schooling are to give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business, to know his rights and exercise with order and justice those he retains, and in general to observe with intelligence and faithfulness all the social relations under which he shall be placed. (as cited in L. Pangle and T. Pangle 2000: 25)