Southern Education Foundation (SEF) has released a study saying that according to the latest data collected—through 2013—about 51 percent of the students in public schools across the United States are living in low-income situations.
Most of the states with a majority of low income students are found in the South and the West. Thirteen of the 21 states with a majority of low income students in 2013 were located in the South, and six of the other 21 states were in the West.
Mississippi led the nation with the highest rate: 71 percent, almost three out of every four public school children in Mississippi, were low-income. The nation’s second highest rate was found in New Mexico, where 68 percent of all public school students were low income in 2013.
After decades of starving children in public schools, there have been some small movements towards reintroducing free school lunches. Hey kids, let’s get some bootstraps on.
“When they first come in my door in the morning, the first thing I do is an inventory of immediate needs: Did you eat? Are you clean? A big part of my job is making them feel safe,” said Sonya Romero-Smith, a veteran teacher at Lew Wallace Elementary School in Albuquerque. Fourteen of her 18 kindergartners are eligible for free lunches.
She helps them clean up with bathroom wipes and toothbrushes, and she stocks a drawer with clean socks, underwear, pants and shoes.
This teacher’s first problem is caring about the kids she teaches. When I was a kid you had to have your bootstraps tied up tight and walk through snow—it also helped if you came from a well-to-do family.
The amount spent on each student can vary wildly from state to state. States with high student-poverty rates tend to spend less per student: Of the 27 states with the highest percentages of student poverty, all but five spent less than the national average of $10,938 per student.
One of the problems is that conservatives don’t want to spend money on public education. Another major problem is that there are many “free market liberals” who believe that charter schools and privatization of public education is a good way to go—but charter schemes, no matter how well intentioned, usually come at the expense of the majority of children in a given region. For example, Bill Gates’s push for charter school funding in Washington state.
First, the highest state court ordered the legislature to fund the schools fairly. For every day the legislature fails to do so, it pays a fine of $100,000. This affects 1,070,000 children.
Second, the court ruled that charter schools are not public schools and cannot receive public funding. This was a direct rebuff of Bill Gates, who lives in Seattle and spent millions on a referendum supporting charters that won by less than 1%. He and his friends want the legislature to bypass the court ruling so charters can get public money. This affects 1,000 children.
In the end, SEF Vice President Steve Suitts says it best:
“No longer can we consider the problems and needs of low income students simply a matter of fairness… Their success or failure in the public schools will determine the entire body of human capital and educational potential that the nation will possess in the future. Without improving the educational support that the nation provides its low income students – students with the largest needs and usually with the least support -- the trends of the last decade will be prologue for a nation not at risk, but a nation in decline…"