Education as a Human Right
In the US, education is not a federal constitutional right, so education laws are made at the state level. Such laws do not account for systemic barriers and states are not required to provide quality accessible education.
The U.S. education system is based on capitalist values and does not focus on cultivating individual students' talents and interests. Instead of important life skills like money management and critical thinking, we are taught Eurocentric history and how to become efficient, complacent employees as adults.
Barriers to Elementary and Secondary Education
American education is one of the most financially inaccessible systems among developed nations. Public schools obtain funding from state and local governments based on their districts’ property taxes. Charter schools are publicly funded, but private companies formulate curricula and distribute funds with minimal state intervention.
Many students face food scarcity or food insecurity in their homes, and schools are not required to provide free, nutritional meal options. Yet, our brains cannot learn if we are hungry.
American schools operate in English, which can make education inaccessible to immigrants. Moreover, states are not required to provide education for undocumented children.
The Inaccessibility of U.S. Colleges
With the average cost to attend an American university at around $30,000, post-secondary education is inaccessible for many marginalized people. Because society holds university degrees as the only valid proof of education, many lower income students are going into substantial debt to gain access to better paying jobs. However, upper class students are more likely to already have access to resourced social networks from a young age and in return have higher paid positions in the future. This is in stark contrast to similarly developed countries where university education is free.
The Future of Education
This current era of technology has increased most people's ability to access knowledge and communicate globally. We can now acquire education through non-institutional and more accessible means such as free e-books, courses, and informational videos.
As we move toward valuing non-institutional education, we must include all wisdom in the conversation - as different cultures and backgrounds have a lot to teach us. Knowledge and wisdom from Black and Indigenous communities are valuable and can help us decolonize education. Reframing our perspectives on education from a privilege to a fundamental right and fighting for that right will help us all gain access to higher-quality lives.
What barriers to education have you noticed? What are your thoughts on the evolution of education?