In the United States, we seem to believe that hard work can solve all of our problems. Education is valued above almost everything else, as it provides a way to earn an income and increases opportunities to become financially secure.

Education should be a solution to poverty; if you work hard, you should reap the rewards. Education should be a way to ensure financial stability, and a college education should land you a job with good benefits. Unfortunately, the public education system and college acceptance processes have failed us. 

The public education system, which ought to provide children in the country with a quality, free education, favors the wealthy. The treatment of schools as economic institutions has caused irreversible damage to students. 

Tanya McDowell, of Bridgeport, Conn., was jailed for stealing education. McDowell sent her then 6-year-old son to a school in Norwalk, Conn., instead of the one he was supposed to attend in Bridgeport. McDowell used a babysitter’s address when enrolling her son at the Norwalk school. At the time, McDowell was homeless. She was charged with and pled guilty to stealing about $15,000 in educational services. 

The school in Norwalk was clearly a better school than the school McDowell’s son should have attended. Math and reading scores in Bridgeport are below the national average, while about 20 percent of student scores in Norwalk are above the national average. Incomes in Norwalk are about twice that of the incomes in Bridgeport. 

McDowell wanted more for her son. She sent him to the best public school in hopes that he could get a good education. The idea that education can lift people out of poverty is inaccurate; because people like McDowell aren’t wealthy, they are excluded from the privilege of a good education. Quality schools are often located in areas with high property taxes, expensive real estate and abundant resources.

Because public schools are typically funded using property taxes, areas with higher property taxes have more resources, enabling them to attract more experienced teachers thus enhancing the overall quality of education. Children from a low-income area should have the same opportunity for quality education as children in a wealthier area — but they don’t.

One of the reasons the education system is failing is because political leaders treat schools like a business. Under Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools have been treated like business ventures rather than places to learn. For example, the Academy for Urban School Leadership is a nonprofit that manages about 30 schools in Chicago. The AUSL maximizes profitability by hiring recent college graduates who have little or no experience but are much cheaper to employ than more experienced educators. Hiring teachers based off how little they can be paid forces education to take a backseat to business principles such as profitability. Four of the seven board of education members are primarily business people, not educators.

Low-income students are also at a disadvantage regarding college acceptance. Test scores are one of the major criteria used to evaluate whether a student should be admitted to a college. Financial resources help people to do better on these tests. Kaplan Test Prep boasts that 95 percent of their students get into at least one of their top college choices. Kaplan has a policy that allows their students that are unsatisfied with their test scores to take additional classes at no expense. But Kaplan ACT prep courses start at $299, and students who can’t afford these types of courses are forced to prepare almost entirely on their own or with whatever resources their high schools have to offer.

Until we stop viewing education as a financial burden and start seeing it as an investment in the future, the education system in this country will continue to fail those who need it the most.

Safia is a senior in LAS. She can be reached at [email protected] and @Safia_Kazi.