Who Really Benefits from Education?

Education is meant to be the great equalizer, offering every student an equal chance to succeed regardless of their background. However, history demonstrates that this has not always been true. Schools have assisted immigrants in learning English, adapting to American life, and discovering opportunities, but they have also significantly influenced who advances and who remains stagnant. I can attest to this firsthand as an immigrant. I didn’t know the language when I arrived in this country, and adjusting to a new culture was challenging. Like the immigrant students mentioned in the text, I had to work twice as hard just to keep up. Education provided me with a chance to grow, but I also recognized how the system does not function the same for everyone. Schools should be environments that nurture all students, not ones that constrain their futures based on their origins. Take intelligence testing and tracking, for instance. These tests, developed by psychologists like Thorndike and Terman, claimed to measure intelligence, but in reality, they merely reflected who had more advantages growing up. Instead of viewing students as individuals with potential, schools relied on these scores to determine who gained access to college prep classes and who was funneled into vocational programs. And guess who typically ended up in the lower tracks? Mostly working-class and immigrant kids, making it even harder for them to escape the cycle of poverty.

Vocational tracking was another way the system reinforced class divisions instead of breaking them down. Schools claimed these programs helped students prepare for jobs, but in reality, they kept many immigrant and working-class kids in low-paying careers with no way to move up (Samantha’s argument). Once students were placed in these tracks, they weren’t given the same opportunities as others who were expected to go to college. This wasn’t education, it was a way of sorting students into roles society had already decided for them. Even outside the classroom, the system shaped students’ futures in ways that weren’t always fair. Gerald points out that the text barely touches on the long-term consequences of tracking. Labeling kids as “hand-minded” didn’t just affect what they learned in school; it affected the rest of their lives. Instead of having options, many students were stuck in whatever path the system had chosen for them, and for immigrant students, the school wasn’t just about learning math and reading, it was about learning how to be “American.” Sabrina’s argument highlights how public schools pushed immigrants to change their culture, sometimes at the cost of losing their own traditions. Learning English and American customs helped them fit in, but it also meant giving up parts of their identity. Schools should be a place that opens doors, not one that forces students to leave parts of themselves behind, but even though the system has these problems, that doesn’t mean students like me don’t have a chance. It might be harder, and I might fail sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up. Just because something is difficult doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I know that if I keep pushing forward, I can still succeed. Education should be an open door for everyone, and even if some of us have to fight harder to get through it, that doesn’t mean we can’t make it.

By: Alba Sánchez 

 

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