It is a fact that education has for a long time been considered an ideal, and as such celebrated in various contexts. According to Ainscow (2015) , even during the founding fathers period, education was ideal and every child and adults were entitled to it. It is however saddening that the practice of equity in education has been far from the truth. Cochran-Smith, Ell, Grudnoff, Haigh, Hill, and Ludlow (2016) says that equity is a very complex ideal and very difficult to achieve. In fact, government institutions and strategies put forward to ensure equity have fallen short both in enforcing and implementation.
One of the strategies and policies that have been implemented to ensure equity in education by the government is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 ( Cochran-Smith et al. 2016) . But, most presidents, including the former, Mr. Obama, an individual who advocated for equality in almost all fields – health, jobs, education among many others – failed in managing equity in education. According to report dubbed "For Each and Every Child”, there are disparities in the education system depending on the neighborhoods and races ( Equity and Excellence Commission, Edley, & Cuéllar, 2013). The report indicated that most of the whites, especially the teeming ones, get a world-class education while those in poor neighborhoods, mostly the Hispanics and the blacks, get almost an equivalent of developing nations' education.
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The dream of ensuring that quality education is given to every child in the United States is important. However, it is a tough course that the government has failed to comprehend. According to the government narrative, disparities in quality of education is as a result of funding differences. The government has always recommended that to ensure equity in terms of quality education then it has to adopt and implement a school finance system which strives to ensure equitable and sufficient funding for all schools, irrespective of location. Essentially, the government is assuming that money poured into schools is enough to solve the issue of disparities in education quality. Ainscow (2015) s ays that pouring money in poorer schools is not the solution.
The issue of equity, possibly equality, is so complex than it is put. There are various elements that come into play when striving to ensure equity in education. The government must understand that immediate financials might not be the solution. For instance, most of the opulent schools in the United States have constantly been benefiting from getting best teachers. This is because it is desirable to be placed in those areas compared to placement in poor neighborhoods. The government should, therefore, look into the equitable distribution of best teachers.
References
Ainscow, M. (2015). Struggles for equity in education: The selected works of Mel Ainscow . Routledge.
Cochran-Smith, M., Ell, F., Grudnoff, L., Haigh, M., Hill, M., & Ludlow, L. (2016). Initial teacher education: What does it take to put equity at the center?. Teaching and Teacher Education , 57 , 67-78.
Equity and Excellence Commission, Edley, C. F., & Cuéllar, M. F. (2013). For each and every child: A strategy for education equity and excellence . The Commission.
