Poverty in Education

Poverty doesn't show up in one form, not at all. Poverty affects education in so very many ways and it isn't merely of a school system being denied or not able to raise the funds to adequately take care of the needs of all of the students. This, of course, is a very real problem in many schools in America.

But poverty strikes school students in many other ways. Perhaps a family has a low or minimal income and they can't afford decent housing (lack of heat or A/C) for their kids. It might also be that the lack of a decent wage precludes families from providing - though they'd like to - proper nutrition, clothing and health care.

Surely we can agree that a child going to school without these basics is just as crucial as the school not having enough money.

And poverty, as it affects schools, rears its ugly head when a home/apartment/shelter is in a blighted or unsafe area of a neighborhood. Obviously, a young person reared in such an area is much more likely to be negatively impacted and he/she may well suffer the effects at school.

Yes, poverty rears its head in many ugly ways and the harm it causes students is significant.

Dick