Topic > Chance of Success - 741

Social class and education go hand in hand and almost always accurately predict an individual's level of success. The higher they are on the social economic ladder, the more likely they are to receive a good education and seek a well-paid career path. The works of Kozol, Anyon, and Mantsios provide a solid position on the issue of lower classes not receiving a solid education and identify specific key factors that demonstrate this to be true. Through each author's unique approach, they mutually reflect the link between social class and education through the use of statistics and naturalistic observations to reveal the segregation, inequalities of opportunity, and limited resources that many schools face. Kozol focuses on lower-class school systems and demonstrates that minority groups are not treated equally regarding their educational opportunities. Students are not encouraged to seek a successful career path or have high hopes for their future. Talk to a student who wanted to become a doctor or social worker; however, her school required her to take classes irrelevant to her desired career path, such as Sewing and Life Skills. This exemplifies the government's role in school systems and their underlying motivations to maintain working class jobs in society (Kozol 469). He explains the ineffectiveness of SFA, a program designed to “improve” the quality of learning in poor schools, and visits numerous inner-city schools to hear what would normally be left unsaid from students. His essay reveals their unhappiness with the school system and desire for equal treatment in society. Many of these schools, which are built in low-income areas with a high percentage of minorities, are named after civil rights activities...... middle of paper...... Mantsios provides most of statistical evidence and has the strongest position on the realities and myths of each social class level. Kozol and Anyon seek change in society while Mantsios offers nothing but facts and evidence. The links between social class and education are undoubtedly evident and can be seen in the daily lives of Americans. Despite many calls for change and equality in schools, class division maintains our nation's economic infrastructure. Kozol, Anyon, and Mantsios each focus on separate aspects of social class and education, but manage to connect the same general concept of desirable but not always attainable equality. The three authors do an excellent job of not only acknowledging this relationship, but also portraying the evidence through statistics and first-hand knowledge from the students themselves.