There is a huge problem of poverty in America today. In America about 34 million people live in poverty. It affects many aspects of people's lives. But today, let’s look into how it negatively impacts students. Several ways in which poverty affects students includes the quality of their schools, their ability to afford school supplies, complications from remote learning, and access to free or reduced-price meals.
First let's look at the quality of their schools. If your family is poor or low income, you are most likely going to live in a low income area because that's all you will be able to afford. Schools in poor neighborhoods receive less funding from their towns as a result of schools being funded through property taxes. Education Secretary Arne Duncan explains that, “money by itself is never the only answer, but giving kids who start out already behind in life, giving them less resources is unconscionable, and it’s far too common.” This is what my neighbor Jessica described as a result of living in a poor area, “When a teacher was out the school would have trouble even finding a substitute.”
Now let's look at the ability to afford supplies. People who are poor struggle to afford all the necessities for school like a backpack, pencils/pens, notebooks, binders etc. Additionally, schools with less resources struggle to provide even these basics to their student population.
On top of that, now with remote learning, fast and stable internet that can handle video calls and high quality computers are also a necessity for students.
The final way poverty negatively affects students is with food services. If you're poor, free school breakfast and lunch can be really helpful for you. Unfortunately that is no longer the case with remote learning, though GPS food services has worked to provide meal pick ups at multiple schools and town locations for students throughout the pandemic.
Those are the negative effects of poverty on students' education.