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Equitable Education For America’s Youth

I have incredibly vivid memories of kindergarten, laying on the carpeted playroom floor

of my childhood home in utter exasperation, tears streaming down my face as a result of reading

lessons. I couldn’t remember letter sounds and I didn’t understand why my mother had, what

appeared to me as, unachievable expectations. The fact of the matter is, I was not ready to learn

how to read. As a homeschooler, I had the privilege of being able to put off learning to read until

I was better equipped, and at that later time, I flourished. I began to love reading; a trip to the

library was a wild adventure. However, traditional school settings do not presently have the

ability to make such accommodations as I received. In my current teaching internship at Walnut

Acres Elementary, I have witnessed children being forced beyond their current comprehension

abilities, and then being deemed “behind” their classmates. While there is a developmental

timeline of sorts that children are expected to follow, “not all children follow this exact

timetable…” (Healy, 69). Teachers are presented with rigid standards that higher ups demand

each student to meet. However, there are a multitude of other factors that create flaws within the

system. So many, in fact, that it would not be possible to thoroughly evaluate each one of them in

one essay. Consider the children with learning disabilities, whether diagnosed or otherwise.

Consider the students who suffer from mental health disorders. Consider the students who have

the potential to thrive with one on one assistance. Consider the English language learners, the

students who simply have different learning styles than others, those who could benefit from

differentiated instruction. Those students may not even be aware of the fact that there is another

option, that there are accommodations that can be made and they don’t have to carry feelings of

frustration and defeat. One begins to wonder, is the American school system too limited and
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narrow to accommodate all students? Is our system truly equipping educators and students to

reach their full potential? Ultimately, the question arises: How well does the American school

system allow for equity and inclusion in K-12 academics?

Schooling, the class based system widely known today, originated in the sixteenth

century, and “by the mid 1800s, most states had accepted three basic assumptions governing

public education: that schools should be free and supported by taxes, that teachers should be

trained, and that children should be required to attend school” (Paterson). With the industrial

revolution came child labor laws, which left children with a need for a place to spend their days.

The general population agreed that if children couldn’t work, they should be educated throughout

their youth to assist them in becoming successful workforce individuals once they were of legal

age. The founding fathers believed that our democracy could only be successful if the country

was populated with well educated, well rounded individuals with the capability to vote wisely,

and protect their rights (Kober and Stark Renter). Lamentably, schools, just the same as any other

public place, were segregated. That is until 1954, when the court case known as Brown vs. the

Board of education outlawed segregation in schools (School Segregation and Integration). While

this was an incredible step forward and is not to be discredited, many schools “did not integrate

until many years later” (School Segregation and Integration). While it is a tremendous success

that African American students are free to attend the same schools as white students, the

provision of equal support throughout the education of students of color cannot be overlooked.

The long-standing belief that children must be well educated is one of good intentions,

however, to what degree are American school systems accomplishing this task. Do students

graduate high school well equipped to move on to post secondary school or enter the workforce?

Harvard Business Review argues that they do not. In 2021 they published an article stating that
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8.1 million jobs in the U.S were unfilled, while 10 million people were seeking employment

(Hansen). This statistic proves to be rather puzzling, at first glance, it is illogical, however the

article goes on to explain that the reason for this is that “...the U.S. education system is not held

accountable for ensuring that students are properly equipped with the skills and capabilities to

prepare for a career where they can obtain financial stability. Additionally, employers continue to

rely on a traditional four-year degree requirement as a primary means of determining job

candidate employability” (Hansen).

In a TedTalk by Michele Freitag, a passionate educator of over thirty years, she highlights

the importance of changing the education system. Freitag begins with a story of a third grade

student in one of her classes from years past, who struggled with reading. When given a reading

assessment, the student became distraught, she explains “...he looked up at me with these big,

tear-filled eyes and he said ‘I can’t do this. It’s too hard. I’m just not good at this.’ And that

broke my heart” (Freitag). Freitag explains that America’s flawed school system can decrease the

worth children hold for themselves, and make them feel as though they aren’t good enough

(Freitag). She elaborates, naming that the system is “...too focused on isolated skills and test

scores. A system that is filled with assessments. One. After. Another. Pressure on kids. Pressure

on teachers. It can be a real pressure cooker at school, and I believe we can do so much better”

(Freitag). Students need to be listened to, not always in a verbal sense, but in a knowledgeable

sense. Teachers who know their students well, can effectively evaluate their individual needs,

and accommodate them (Freitag). Freitag uses a strategy she acronyms CRSSP [crisp]. C is for

choice, an empowering and engaging tool (Freitag). R is for relevance, which, she informs the

audience, includes making meaningful connections between educational content and the personal

interests of each child. The first is for strength, which, similarly to relevance, requires a close
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relationship between teacher and student so the teacher has knowledge of each student’s

strengths. The second S stands for specific, honest, and positive feedback. Freitag explains that

she “catches” her students in their best moments. She then elaborates, “I would use those

moments as encouragement to build their confidence and to build their enthusiasm. Because

success breeds success” (Freitag). The final letter, P, stands for passion. Again she emphasizes

that a successful teacher knows what is important to their students, what they are passionate

about, and what they value most. Freitag’s CRSSP techniques are techniques to empower, and

engage all students. To create an educational experience that excites kids, while allowing them to

grow in knowledge, and wisdom. She states in an assertive tone, “Teaching with fidelity is not

the same as teaching with integrity” (Freitag). This means that, as Freitag believes, teachers must

acknowledge the desired outcome of a lesson, curriculum, or school year, and find ways to assist

students in reaching those goals, rather than solely passing assessments (Freitag).

In the past several years, a severe teacher shortage has been brought to the attention of

the general population. In 2017, “California allocated $25 million in grant funding that would

help non-teaching school staff become teachers in an effort to address a statewide shortage”

(Hong). California has a Classified School Employee Credentialing Program which requires just

one year for current school employees to obtain a teaching credential (Hong). While this process

is helpful in providing schools with more teachers, just as intended, it is not a long-term solution

(Hong). The continued struggle of this shortage in California was evident in “A January report

by the Learning Policy Institute [which] found that some of the state’s largest districts had 10%

of vacancies still unfilled at the start of the new school year. One district had a quarter of its

vacancies unfilled” (Hong). These vacancies contribute largely to increased class sizes, which

many teachers attest to being less effective learning environments. The teacher shortage has been
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prevalent since 2015, however it reached a state of crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic (Hong).

In retrospect, “The U.S. has experienced recurring teacher shortages for decades—a condition

the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened” (“Are we at a crisis point with the public teacher

workforce?”). Teachers and students alike struggled greatly over the course of the pandemic.

When schools across the nation were forced to shut down, teachers were thrust into the daunting

task of accommodating. Online learning was not a format that anyone was prepared to transition

to, and this altered way of learning lasted longer than anyone could have predicted. The

pandemic posed new and unique challenges for students and teachers in their virtual learning

environments, and “While student enrollment also dropped at a faster pace during the pandemic

than during previous years, teacher retirements and turnover were even bigger factors at some

districts” (Hong). The teaching profession had become even more demanding than before,

causing teachers to leave their jobs. Students struggled with a lack of interaction, and many

families made the switch from public school to homeschool. In Michelle Freitag’s TedTalk on

making education more enjoyable for students and teachers, as described previously, she makes

known that teachers have the highest rate of burnout in comparison to other professions. Freitag

states that “teachers’ hands are tied”, meaning they are not given the freedom to accommodate

their students in a realistic, and efficient manner (Freitag). When teachers are not efficiently

supported, they cannot be expected to successfully support their students. This unrealistic, yet

common, expectation plays a large role in the teacher shortage, which translates to decreased

quality of education for students.

After conducting my first interview with educator Justina Montano, I began to wonder if

I was carrying a bias. I intended to raise questions about flaws within the education system, and

challenges that students and educators face; however, I found myself deferring from my list of
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questions, as she made known the highlights of her beloved profession. I expected that, as an

educator with more than thirty years of experience, Montano would have strong opinions about

the challenges of education, but it was evident that the challenges are not her focus. The

interview was conducted via FaceTime all while she was beaming through the screen from her

Sonoma classroom. Montano is an elementary education Academic Specialist who works at

Flowery Elementary School. This job carries a vast array of duties and a great deal of

responsibility. Under the title of Academic Specialist fall roles such as test coordinator, trainer,

additional instruction need identification facilitator, and English Language Development

instructor. Montano obtained her teaching credential and completed a teaching internship through

Chico State University. She taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes throughout the beginning

of her career, before continuing on to educational publishing, and grant coordination. Montano,

in the education profession for nearly three decades, in many different areas, has taught grades

four, five, and six at various times, ultimately settling on grade four as her “favorite grade”. I

wanted to know what challenges are evident in Montano’s classroom, and she responded saying

that people often don’t have an excellent understanding of the level of difficulty and complexity

present in managing a classroom. While this is a valid struggle for many educators, I expected

she would have a more “negative” challenge to share, however, she had much more to say about

her passion for the career. She has two children of her own, and when they were young, she took

a break from teaching. While she enjoyed the jobs she tried outside of the classroom, she

explained how she missed interacting with students every day, and wanted to get back into a

school. Montano works in a school that is entirely dual immersion, and when asked about equity

for English Language Learners, she said that they should all be in dual immersion programs.

Dual immersion is an extremely beneficial option that, unfortunately, is not available to all
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students. At Flowery Elementary, “Every student is a language learner”, Montano emphasized.

The English learners learn from the Spanish learners, and vice versa, helping to create a sense of

unity, and equality for students. A downside, Montano points out, of placing an English language

learner in a traditional school is that the educators’ main goal is to teach the student English, and

nothing is done to preserve their first language. In a dual immersion setting, students are

maintaining their first language, while learning another, which is incredibly beneficial as it

“levels the playing field” for students (Montano). Montano offered several points on equity, one

being that elementary school teachers should never grade homework. From her perspective, if an

elementary school teacher chooses to assign homework, it is unfair for the assignments to be

worth a grade. Her reason includes that one can never be sure of a student's home life, and

whether they have the support necessary to complete a homework assignment successfully. “If a

student with very involved parental figures had all the assistance they needed and scored very

well, while a student who is perhaps obligated to look after their siblings when they get home,

was unable to complete the same assignment, it would be inequitable”, Montano said. From my

viewpoint prior to this interview, school systems seemed too rigid, however Montano shifted my

perspective in this area as well. She pointed out that it would be an inequity for schools to be

overly flexible, as students would struggle to meet requirements, and concepts would have a

decreased rate of mastery. Her viewpoint from decades of experience on the issue of equity of

inclusion was truly beneficial to hear, and highlighted the successful parts of education. There

are many teachers in the profession who are just as passionate as Montano, and with the proper

support, educators and their students have the potential to thrive. To push past the limits that may

have been evident in education before.

My second interview took place in the fourth grade dual immersion classroom of my

mentor, educator Emily Andrews, who has been in the teaching profession for seventeen years,

and currently works at Bancroft Elementary. In highschool Andrews worked as a swim instructor

and lifeguard, where she discovered her passion for working with kids. She explained, “I loved

seeing when kids would accomplish things, like little things. If they could not swim at all, but

then swim, you know, just, maybe five yards” (Andrews). Her mother, who was also an educator,

pointed out that she could have that feeling of pride for the rest of her life if she were to become

a teacher. After graduating high school she attended California State University of Chico to

obtain her degree and teaching credential. When asked what her biggest struggles are as an

educator, she responded saying that in elementary education one of the biggest struggles is

working with parents. She states, “While we love help, and how much they are advocating for

their children, they can be a lot. They can accuse teachers of doing things that we didn’t do, they

can demand things… so not only are we handling all of the differentiation among our classes, but

the minute I send a test home… the parent wants a meeting right away” (Andrews). She went on

to explain that parents often feel they are “better” than their child’s teacher, which can lead

teachers to feel as though their work is being disregarded. The second struggle she listed was

differentiation. While she is incredibly well versed in the needs of her students, the resources that

would be most beneficial are not always available. She explains that she could list an

accommodation for at least one student in each and every table group in her classroom. One of

her students, who is on the autism spectrum, stomps her feet as a method of soothing, and in

response, Andrews purchased large rubber bands to place around the chair legs so that the

student can still use the same coping mechanism, and the other students in the class don’t pay

any mind. Andrews was able to observe her student’s needs, and make an accommodation
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without causing the student to feel like an outsider. She explained the effects of this, saying, “So

she does it now, but then other kids do it too, and nobody’s like ‘why’s she doing that?’, because

we’re all doing it” (Andrews). She elaborated, explaining to me that “Everybody needs

something different… the problem is, we don’t have the funding to have me get help. I don’t

have an aid. My partner, she’s the spanish teacher, she doesn’t have an aid”. Andrews describes

the resources she would love to have for her class, but is unable to, including extra reading help,

counseling, and instrumental music. She mentioned that ten school counselors were laid off

within the Mount Diablo Unified School District this year, and students who could use some

extra support are unable to receive it. Bancroft recently cut instrumental music for fourth graders,

postponing learning an instrument until fifth grade. The reduction of art and music in schools,

Andrews argues, is very negative. Students need music and, truly, people need music. “Music is

what made me who I am today… my heart ripped out of my chest when I heard them say ‘fourth

grade instrumental is gone now’” (Andrews). I wholeheartedly agree with her perspective that

removing music programs is unacceptable. Not all students thrive in core academics, however

those students perhaps thrive in music and arts, and the skills they acquire within the arts often

carry over to core academics. An aspect of academic equity that I had not considered prior to this

interview, was the variance between schools within the same district. Mount Diablo Unified

School District has many different schools, and each of them, at times even those within miles of

each other, have vastly different resources. She explained to me her gratitude for the

opportunities her school provides, but also notes her realization that it is an inequity for her

school to have resources including a garden, STEAM classes, access to school buses, choir, and

art, when other schools within the district do not, and even some of those resources are only

made possible by parent volunteers. Though teaching is a difficult profession, Andrews says it is
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vital to “remember your why”. Ideally, teachers in the profession are very passionate about their

careers, and have a valuable source of motivation for becoming a teacher. It is important for

teachers, or prospective teachers, to remember why they came into the profession initially, and to

be aware of the impact they are making, especially when times are trying.

The quality of American education has been on my mind heavily this school year. I’m

interning at an elementary school which has provided a great deal of perspective, and provided

me with a behind-the-scenes view of education. High demands are placed on educators to ensure

each of their students meet the state-determined standards, which is not a simple task, nor one

that all schools have the resources to accomplish. The American school system does not always

accommodate the needs of students, and my experience as a public high school student has

provided opportunities for me to witness faults and drawbacks within the system. While in the

midst of one’s own education, the difficulties of education are often highlighted. I would argue

that my knowledge of education extends beyond the average student, as I have jumped in and out

of the system, attending public school, charter school, and being homeschooled. Having been in

Northgate’s Careers in Teaching class, which exposes students to a behind the scenes view of

education, I have deepened my understanding of the complex relationship between schools,

teachers, students, and government. We are more concerned with achieving mandated standards,

than truly educating our children. We are more concerned with getting enough teachers into the

profession, than addressing the root causes of the teaching shortage issue. We are not nearly

concerned enough about the condition of the system into which our children are forced from age

five or younger. The American school system is not entirely broken, but it is far from perfect,

and it demands our attention for the sake of students and teachers alike. The resources are there if

we find ways to utilize them. The accommodations can be made if we put forth the effort.
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Ultimately, the support for a more equitable and inclusive school system already exists, and we

must work to bring it about.

Works Cited

Andews, Emily. Interview. Educator, Walnut Creek, CA. Personal Interview. 25 April 2023.

“Are we at a crisis point with the public teacher workforce? Education scholars share their

perspectives.” Brookings, 26 August 2022,

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2022/08/26/are-we-at-a-crisis-

point-with-the-public-teacher-workforce-education-scholars-share-their-perspectives/.

Accessed 19 March 2023.

Freitag, Michele. “How to Make Students (and Teachers) Want to Go to School.” YouTube, 6

March 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBYlRmUurJ8

Hansen, Michael. “The U.S. Education System Isn’t Giving Students What Employers Need.”

Harvard Business Review, 18 May 2021,

https://hbr.org/2021/05/the-u-s-education-system-isnt-giving-students-what-employers-ne

ed. Accessed 21 March 2023.

Healy, Jane. Your Child’s Growing Mind: Brain Development and Learning From Birth to

Adolescence. New York, Harmonay/Rodale, 2004.

Hong, Joe. “No short-term solution to California’s teacher shortage.” CalMatters, 17 March

2022,

https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2022/03/california-teacher-shortage/.

Accessed 19 March 2023.

Montano, Justina. Interview. Educator, Sonoma, CA. Personal Interview. 7 March 2023.

Kober, Nancy, and Diane Stark Renter. “History and Evolution of Public Education in the US.”

ERIC, 2020, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606970.pdf. Accessed 21 March 2023.

Paterson, Wendy A. “From 1871 to 2021: A Short History of Education in the United States.”

Buffalo State, 8 December 2021,

https://suny.buffalostate.edu/news/1871-2021-short-history-education-united-states.

Accessed 20 March 2023.

“School Segregation and Integration | Articles and Essays | Civil Rights History Project | Digital

Collections.” Library of Congress,

https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/school-seg

regation-and-integration/. Accessed 21 March 2023.