Educational Segregation

The more education one has, the more respect they gain in society. People respect others only when they have enough money in their hands; once the money is gone, they become an outcast. Whereas if they are educated, people will respect them no matter how rich or poor they are! That is what my mom always tells me whenever I start giving up on studies. She says, “You have so much potential that you are wasting everyday.” Her little pep talk always cheers me up no matter where I am. The young generation of the 21st century has an amazingly wide range of educational opportunities to choose from.

Derek Bok once said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Ignoring education is almost equal to neglecting a baby because the parents cannot afford to take care of it. Many people assume that education is expensive and thus don’t try to pursue it. People don’t realize that financial help is offered everywhere for individuals interested in education. It doesn’t matter if one is rich or poor, smart or less intelligent, or mentally or physically challenged. Everyone should be granted with equal chances to take part in the wide array of educational opportunities that are available. Without equal chances, the odds than an individual’s dream will be fulfilled are low. Never let the surroundings shape the dream; always let the dream shape the surroundings.

Education is the key to unlock the stored energy of dreams in an individual. The more education they get, the more likely they are going to succeed in pursuing their dreams. Enrolling in school is the best way for an individual to pursue their dream. However, not everyone gets an equal chance in their education to fulfill their dreams. Not everyone gets a fair chance to enroll in the classes they want to be in. Through one’s school life, individuals are being separated into different levels of education based on a single test score, or as I would like to call it, the malevolent monster.

In middle school I got a clear understanding of the hidden monster, besides grades. It hypnotized all the school administrators into creating an unfair school system. This monster judged the students unfairly. It differentiated the students into three categories: weak, middle, and strong. They are the “ITBS and ITEDs.” For some students it might not really matter. They might say that they sleep through the test and still get 99% over all. On the other hand, there are other diligent students who actually try their best, but still get 76%. The main goal of these tests it to compare the educational levels of the students nationwide. However, some schools take these scores seriously and create groups like Program for Academic and Creative Talent, aka PACT, or Learning Enrichment Opportunities, aka LEO at Linn Marr. This is where all the “smart” kids hang out, and frankly this is the only place they could call themselves “smart.”

Schools like Linn Mar, take the test scores very seriously. Depending on their test scores, the school requires the students to take classes that would help improve their basic skills needed for the test. They create different educational levels to challenge the weak, middle and the strong. Students who belong to LEO are granted the opportunity to take advanced classes while the other students are stuck with the regular classes, even if they like it or not. The school fails to realize the fact that there are many students who are very eager to enroll in the advanced classes; however they have a hard time crossing the hurdle ahead of them.

Schools like Kennedy, on the other hand, are open to any type of student that would be interested in enrolling in any of the classes that are offered at the school. Kennedy does take the test score into consideration and it does have the PACT program. However, unlike other schools, Kennedy awards the students with the freedom to choose their classes. It does not assign classes to the students; rather it lets the individuals figure out their own strengths and weaknesses. Many students take hold of this opportunity and decide whether they are capable of taking the classes they want to take or not. Schools like Kennedy let the students make the decision for themselves, except for the individuals who get below the 40 % rank on the standardized tests.

Every school has a special program that helps the students who score 40% or below on their ITBS or ITEDs. This success program was created to help the students acquire strategies and skills necessary to score better the next time they take the test. However, this does not mean that the student will never be able to take any advance classes that the individual might wish to take. This just means that it will take a longer time for these students to pursue their dreams.


Mary goes to Kennedy and is one of the students who cannot stand taking standardized tests. She got a little over 60% on her ITED exams, and felt like she would never grow in life with those scores. She took normal classes, but never attempted to take advanced classes because she thought she was not qualified enough to handle the course. She also had the false assumption that only the “smart” students were allowed to take the class. However, she later realized that Kennedy encouraged anyone and everyone to take any class that they wished to take, therefore she signed up to take A.P US History with many of her other friends. To summarize her thought in a phrase, she went from feeling like a total loser to “Yes, I can do this!”

Segregating students based on their test score is not only cruel but also very disparaging. It belittles the self esteem of many students, creating an impression that they will never be as successful in life like their peers. With low self esteem, they will cease to give their full effort to pursue their dreams. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Real education consists in drawing the best out of yourself.” Without allowing the students to explore the opportunities themselves, they will not be able to find the best of themselves. If a career path is forced upon an individual, the odds are the individual might not be happy with their position in life. The students might feel the same way too!

We all might think that segregation is an issue that was abolished and forgotten many years ago. However, we are too ignorant to realize that there are other forms of segregation that still exist in society. Educational segregation! Students are being separated by their test scores. Students with high test scores are granted with all the never ending opportunities, while students with lower test scores are prohibited from entering the world of advancement. Segregating students based on their test scores might have a significant effect on the individual themselves. They might develop a low, never escalating, self esteem, they might create a false assumption that they will never be able to fulfill their dream, or they might give up on studies. Many individuals will not find this minor issue to be significant at all, but one final day they will agree with John F. Kennedy that, “A child miseducated is a child lost.”