California schools facing inequalities

Inequities in California’s public education system, where the graduation rate plummet to record lows, are keeping thousands of students from finishing school.

Recent data released from the Education Research Center shows that California ranks forty-first out of fifty US states, with an estimated graduation rate of 63 percent, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is the nation’s second-largest school district with the second-worst graduation rate — an estimated of 41 percent.

John Rogers from UCLA’s Graduate School of Education says California spends 2,000 dollars less per student than the national average, stressing that the state diverts more money to prisons than it does to education.

“And as a consequence, California’s classrooms are more overcrowded, there’s less access to counselors, the buildings are more dilapidated than almost anywhere else in the country,” Rogers told Press TV.

Rogers also pointed out the inequities within the state’s school system, adding that schools in affluent areas achieve a higher rate of graduation.

Results show that affluent communities know about the inequities but are not interested in addressing them.

“Communities that are serving more low-income students, more students of color, tend to have far fewer educational opportunities,” Rogers added.

Experts say the best solution is to engage students at younger ages and make them feel they have a voice in their community. This will make the students want to participate more in their education and decrease the chance of them dropping out.