Financial accountability needed in schools

There is a significant gap between rich and poor in this country.

This gap is the result of a natural class separation inherent in a capitalist economy. Whether you're a Marxist, a free-market utilitarian or anywhere in between, this gap in wealth is undeniable.

And it is growing.

A gap in wealth, especially of such grand proportions, never serves society well - France knows this, Zimbabwe knows this, Vladimir Lenin knew this.

Such a gap fails to demonstrate that equality is one of our national values. Such a gap creates a hostile, survivalist mentality among the lower class, and gives birth to prejudices and harsh, misplaced frustration.

Such a disparity in socioeconomic class creates a natural imbalance in education, in which the rich are often entitled to a better education via expensive private schools or better quality schools in higher income tax districts - the public schools in the suburbs function better and are often better funded than those in urban areas.

The gap grows because the education opportunity imbalance is a perpetuating cycle.

Less money. Lesser education. Gap of knowledge.

I don't know of any correlation between socioeconomic status and intelligence. Such a correlation may exist, but I find it hard to believe.

I come from a family with an annual household income of less than $25,000, and I'm in college, and I make decent grades.

But I also would bet my last dollar that I'm the only kid off of Ahern Drive in Biloxi, Miss., that made it from the next-door crack houses to the collegiate environment.

So if socioeconomic status doesn't dictate intelligence, but only access to mediums by which to gain knowledge, this gap absolutely must be breached.

We are losing great minds at the hands of an uneven and unequal education system.

Without ringing the socialist/communist alarm that apparently still reverberates a Joseph McCarthy-like fear in the hearts of conservative Americans, there are ways to solve this problem.

Attacking this problem at the roots would mean re-evaluating our economic system, which doesn't seem possible at this juncture in time.

American society seems to appreciate its free market to the ugly end.

But we could make a start at repairing this knowledge gap within the existing system by throwing out the No Child Left Behind Act.

From its name alone, No Child Left Behind is misleading. Its goal is to have 100 percent of students at the same standards, based on grade level.

This is not the same as creating an equal playing field for all the students; this is demanding that all students do average or better.

This impossible demand leads to an endless system of accountability that forces the public school system to teach a narrow curriculum of math and reading skills, leaving little room for arts and sciences.

No Child Left Behind also punishes schools in which this outrageous demand of everyone succeeding isn't met, which are often schools with heavy percentages of students from families of low socioeconomic status.

The knowledge gap cannot be closed by slapping underpaid teachers on the wrist because of their students' poor test scores, nor by shutting down schools that don't have the resources to better themselves and for which military recruiters have the same access as college recruiters.

They broaden it.

A financial accountability system would be better. Why don't the schools in the urban and rural areas look like those in the suburbs?

Fund schools based on number of current students and current conditions.

Don't let one high school go hungry for new textbooks when the one 30 miles away gets a statue built on its front lawn.

Milton is a sophomore mass communication student at UNC Asheville.

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