Systems in Need of Activism: Considering the Effects of Segregation and Policy on French and US Primary and Secondary Education

This article argues that disparities in educational quality in elementary and secondary schools contribute to discrimination against underprivileged students in the United States and in France. Using a comparative framework to apply the findings of recent studies demonstrating a relationship between race, socioeconomic status, and academic achievement to first the American and then the French educational contexts, the processes of school funding and teacher education are identified as possible sources of educational inequality. The means by which funding procedures, curricula, and selection of teachers aggravate socioeconomic differences across the geographic landscape are also analyzed through the lens of residential segregation. Although popular rhetoric portrays elementary and secondary education as an efficacious means of surmounting poverty, these institutions frequently work paradoxically to reinforce the inequalities faced by disadvantaged students. Specifically, families of lower socioeconomic status, a classification that frequently includes immigrants and citizens of currently or historically oppressed ethnic backgrounds, tend to reside in economically disadvantaged school districts. Because these districts are funded according to the income level of local taxpayers, underprivileged children attending underprivileged schools lack access to the advanced pedagogical methods and high-quality teachers essential for their success. The effects of such regional variation in educational opportunities are demonstrated by unfavorable academic outcomes for students attending inadequately funded institutions in both the United States and France. Since this cycle of restricted opportunity directly shapes not only the lives of individual students but also the future of society as a whole, recommendations are made for individuals, educators, and government policymakers to support the academic potential of historically underrepresented populations.