As students of Great Neck North, we are fortunate enough to be in the top 1% of all public high schools in the country, but what is the reason our high school is so much better than 99% of all high schools in the country? Perhaps more importantly, why do we deserve to receive a public education that is not even comparable to other public schools less than 2 miles away?

In a society in which education determines success, the stark inequality of public schools around the country is perhaps as severe as the wealth inequality present in the U.S. today.

According to the Empire Center 2017-18 Budget Spotlight, schools in the Franklin Square School District spend on average $18,246  for each pupil over the course of the school year. However, the per pupil spending in Great Neck is a whopping 80% more at $33,282.

As indicated by these numbers, it cannot reasonably be expected that two schools give equal opportunity to its students with such a drastic difference in resources.

Granted, this statistic is not the only indicator for a school’s success, as it does not include the factors like quality of teachers, learning approaches, etc, but per pupil spending shows how different neighborhoods can offer two students completely different pathways for success.

With the current system, a large portion of public school funding comes from local taxes, as this is the reason the wealthy neighborhoods able to afford higher taxes are granted access to better public schools.

However, if education is a right in America, equal education should be a fundamental right as well. During a much darker time in our nation’s history, discrimination of quality of education based on a student’s race was seen as a deplorable practice. Yet today, the same inequality of education is given based on one’s socioeconomic status.

The U.S. public education system is simple: poor neighborhoods get bad schools, and rich neighborhoods get good schools.

Some may argue that race and wealth are inherently different because they consider wealth to be a controllable factor. Yet I would ask someone who believes in the controllability of wealth to redo their schooling in a neighborhood that is within the bottom 10% of the state’s or country’s income rate, and see if success is as possible with a lower quality of education.

Indeed, the great inequality of American public schools is perhaps what is most responsible for the cycle of poverty that is rampant in many neighborhoods across the country.

Education is the determiner of success, therefore with a much worse education, chances for success are much lower.

If all American schools were private schools, this system would seem practical — the richer citizens pay more, giving them access to drastically better schools. However, there is something inherently wrong with a government institution keeping the rich rich and the poor poor.

The issue of wealth inequality in the U.S. is growing and the inequality of American public schools is as well.

As America continues to fall behind in its quality of education to foreign nations around the world, it is clear that something needs to be changed.

A uniform education system across each state, or an entirely federal education system, would be one possible solution to help end the great plight that is the cycle of poverty.

There is no dignity to a right of education if the quality of such education is dependent on one’s wealth.