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Posted
Radical Edward said in post # :

 

is the system really that equal though? Is it really as possible to get into higher education if you are in a delinquent school and get stuck in "the wrong crowd" of friends as it is if you are in a nice quiet suburban school full of middle class families. There are a lot of problems in inner city schools in the UK, and certain cities where the education standard as a whole is very poor, and these problems are not (always) race related. There seems to be a much stronger correlation with location. It seems rather naiive to me to say that everyone has the same potential, and completely ignore facts of local culture and environment.

 

For the most part, the system is equal. Your socioeconomic status is not a factor when the school's are districted. For example, I live in a middle class all-white neighborhood (except one family), but my neighbor attends a mostly black highschool which is smack in the middle of the 'ghetto'. He is not limited at all by going to this school. Most universities do not discriminate against applicants from different public schools. Any highschool student in florida who makes over a 3.0 GPA and a 1020 SAT score will receive 75% of their college tuition PAID. At USF, if you apply early, the university will cover the remaining 25% of tuition. A 3.0 is not hard at all to maintain at a public school, and a 1020 on the SAT is not asking much. Anyone who puts forth any kind of effort in a Florida public school will be rewarded, whether you went to Ghettoton Highschool or Lake MiddleClass Highschool.

 

You don't go to delinquent school for no reason. They put you there because of your behavior. Rarely does someone "get stuck" in the wrong crowd. We are responsible for our actions and we are responsible for the crowd with which we spend time with.

 

Everyone does have the same potential. Anyone who seriously puts forth an effort will not be limited by their social or economic status in the United States.

Posted

You're ignoring the powerful effect of peer pressure here.

 

Someone who's not dedicated to independent learning and goes to a school where there's less of an antiacademia feel will obviously tend to have a less lengthy education than one with lots of nerds, as it were.

Posted
blike said in post # :

 

For the most part, the system is equal. Your socioeconomic status is not a factor when the school's are districted. For example, I live in a middle class all-white neighborhood (except one family), but my neighbor attends a mostly black highschool which is smack in the middle of the 'ghetto'. He is not limited at all by going to this school. Most universities do not discriminate against applicants from different public schools. Any highschool student in florida who makes over a 3.0 GPA and a 1020 SAT score will receive 75% of their college tuition PAID. At USF, if you apply early, the university will cover the remaining 25% of tuition. A 3.0 is not hard at all to maintain at a public school, and a 1020 on the SAT is not asking much. Anyone who puts forth any kind of effort in a Florida public school will be rewarded, whether you went to Ghettoton Highschool or Lake MiddleClass Highschool.

 

You don't go to delinquent school for no reason. They put you there because of your behavior. Rarely does someone "get stuck" in the wrong crowd. We are responsible for our actions and we are responsible for the crowd with which we spend time with.

 

Everyone does have the same potential. Anyone who seriously puts forth an effort will not be limited by their social or economic status in the United States.

 

same in the UK. If you get your grades, you can get into uni, provided there are the places available. The point I was making is that one cannot say that people live in bad areas because they are thick. If anything it is living in a bad area that makes them thick, because the opportunities are not there for them in terms of getting decent books, getting decent teachers, and environmental and cultural issues. Remember the prevelant attitude in many of these areas is an anti-intellectual one. Kids get beaten up for being smart, I know, it happened to me for a year after I moved towns.

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