February 2, 2015 - 10:31
“education did not create the problem of widespread poverty wages, and education will not solve the problem. No Child Left Behind will not raise wages for the millions who work at poverty jobs. Only employers and governments can raise wages”
Anyon and Greene’s argument of NCLB as an anti-poverty measure is compelling because it recognizes the underlying issue of the lack of jobs that has been as least in my case ignored. The United States does not have enough jobs for everyone and in nearly half of those jobs workers earn “poverty-zone wages”. Education is constantly referred to as the sole solution to solving poverty. In fact, I agreed and felt this to be true as well, but after reading Anyon and Greene’s paper, I realized that I did not ever think about the low amount of fair paying jobs as clearly as I thought I did. Although I hear about unemployment, I do not think about how it could affect me or how it is already affecting me. Since creating new jobs that earn more than the poverty wage would be more costly to employers and governments, it is no wonder that the sole focus is on education which is paid for by taxpayers.
And what is education anymore? It has become a sorting mechanism used to sort and define where people are in society. The answer to what the purpose of education is has dollars signs written in. I cannot say I pursue education solely because my love for knowledge because I would be lying if I did not also say it was because I was told it would lead me to a higher paying job. However, not everyone is allowed to walk this path and many are misled. Equal and fair education cannot co-exist within the capitalist system which is inherently unequal.