If the Issue is Not Resolved...

           The effects of the achievement gap over the decades are evident in the drastic differences between the academic accomplishments between Black and Hispanic students in comparison to white students. Research on the issue shows that parents are not taking the necessary steps to engage in their child’s schoolwork, as well as their school, which prevents the child from experiencing a support system where they need, and will use the most…at home. More so, there has been a large amount of speculation regarding the achievement gap and the factors causing it, but there has not been enough actions taken to fix the problem at hand. Superintendent Stephen Price of Middletown County schools of Ohio comments, "People want to talk about the cultural languages, barriers, and poverty, but we have to be brave enough to confront."

            If the right actions aren’t taken to further prevent the decline in the achievement gap, more and more students will continue to lose the chance to have a valuable education that is equal to their white peers. White students will continue to dominate the testing scores across the nation, which will consequentially affect the mental psychic of minority students who will feel inferior to their counter peers. As a result, minority students will not have the same motivation to continue to do well. If many people doubted you before you even had the chance to prove yourself, and if you didn’t have parents who supported your educational endeavors, would you continue to put forth your best effort to do well in school?

             The prolong of the achievement gap will magnify the number of minority students who are unsuccessful in school, putting them at a higher disadvantage, resulting in them becoming adults who work minimum-wage jobs and live in poverty. From this, the cycle only continues as the children who were once raised in a family that had low income without an adequate support system, become parents too, who raise their own family in a similar, if not the same, situation because they will embody how they were raised. From this, the black man will still be considered “second-best” to the white man, especially in the work force, even if he had to work harder than the average white student to attain his current position in society. African American and Hispanic students’ account for more then 30% of the children in school in the United States, so needless to say their success is imperative to have a positive future for our economy. Literacy, one of the main focuses in education, is viewed as the “language of profit”. The Washington Post writes about literacy, establishing the view that it makes the “rich richer” and the “poor poorer”. As if it wasn't evident, minority students need literacy to become successful in this economy but they cannot achieve this if they are not given the right tools. Education affects every part of our society, so receiving a quality education should be mandatory. Dr. Claude Steele, of New York University School of Education, recognizes, "The Black-White Gap is not likely to be solved overnight. It's going to be with us for some time". But hasn't it been long enough? Each day that a minority student suffers in the school system takes away from him or her achieving his or her full potential.