Impact on Education

By Justin Sanchez

People are leaving the rural farmlands and flocking to the metropolitan areas. In 1970, only 20.5% of the nation’s poor lived in the suburbs compared to the 53% of metropolitan suburban people whom live in poverty today. In an article by Eric Freeman, he examines the effects that urbanization has had on the legislation in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta, much like Phoenix, is another rapidly growing metropolitan city.  In Atlanta, as the middle class move into the inner cities, the poverished flock to the suburbs in search of more affordable housing. With the increase in poverty in the suburbs, school districts are finding it harder to obtain well qualified teachers.  When suburban neighborhoods become poor neighborhoods, it takes it’s affects onto the education systems. The school districts then have a difficult time holding onto to the well qualified teachers.  They are often left understaffed or with unqualified educators (Freeman, 2010).

In an article “The Urban Context and Higher Education: A Delineation of Issues,” the authors discuss how the urban environment affects higher education. Many colleges are located in small rural towns throughout the United States; however, as the US becomes more urbanized, we now having more and more colleges in urban cities. Arizona State University is the largest university in the US located in the 10th largest US city. The authors also state that the rise in population growth will have a decline in standards for the universities. Community colleges are starting to populate more and that earning a Bachelor’s degree is no longer an elite task but a common one to enter the middle-class. The authors also point out that community colleges are good at letting the determined and qualified students go on to universities. Since only a small percentage of students transfer, it weeds out the less capable (Ousfield, Kronus, & Mark, 1970). Finally, the authors also bring up the fact that colleges in urban communities are more in the spotlight, more visible to media and the parents and therefore, more readily scrutinized for their actions.

Morgan Smith. Dec. 8, 2010. In Light of Budget Gap, Public Education Faces Cuts. The Texas Tribune http://www.texastribune.org/2010/12/08/in-light-of-budget-gap-public-education-faces-cuts/