Class & Socio-Economic Status

DON'T GET ME STARTED!

If you want me to blog...give me a topic like class and socio-economic status to get my engines running!

I will not rant today--I will simply share one profound thought: we are all created equal it's just that some of us have more money and less sense than others.

Two areas that class and socio-economic status occur: 1) the classroom and 2) in life. As educators, we should not change how we teach simply because of the financial standing of our students. Working at SMU and near Highland Park where the gross family annual incomes top more than I can make in a lifetime as a teacher, I get to see firsthand what happens between the haves and the have nots.

For example, as a staff member of SMU, I have access to real estate rentals owned by the University. When I took my position here in the Institute, I had an opportunity to rent a nice little home in Highland Park close to work. As we investigated the area schools and opportunities for my children, we quickly decided that Highland Park would not be the best place to raise our family on our incomes.

As we were meeting with school officials, teachers, and other local community folks--it was made very clear to us that we would be labeled "HP Renters" and our children could expect different treatment because of our socio-economic status in the community. Even though our children were bright, dressed professionally for their age and wanted to be involved in several extracurricular activities, it was apparent that we would not be welcome by a few people.

So, we took our little family further out into the rural community where we were accepted and our children have flourished academically. I would be very dismayed to find out that if that type of behavior is accepted in the classrooms of affluent schools.