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Amy Lynch
Ms. Thompson
AP Lang, Block 1, Skinny A
May 5th, 2015
IJWBA Essay: Final Draft
A View on the Education System
The gap in education in this country, the unfairness of the schools, is one of the great
unfairness in this society- Gaston Caperton. For decades, the school system has been highly
criticized for not providing a fair learning experience to all children. A common criticism of the
education system receives is that it divides the rich from the poor and only focuses on higherlevel students. Similar viewpoints were shared in James Baldwins essay, A Talk to Teachers,
originally posted in a 1963 newspaper. In his essay, Baldwin discusses the meaning of education,
how the educational system favors the elite, and how society wants the lesser students to accept
being average.
The purpose of education is to give young adults an equal opportunity to understand the
world and to answer lifes everyday questions. Baldwin declares education successful once the
student has the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions (Baldwin,
Paragraph 2). In addition, education provides students a better understanding on societal issues in
society and the ability to devise solutions to these problems. Armed with this knowledge, the
students will be able to make their own decisions such as whether there is a God in heaven or
not (Baldwin, Paragraph 2). Overall, education greatly benefits the society.

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Unfortunately, the education system does not always supply students with equal
opportunities. The advanced students are nurtured and praised while lower level students are left
in the dark. Instead of helping the students thrive, the education system focuses on dividing the
population. In addition, the teachers in lower level classes often have a patronizing attitude
towards their students are not motivated enough to promote a healthy learning environment.
Instead, these teachers often lack the ability to engage the imaginations of their students. For
example, these lower level classes are often a place for those who are just not making it, a
dumping ground for the disaffected (Rose, Paragraph 7). These students are usually viewed as
useless and as a result, forgotten.
Another difficulty lower level students face is conforming to societys expectations. The
students are expected to do well in school, but not to exceed average. If a minority student
exceeds average, it would go against societies expectations and the student could potentially be
exiled since no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around (Baldwin,
Paragraph 2). The educational system expects the children to be cookie cut students. For
instance, all the students are expected to obey to societal rules and conform. Societies dream is
to have, a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society, and by having a corrupt
educational system that only favors the elite, their wish is granted (Baldwin, Paragraph 2).
Instead of being encouraged to do their best, these students are taught that it is better to barely
scrape by in their classes since it requires little amount of effort. Academic survival is more
important to the students than succeeding. As a result, these students tend to have a negative
attitude towards school and are viewed as bottom level.
In conclusion, there is a great disparity among the different social classes in the
educational system. The minority level students receive the short end of the stick, which goes

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against the sole purpose of education. Education is vital to students because it helps them
understand the world around them. Once a student can question and conquer the challenges of
life, he has then found his own identity. When students use their personal identities, they can
prosper and find their purpose in life. Unfortunately, this has been hard to come by for many
lower level students because the educational system remains corrupt and biased. In order for
there to be change, the educational system must encourage teachers to present themselves in a
positive manner to their students and provide a fair opportunity to all students or else an equal
opportunity education will be futile. The students also must not be servile and afraid to go
against societies expectations. Until then, the bottom level students will continue to be
indolent and be nothing more than average.
or himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and
then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity. But no society is
really anxious to have that kind of person around. What societies really, ideally want, is a
citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society. (from James Baldwin, A Talk to
Teachers)

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Works Cited
Baldwin, James. ""A Talk to Teachers" James Baldwin, 1963." "A Talk to Teachers"
James Baldwin, 1963. RichGibson, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.
Rose, Mike. ""I Just Wanna Be Average"" I Just Wanna Be Average" (n.d.): 0-7.
"I Just Wanna Be Average" SFSU. Web. 31 Jan. 2015