Southerland 1

Simone Southerland
Professor Jan Rieman
English 1101-022
February 1, 2010

Does money play a huge factor in what kind

of education one can have?

Jean Anyon did this study to point out some things that may not ordinarily be seen
by the naked eye. She wanted to paint a better picture of the inequality in education.
Maybe she was just letting the world know that social classes still exist or that money still
rules the world, so to say. Those with the money get the best. They get the best in
education, nutrition, medicine, etc. This reality that Anyon pointed out is nothing new.
It’s been going on since the beginning of time, the division. Is division what keeps this
world running the way it does? If all opportunities were to be given equally to all,
especially in education, would there be a terrible disturbance in the equilibrium of this
society?

The breakdown of classes that Anyon gave regarding the schools is in direct
correlation to the class breakdown of society. Children are taught different skills for
different roles. Before public schools were even in existence, children were taught at
home. They were taught what ever the parents saw fit for them to learn. If the parents
were farmers, the children were taught how to farm. If the parents were workers for
someone else’s farm, the children went to work with the parents and learned that
particular skill. If the parents were bankers, then the children were probably taught a
great deal about numbers and different accounting skills.

As the world changed, so did the way of education. The people who were doing
the teaching is what changed. People fought for a more universal form of education.
People wanted the opportunity to be able to read and write, and quite frankly, not all
parents knew how to read and write, especially those of the “working class.” Even back
then, there were still tiers in education. It was not necessarily a division in the school
system, but just a division in what people were taught. Those with money, even back in
those times, probably knew how to read and write. The others that weren’t that fortunate
 Southerland 2

were just fighting to be able to learn those skills. As the skills that were being taught to
the working class people increased, so did the skills of the more elite (money having)
class.