Reflection:Education as the Great Equalizer?

On February 27, 2024, Provost Jennifer King Rice gave a captivating and important lecture on the current state of the U.S. education system and how it perpetuates inequality, resulting in disparities in educational outcomes and opportunities. Citing the “Nation’s Report Card,” Rice explains how the pandemic “erased two decades of progress” when it came to math and reading scores for 13-year-olds. She delves further into this statistic showing how Native American, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students displayed larger score decreases than their white classmates.

Photo Credit: Hong H. Huynh / Grey Slate, LLC

Horace Mann, a champion of publicly funded universal education, described education as the “… great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of social machinery.” Rice emphasizes the importance of “education as the great equalizer” by showing how higher levels of education equate to better employment opportunities, lower incarceration levels, better health and exercise rates, and more civic engagement.

To rebalance the wheel, it is necessary to recognize the broad goals of education, invest in school resources, and make important policy changes. Rice is optimistic when looking at the future of education but recognizes the hurdles and challenges that need to be overcome before our education system provides equal opportunity for all. 

You can view the video of Provost King Rice’s Lecture on our youtube channel here.

About the Author:

Zoe is a senior at the University of Maryland studying Marketing. She plans on attending law school after graduation. Zoe is excited to use her creativity with the Bahá'í Chair for World Peace while learning about important social, political, and economic issues.

To learn more about Zoe: www.linkedin.com/in/zhlebovic