Justice and Equality in our Educational Syste

English 103

“My aim is to present a conception of justice which generates and carries to a higher level of abstraction the familiar theory of the social contract as found, say in Locke, Rousseau, and Kant”…John Rawls John Rawls theory simply states that a system that is “just” is one that is the most fair. Specifically, he believes that society should be built in a way that is fair for everybody and that those rights of any individual should not be sacrificed for the greater good of society. It is my observation that in today’s society injustice is wide spread and there is a moral collapse of our society due to the rich having the insatiable need for power and to control our society. Even when the creators of our society think they are being fair, the reality is that self preservation comes first, therefore rules and laws are mostly created to satisfy the wealthy, white, and normal upper middle class citizens . The race to achieve the American dream seems obtainable for only certain people and is more difficult to achieve when one is faced with certain obstacles or disabilities that others do not have. This need for control even effects our education which appears to cater to the young and affluent and those with a promising future and not to those of us who are in our mid life or older, disabled or recovering from a debilitating event in our life. Today’s system systematically disadvantages the poor, disabled, and the elderly in obtaining the same goals as a normal, healthy young student straight out of high school even though it appears that we have the same opportunities. Although there are special education programs in college, there is still a time limit before your funds run out and they are through with you. One of the greatest things about being recovering from addiction is that it gives us a chance to a new life. Many of us recovering addicts return to college to either start a new life or those of us who didn’t manage to complete our college degree may want to return to college to improve our chances in the job market despite our mishaps. Fortunately there are also intensive certificate programs here at Los Angeles City College for those who want to work in the field of addiction and human services and get a half way decent job, which I have completed. We also have Office of special Services to help those of us who have or are struggling with learning and physical disabilities. Despite having the same amount of resources or opportunities, the disabled and elderly and students in recovery may process information differently and take double the amount of time to process the available information. I do not believe the Board of Education takes these issues into account in evaluating equality. My biggest argument is that college as a whole is not geared towards students over certain ages that are starting life over and have accumulated prior units from another school in the district. It seems as though rules and curriculums are constantly changing and making education more difficult to obtain. The cost of education is skyrocketing and a limitation on the amount of units one has, determines if a student can afford to stay in school. The amount of Federal Pell Grant funds you may receive over your lifetime is limited by law to be the equivalent of six years or 600% of Pell Grant funding according to Federal Financial Aid of the U.S. Department of Education. So this confirms to me that the justice and fairness of the Board of education is developed with only young people straight of high school in mind which is not equality across the board. When I first started Los Angeles City College in 2010 I was encouraged to enter the Human service program including the drug and alcohol certification program which I did. Everything was going well as planned I was excited to be doing something with my life. I had amazing grades, high recommendations from my professors for scholarships and life was great. I planned to finish my programs and since I was only a few classes away from transferring I had hopes to go to Cal State LA to obtain bachelors in Human services despite my age. In the middle of my courses, financial aid cut me off of my funds to complete my education; I was devastated. They informed me that I had over 90 units and that was the limit to be funded. I had no idea that when I came to this school that I had 52 units which almost all of them went towards an AA degree. This was unbeknown to me that there was a limitation on education. Financial aid had counted back from 1975 when I was 19 yrs old and took a couple of class and again when I had attended Harbor College in the 90”s. I was told, “This is just how it is”. It caters to a certain general population with very little exceptions. Fortunately I had not reached my 600% and still haven’t although I am in a constant battle to finish my AA. The past two years I have had to appeal to finish my certificate programs. I have become very frustrated knowing many students are just taking any bullshit classes to get the money with very little initiative to claim a major. There has also been an addition of two difficult math classes that are now a requirement to get an AA. If I had started LACC before 2009 I would not have to take math 125; something I will never use in my life. According to Robert Dominick, counselor for Office of Special Services, a few years prior to me starting this school, I would not have to even have taken Math 115 to get an AA degree. Now that I have completed the two certificate programs, it was brought to my attention that I was only two math classes away from getting an AA degree so again I got excited. I also only have four more classes to transfer, but my opportunities to advance my education further with the help of financial aid are getting slimmer. I am 60 years old, have 2000 hours to do in three and a half years intern hours and somewhere in the near future it will be mandatory to have a bachelors degree in addition to being certified to remain in the drug field. Now I am stuck on passing this Math that a few years ago was not a requirement to advance my education. I am not the most analytic or philosophical person that ever lived but I am highly intuitive as to the discrimination of the less fortunate, disabled and elderly. It only seems obvious that many older students who have exhausted their education resources will not make it to a university. Times are getting more difficult and many students have to work and attend college at the same time which can create more mental stress. For some people in recovery often times this stress is too much and many addicts relapse. For me, my recovery comes first therefore I have a decision to make to just concentrate on my drug and alcohol license and forget the bachelors’ degree or fight to the bitter end to stand up for what I believe in and get that piece of paper saying I have a Bachelors. My argument stands; there not fairness and equality in our educational system, especially in determining how many units it takes to achieve one’s goal. If the students are older and have attended a college in that same district thirty years ago, so what, it’s about what we are doing with our life now. As long as students currently stick to an educational plan I believe exceptions should be made to help them financially. Why do we have to continually be punished because of our past mistakes? Now that I am only a couple of classes from transferring I m going to have to appeal again however the system has made me realize that since I screwed up my youth they will not help me financially with my future because I am a flight risk at 60 years old therefore I am now on my own. Many of us in recovery have already done a substantial amount of financial destruction that takes years to clean up making it difficult to make amends and pay for schooling at the same time. When I first got sober I would never had been able to afford college without the help of financial aid and vocational rehabilitation. And although low income citizens can get fee waivers which helps, the price of books are astronomical. So I am saying this to make a point not to get sympathy but to say there are many different circumstances in life where some people need extra assistance to rebuild their life however the Board of Education sets all the rules in stone and only budge a little. I am in favor of change in our current system to be fair to everyone young and old. Possibly one of the ways to reverse this discrimination in limited funding is to implement a new accelerated program to help students in the certificate programs to move on to a four year college without having to take some of the classes that are irrelevant to their career. I still have some hope however today my hope is diminishing unless something in our system changes. The biological clock is ticking and I feel as if I just have to settle for a certificate and a mediocre job in the field of my expertise as oppose to achieving a bachelors unless I come up with the money myself to fund my education. Because of the ever changing rules, education is becoming more of luxury for the young and wealthy than an opportunity for everyone at any age, race or ethnicity to better our lives. .
In conclusion, despite all the criticism of our educational system I love to learn and will always continue to learn in life until I die. I don’t know if I will ever get that Bachelors degree to utilize in the work place; but right now I am taking one day at a time and just suiting up and showing up to see what’s next. Hopefully in the future new programs will be implemented to help everyone have an equal opportunity to obtain an education.

References:
(Terzi, Lorella. Justice and Equality in Education: A Capability Perspective on Disability and Special Educational Needs. London: Continuum, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

Natoli, Marie. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Public Policy, Justice, and the Law. Dubuque: 2006. McGraw-Hill Contemporary Learning Series

http://studentaid.ed.gov/