This is extremely worrisome to me. As someone who aspires to work with children in emotional and behavioral contexts, hearing that there are children who become depressed because of societal circumstances and not personal events makes me wonder what protections and reforms should happen in education in order to keep vulnerable populations from being exposed to hate at school.

This is a statement that resonates with me. As a Hispanic student myself, the message that in order to succeed in life, you must obtain a college degree is encouraged and repeated to us as motivation. The fact that White parents don't push this onto their children makes me wonder if it is because academically, their schools have always been better in terms of opportunity, and has given them the option to see college as "just another option" and not their ticket to success.

I think even this is a stereotype that can be harmful to Black students. Why should we only celebrate a Black student if they are bringing their high school football team to state championships? It creates an expectation or pressure on Black students to be good at something for the approval of their white peers.

This is a concept I went over in an urban planning course here at UCI. Food deserts, lack of access to prenatal health care, and neighborhoods that neglect their residents in the pursuit of profit make it difficult for children to overcome the disadvantages in which they are reared. This is not just a short-term access issue; it is an issue with long-term effects on our future scholars. It is an issue that continues to show which population we are most concerned with in terms of achieving success.

This is completely true. Additionally, the population of people who were denied personhood and human freedom was also denied the chance to create generational wealth. This has direct effects to the way Black and Brown students are disproportionately victimized by the public school system, and the impossibility getting through a four-year college without experience financial hardship.

I like that Mann called public education "the great equalizer". Education is power, and it levels the playing field for those who did not have economic privilege. I think this message still stands today; education doesn't level the playing field per se, but it keeps the working class informed on their human rights and keeps them from being exploited.

As a low-income Latina student in the UC system, I have seen the outcomes of my past peers, and I read this passage with a deeper understanding. I am only 21 years old, and I know 4 people at completely different stages of life: one friend who dropped out to start her family, one with no desire to pursue higher education, one who has graduated early and is pursuing dental school, and another who has taken the entrepreneurial route. Class background almost entirely a factor in all of these outcomes, and I bet you could guess by their life outcomes who is from a low-income background and who is upper-middle class.

This passage points out a fatal flaw in the American Dream; not everybody has the same start in the race to the top. Telling people that school is meant to level the playing field and create equal opportunity does not take into account the unfair advantages that generations of wealthy families can give to their children.

I think this paragraph is hard for me to agree with. In theory, the American Dream is extremely powerful; it tells people that anybody can create success for themselves, and that in the Land of the Free, there is nothing that holds you back from your dreams but yourself. In practice however, this is far from reality and there are too many barriers that keep people from achieving even their basic means.