We live in a very polarized society and the people who don’t know that must be the ones so surrounded by money that they don’t know much else beyond. There is, however, something with the power to link the lower class with the upper class. It’s called opportunity.
I will admit that I am a pretty privileged American. I was fortunate enough to become part of a hard-working, knowledgeable, and loving family. Not only this, but I was blessed with a wide range of interests, partly due to my upbringing. Now a senior in high school, I must begin to plan out my life (much more daunting than it had seemed in the past). I’m lucky that college is an option; or am I?
Today, college is an area of doubt for many young people and their parents. For most, it costs so much and provides so little. Sometimes it provides nothing and takes all. That sounds like a rather backwards system to me. Perhaps that is a reason for my hesitation about entering an “institution of higher education”. Yet, I am acquainted with a number of individuals that have either of three, practically “sure thing” plans: coming from a privileged background, having connections, and being the absolute best.
Recently, I've made some connections with students studying at private high schools. When discussing our future plans (college, especially), they nonchalantly named off the schools they are focused on: Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale, Princeton, Duke, MIT, Columbia, Stanford, etc. I thought to myself, “That’s attainable for them; very much so. Those aren’t their dream schools. They are reality.” As we continued to talk about test scores and college preparation I realized something: private schools aren’t more expensive for no reason. Private schools offer everything that a public school offers, but at the highest level possible.
Private schools run off of money, and lots of it. They can afford the top educators in the world, the top coaches in the world, and the top opportunities. What I mean by that is private school is a master key for every door imaginable.
One of my friends entered private school based on outstanding academic achievement and another because of his extraordinary athletic performance. Both attend school on partial scholarships, but suddenly, they are in an environment where the future isn’t something to worry about. Clearly, they both deserved to get where they are, but I envy that they had that opportunity because there are millions of young people with the same aspirations and not nearly enough resources to fulfill them.
I don’t mean to make the assumption that Ivy League schools aren’t a possibility for a public school student, but here is the undeniable reality: If you’re aiming for Harvard, you’re much closer to getting there starting from a place listed in Forbes under “America's Best Prep Schools” than if you’re starting from your average public high school. There’s no disputing that.
Private schools need to be more reachable for more students. They need to be more accessible. However, the fuel for private schools is money. If we want to give more students the opportunity to experience the best that can be offered, then we need to have people willing to make the necessary sacrifices. For some, such sacrifices are investments in the future; in the new generation.
The Giving Pledge is a group of billionaires that make those type of sacrifices for the good society. Upon joining the club, they pledge at least half of their fortunes to go to charities either within their lifetime or in their will. It is this type of philanthropy that makes impossibilities possible.
Maybe, then, contributing to the education system would reap the most benefits. As we combat global issues like disease, climate change, and world hunger, we should raise our children to become not only educated individuals, but capable ones, given the tools to continue the legacies left by people like Bill and Melinda Gates. I propose the following: a collection of capital from philanthropists (and let’s especially consider elite economists) that is put towards two objectives: the creation of private elementary institutions that are tuition-free and the distribution of money to students that deserve the benefits that private schooling offers.
Societal changes begin with society. The “More the Merrier” theory can really advance the education system and overall economy of this nation. It can even extend beyond our nation’s classrooms and continue to fight against, and even extinguish, the worst of the world’s problems.
Starting at a young age, students should be encouraged to participate in scholarship programs for private schooling by thinking outside the box and discovering what it is they love to do most. We should make top notch facilities and programs available to the masses, especially those that are dedicated to changing the world in ways we never thought possible. We need to put our faith in the new generation, by giving them hope.
phil·an·throp·ics (n) the economics of philanthropy; the economic repercussions of contributing to society often as a result of donating large sums of money
Thank you for reading this article. I encourage you to take a look at the following webpages:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FjW0VUZkGxGitMmeFJP_6vvGMGfDHfGfq7Jkc9k4gqw/edit?pli=1#slide=id.g2ad341316_075
http://givingpledge.org/
