Education Inequality in the State of Illinois

Education is a necessity for everyone regardless of their financial circumstances, race, or other matters, but marginalized populations are set at a disadvantage. School districts in Illinois with affluent neighborhoods such as districts 203, 204, 125, can see graduation rates more than 10% above the state average with more opportunities, sports, and extracurriculars as stated in the Illinois State Report Cards. Conversely, seen in the Illinois State Report Cards for districts such as 189, 299, and 131, schools with less funding and less affluent students see graduation rates of about 10% less than the state average. America prides itself on equality, but in reality, its population is divided. The wealthy are given the opportunities to maintain their social status, while the impoverished must work harder to reach the same goals. From their youth, poorer children are set at a disadvantage and struggle to catch up later in their higher education. We plan to investigate the relationship between the opportunities, income, and success rates in school districts across Illinois in order to emphasize and examine flaws in our current education system