Equity in Education by Morgan

Equity in Education by Morgan - September 2025 Scholarship Essay

Over the decades many people have fought for equality in education. Whether that be race, ethnicity, or gender, there have been many advances to education for it to be equal and available to everyone. It wasn't until my younger brother started middle school a few years ago that I noticed while yes, we have equality in education, we do no have equity.
Equality and equity for most people are the same and have the same goal, yet they are two completely different things. As a society, we are so focused on equality that equity to us seems unfair or as a "special treatment". They both have a similar goal of everything "being the same", yet the methods to reach this are different. Equality is everyone receiving the same treatment, while equity is everyone receiving different treatment in order for all of them to have the same results. This became very clear to myself and my family when my brother started to struggle in school.
For background, my younger brother has severe ADHD and ADD and struggles in the classroom, as most neuro-divergent children do. He received the same amount of attention, study time, and homework time as the rest of the class, yet he fell behind tremendously. While he was treated equally as the rest of the students, he did not receive the help he needed in order to be on the same level as the rest of his class. In order to be "equal" to his classmates, he needed twice as much attention, study time, and help with his homework. The lack of equity in his classroom hindered his learning and made it difficult for him to succeed.
In the next ten years of education, I want to see more equity rather than equality in the classroom. Making sure every child gets what they need in order to succeed rather than focusing on every child receiving the same treatment will tremendously help thousands of students who are left behind. Focusing on every child's specific needs rather than the entire class as a whole will help make sure that every child succeeds and is prepared for their futures. The education system needs to see the difference between equality and equity and start to make those changes in order to benefit every child rather than just those who can succeed on their own.