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Magnet School “Equality”

"Am I ever going to be able to go to college if I can’t afford it?"

Listen to this Commentary!

By Marisol Pineda

People say public school is the basis for equality in our country. But I disagree.

I go to John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, and I’m in the Magnet program…where supposedly all that matters is how intelligent you are, and what you can accomplish. You can’t buy your way in, to the disappointment of many students. And once you’re in, everyone has the same access to the great resources in the magnet program: we have the best teachers, new books, special projectors for our classes, and expensive equipment in our laboratories.

But that doesn’t mean everyone’s equal.

Once I was competing against a classmate for the top grade in Algebra II. In the Magnet program we all have access to these special calculators while we’re at school. But his parents bought him one to use at home, too. It cut his homework time in half. The calculator had all the formulas we were using. He would punch in the numbers...and it would spit out the answers. He got the better grade.

In my AP Chemistry class, one of my fellow classmates hired a 40-dollar per hour tutor when the material got difficult. My family could not afford a tutor. Another time, our English teacher assigned us to create a commercial. One of the students in my class had his commercial professionally recorded, edited and mixed. He got the higher grade.

Don’t get me wrong. I would never ask for anything to be handed to me. I am willing to work hard and persevere. But many times I’m left feeling discouraged and frustrated. I fight to overcome this pessimism every day. But sometimes after being disappointed I find myself asking, “Why am I putting myself through this? Am I ever going to be able to go to college if I can’t afford it?” Maybe scholarships and loans will make college possible for me, but maybe they won’t.

I decided to go to college in third grade, when a local businessman spoke to our class. He told us we could do anything we wanted, as long as we put our minds to it. Yes, we all get the opportunity to run the race, but nobody tells you the students aren’t always on the same track.

I’m Marisol Pineda.

Host Back Announce: Marisol Pineda comes to us from Youth Radio LA, a collaboration between LACAAW, KCRW FM, and Youth Radio.