Education and the Rich-Get-Richer Effect
https://www.besteducationdegrees.com/the-rich-get-richer/
http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/the-real-reason-rich-kids-do-better-in-school/education
“Rich get richer” is a saying that often comes up when discussing power laws; it is also a saying that has been commonly said throughout the society of various countries. This phenomenon of the”rich getting richer” is often considered to be a cyclic cycle, because it can be traced back to the education system. As stated in the article “The real reason rich kids fo better in school”, “a further examination of the situation [where children from rich backgrounds do better in school] reveals that U.S K-12 education is actually two different school systems, one for rich children and another for poor”.
There are school districts that enjoy significantly more educational funding, which allows for smaller classrooms, qualified teachers, quality equipments, more extracurriculars and so on. However, these school districts have higher taxes and expensive houses. Therefore, families with lower income who cannot afford to live in such districts have no other choice than to send their children to schools in poorer districts. In these poorer districts, the children are not able to enjoy the same privileges that are enjoyed by children attending schools in a richer district.
As a result, students from wealthy families are able to participate in more extra curricular activities, hold more leadership positions and receive more outside education/ help (such as SAT and ACT preps) than students from less affluent families. Rich students are therefore more likely to perform better not only in school but standardized tests: “they score 120% better on standardized tests” (https://www.besteducationdegrees.com/the-rich-get-richer/). With more extracurriculars, higher grades, and higher standardized scores, students from rich families get into more competitive colleges (not to mention, college is very expensive and poor families will be more reluctant to send their children to more competitive but expensive colleges). College graduates, especially from more selective colleges, will have a higher earning potential and will continue to make more money than children from poor families.
In short, rich students will get better education, and as a result have more opportunities get a higher paying job and maintain their wealth. This cycle perpetuates and the rich will continue to get richer, while the poor, unfortunately, get poorer — a sad reality that should not be as common.