ABSTRACT
It is widely acknowledged that social class-related hierarchies prevail in American education. Although few professionals deny that school circumstances and outcomes correspond to social class status, it seems they presume this results from adults of their class striving hard to succeed in occupations and settle in good neighborhoods, parents of their class caring about schooling and providing intellectually stimulating home environments, and children of their class being smart and having high aspirations and good work ethics. Thus, they are inclined to attribute stratified school structures and outcomes to the essentially superior traits of higher social classes and the natural result of fair competition in meritocratic schools and job markets. Furthermore, they insist that for life to become more equitable, the poor must become more like themselves.
