Education
About
Education is how we formally learn. Education begins in early childhood, continues through K-12, and may continue after high school through college or vocational training.
Relationship to health and equity
Attaining a quality education is consistently and robustly associated with improved health. Education can create opportunities for better health through higher incomes, better employment options, increased social benefits and healthier behaviors. Education systems can support children’s development as members of a healthy community by teaching critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and information literacy. Health can also shape educational outcomes, such as when children with poor health have decreased attendance or concentration in class.
Education systems also tend to reflect the broader context of health equity. Students’ ability to access a quality education is not distributed equitably because of historical and current policies and institutional practices that disadvantage people of color, families with lower incomes, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ students. For example, historical policies that segregated schools by race led to poorly funded schools for Black students. Currently, school discipline systems tend to disproportionately identify and punish students who are Black, have disabilities, are transgender, and are from lower socio-economic backgrounds. This can result in expulsion or lost days of school for marginalized students.
Everyone deserves a safe and nurturing learning environment that accommodates their needs. Thriving education systems fulfill the needs of students and contribute to a flourishing society.
Relationship to systems and structures
Decision-makers who set budgets, policies, and institutional practices at the federal, state and local level shape students’ lives. In the first half of the 20th century, revenue generated by local property taxes covered over 80% of school spending. This budget system created large gaps in educational resources and opportunities, with schools attended by students from wealthy neighborhoods having more resources than schools attended by students from low-income neighborhoods. While school finance reforms have overall increased state contributions and reduced reliance on local funding through property taxes, connections between neighborhood wealth and school resources remain.
Providing resources for education for all students improves society for us all. When one community or group suffers from a lack of resources and inadequate educational opportunities that affects everyone in society. Together we can work to design and support education systems that allow everyone to thrive.
Additional Reading
- Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Society and Health. (2015). Why education matters to health: Exploring the causes. Brief No. 1. https://societyhealth.vcu.edu/work/the-projects/why-education-matters-to-health-exploring-the-causes.html#gsc.tab=0