The Relationship Between Poverty and Educational Opportunities (Guest Post by Alejandrina Franco)
“The only way out of poverty is through a great education.” This is what my parents told me throughout my life. My mother only went to school as far as 6th grade. My father went as far as 8th grade. Both had to stop going to school in order to help their families. Like most immigrants, my parents came to the U.S. in search of a better life for themselves and their children. And like most immigrant families, we lived in poverty. Until this day, our lives are constantly affected by poverty. However, my parents believed in the value of a great education. They encouraged us to stay in school and go to college. They believed that the more educated we were, the greater our opportunities to live a better life.“The only way out of poverty is through a great education.” I lived my life by this motto, so I worked hard in school. I enrolled in honors and AP courses and maintained an “A/B” average GPA. I applied to colleges and universities and enrolled at Arizona State University. I attended a low-income school in a rural city on the southwest corner of Arizona. Like most low-income schools, great