Has High School Athletics Been Captured by High-Income Families?

Does athletics create opportunity for students, or does it only amplify the differences between students who have a lot of opportunity because of their families, because of their socioeconomic status, and those who don't?

I think there has long been an argument and belief in American public education that athletics can level the playing field and create opportunity for students who might otherwise not have opportunity.

But I think in recent years, it's become clear that athletics can create opportunity for students who don't have as much academic ability, but who do have money, who do have family support, who do have a high socioeconomic status.

That can create opportunity for them to get into a college, right?

Like if you want to get into a really, really good college, being an athlete is a good way to do that, all else being equal.

And I think this idea that we can spend public school money on athletics in order to create opportunity for students who otherwise don't have much opportunity doesn't really hold up because of the privatization of athletics, right?

If you look at any elite high school athlete who's being seriously considered for a college scholarship, there's a very good chance that they have parents who are spending a huge amount of money on their development as athletes.

And if you look at the students who are getting those college scholarships, I'm going to guess that not very many of them are actually from low-income families.

Now, I don't know.

I haven't seen statistics on this.

Let me know what you're seeing.

But it really seems to me like public school, high school athletics has become an elite game, a high socioeconomic game.

And I don't really see it as leveling the playing field.

And I'm very concerned that athletics is the tail that's wagging the dog in so many high schools, that we're hiring so many people simply because they can coach and not for any academic rationale, not for their teaching ability.

So I really think we have to look at that issue, but we also have to look at the issue of whether we're spending money to level the playing field or not.

And if you were to give me a dollar and say you can spend this on academics or you can spend it on athletics, create some opportunity for our low-income students.

I mean, hands down, I would put that money into academics because academics is where students are going to gain the skills that they can actually use in life.

And if you think about the kids who do get into college and even get college scholarships, how many of them actually pursue a professional athletic career?

This idea that there's this massive opportunity here doesn't really hold up.

And it especially doesn't hold up now.

Like I remember in high school seeing a poster of like, what are your chances of becoming a professional athlete?

They had one of those in the locker room and it was like, you know, like one and a half a million chance or one in a million chance of becoming a professional athlete in your sport.

And I think that's even worse now because athletics is the target of so much parental investment, right?

You're not only competing against other people who have a similar level of natural ability, you're competing against their parents' money.

So I think we've really got to take a fresh look at the rationale for athletics in creating opportunity for students.

Let me know what you think.