Walking through the playground of Mesa’s Lowell Elementary, I watched a group of fifth-graders play jump rope with some ASU students. Three gold-clad Sun Devils synchronize their jumps, springing into the air in unison as the rope slaps against the pavement. One falls comically onto the ground and the playground bursts into hysterical giggles and excited screams.

About a week ago, teachers and students at Lowell welcomed a group of students from ASU. The Title I school, with more than 50 percent of its students qualifying for the federal free-lunch program, benefits from the community outreach of ASU’s nonprofit student organization Camp Sparky. The U.S. education system could take a few tips from the club’s mission.

The group of undergraduate students visits underprivileged schools to “inspire them to go to college and love learning,” said incoming chair Allison Hoynes-O’Connor. “I meet kids who don’t know they can go to college because their parents didn’t go. They don’t know about the scholarships and grants available.”

“I asked [the students] about the difference between public and private universities, and they said, ‘Public schools are where everyone can go. Private schools are just for the white kids,’” said Hoynes-O’Connor.

America is blatantly a land of social class inequality but with the promise that with education, you can rise through the ranks. But education is unequal, too.

This inequality stems from funding, community involvement and expectations. Funding for education is whittled down by cities as taxpayers decide how much they want to give to education.

Cities whose taxpayers are in the high-income range can afford to give more to education and will do so to protect the value of their property.

Lower-income parents are also more likely to not be as involved in their child’s education. The effect of parent-driven organizations like parent-teacher associations or booster clubs can raise a lot of funding around those with loose pockets. These parents also tend to be more involved in their child’s education and place their children in additional after-school activities that help them succeed.

Lower-income children, more often than not, do not have these same opportunities to hone athletic and creative skills outside of the classroom.

The education system of the U.S. has set up an institution that expects less from those who make less.

A 2005 article by David Leonhardt published in The New York Times highlighted racial disparity in America’s schools. It pointed to colleges that “reinforce many of the advantages of birth,” showing schools that enroll poorer students often have lower graduation rates. It said “economic mobility — moving from one income group to another over the course of a lifetime — has stopped rising.”

So what can be done to combat this issue?

“We try to inspire them that they have the potential to achieve their dreams,” said Hoynes-O’Connor. “It’s new because no one tells them that.”

How is a nation founded on equality supporting an education system that blatantly favors students from high-income backgrounds?

A fifth-grade teacher at Lowell, Cristel Arbogast, said, “Across the board, parents and politicians need to make education the number one priority.”

Another teacher chimed in, saying, “It hasn’t been in a long time.”

Reach Melissa at melissa.silva@asu.edu.