Dyson describes how students who dominantly interact in forms of English that are considered "deficit" in schools—including AAVE (African American Vernacular English)—are often labeled "at risk" and "disadvantaged." These labels erase the strengths of the students, which perpetuate more deficit language related to race and socioeconomic status. Furthermore, the education system, particularly in the language arts, perpetuate these labels and continue to evaluate learners based on their deficits. Instead of empowering individuals for their strengths, educators "repair the child, rather than the school." Dyson further argues that such erasure of learners cannot be fixed with more resources; it is a systemic problem because the educational system holds that there is only one "single pathway to literacy."