On Poverty and School Children

I listened to an NPR story on poverty in schools and America. Study after study shows academic achievement and success is directly proportional to two factors: How much money is spent on the child’s education and the economic class (and success) of the parents. In homes where the parents are struggling, unemployed, jailed or working in low-paying jobs, their participation in their own children’s schooling is lacking–perhaps due to indifference but more likely due to the inability to help. When schools in poorer districts have to cut back on everything from supplies, to staff, to facilities, and books, it naturally follows that students suffer. To make matters worse, the accountants and critics compare these impoverished kids on the same plane with privileged children in affluent neighborhoods and draw racist conclusions.