Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ When Class Became More Important to a Child's Education Than Race

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Wealth (or lack of it) has become a more important predictor of educational success in the U.S. than race. Probably in most places it has always been more important. Wealthier parents can purchase more advantages - from libraries to tutors to summer camps - for their children, and may also value academic achievement more in the home. And as this article notes, one of the best ways to address the achievement gap is straightforward: "It's an idea that Martin Luther King Jr. pushed in his later years, while planning a second March on Washington in 1967 to support his Poor People's Campaign: Put more money directly into the hands of lower-income families." In my view, the gyrations over education reform, Common Core, and the rest are a long drawn-out process of avoiding that, of doing anything but putting money into the hands of the poor. 

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 19, 2024 11:42 a.m.

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