Inequity Beyond the Classroom
Where home ownership is low and little in property taxes is collected, too often very little money goes to public education. This has lead to inequities between children in rich and poor communities.
Richard Rothstein states in his book Class and Schools that "Americans have come to the conclusion that the achievement gap is the fault of 'failing schools' because it makes no common sense that it could be otherwise... . This commonsense perspective, however, is misleading and dangerous. It ignores how social class characteristics in a stratified society like ours influence learning in schools."
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/opinion/local1/14581627.htm
Published Thursday, Jun. 8, 2006