[ealgeone]

More moneys the answer.....that’s the ticket.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The purpose of affirmative action is to put people with IQs of 85 into positions for which they are completely unqualified.

[BitWielder1]

It's an ambition gap more than anything else.

[FlingWingFlyer]

There must be some kind of a “gap”. Most celebrities and politicians send their kids to private rather than public schools.

[Responsibility2nd]

According to a 1995 University of Kansas study (Hart and Risley), children of educated parents hear 2,100 words an hour. In contrast, those with working class parents hear 1,200 words, and children whose parents are on public assistance hear only 600. The vocabulary and attentiveness of the primary caregiver—whether it is a parent, a nanny or a daycare worker—plays a central role in the cognitive skills children will demonstrate later in life.

That's very interesting.  There were plenty of reasons why we read stories to our babies, but little did I know then that it would mean having a greater educational advanatage later in life.

[MrB]

What is it about leftists that they just can’t fathom that those with more resources are going to have more and better choices available to them?

[Still Thinking]

Can kids learn particular skills to help them overcome adversity?

Absolutely. If you can teach a kid to read well and truly inculcate the ideas that hard work is good and commie fascists are Ebola, then he'll do well, unless he's overwhelmed with millions of gibsmedats. Even then, he'll do better than he would as yet another of them.

[T-Bird45]

FTA: A growing body of research indicates that part of the answer may lie in the tremendous amount of brain development that takes place during the first three years of life. Babies are born to learn, and we now know many neural networks in the brain are significantly strengthened or weakened long before a child has entered formal schooling.

You learn this as a parent with each child but you don't really get to appreciate until you interact with your grandchildren in that age range. It floors me every week on Wednesday when we keep the oldest granddaughter, age 2-1/2 years, at the increase in language from one week to the next.

[roadcat]

In contrast, those with working class parents hear 1,200 words, and children whose parents are on public assistance hear only 600.

Yes, and I bet most of those 600 words are four-letter words. That's what I have observed, hearing welfare moms and dads screaming at their kids "RJ, get the f*** in here!". That kind of talk does not help one get into college.

[Nepeta]

It isn't poverty, it's CULTURE.

Children raised in poor immigrant families which valued education and insisted their children get ahead were reared by parents who cared about them and instilled a work ethic. The kids never considered growing up and being nothing. They were taken to the public library. They were shown free or nearly free art exhibits.

It does not take money to raise a educated adult. It takes a family with the culture expecting their kids to be educated adults. Lots of kids from upper middle class homes are utter losers because their parents indulged them.

[Flintlock]

Who benefits from an uneducated/undereducated class???

Who FIGHTS the very idea of a ‘charter school’??

Who indeed.

[Covenantor]

Author, and maybe editor, are grossly inflating parents concern and commitment to their childrens education.

If the parent or parents are semi-literate the child has no model for learning. And will have no reading material beyond micro-wave meal packaging and 40 oz malt liquor labels. By the time first grade rolls around too many have been conditioned to look upon natural curiosity as a quality to avoid or hide deeply. Next time a recycle truck passes by, ask the crew how many newspapers or magazines they collect from poor neighborhoods.

[PGR88]

According to a 1995 University of Kansas study (Hart and Risley), children of educated parents hear 2,100 words an hour. In contrast, those with working class parents hear 1,200 words, and children whose parents are on public assistance hear only 600.

So it seems like Public Assistance needs to be ended to give these kids a chance at school.

[Will88]

A growing body of research indicates that part of the answer may lie in the tremendous amount of brain development that takes place during the first three years of life.

In the past, I've proposed the obvious solution to this problem: The Government Cooer Program (GCP).

Head Start and pre-kindergarten just aren't getting the job done, so I think a vast army of government cooer specialist should be hired to go around to all the homes where infants and toddlers do not receive sufficient parental attention. Their responsibility would be to coo at and play with the youngsters several hours per day to put them on a more even footing with children whose parents assume responsibility for their eduction.

It probably wouldn't be called The Government Cooer Program, but don't think someone won't propose something similar. It might already be in some proposed legislation stuck in a drawer somewhere in DC

[mojito]

The left will never accept that there is a “cognitive ability” and “family functioning” gap.

And because there can never be a cognitive ability gap, the reason for the gap must be make-believe liberal things like “privilege” and “racism.”

Which of course can only be addressed by more government programs. Lots and lots of government programs.

[formosa]

Education begins at home. If the parents do not care the kids will never do well.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Many rich, privileged kids get a lousy education.

The man who served me in the Dunkin’ Donuts graduated with a degree in sociology that he didn’t pay for (minority scholarship).

He got a job as a carpenter after graduation but got laid off.

[Mears]

“This statement should not be taken to imply that lower income parents do not care about their children or their education”

---

Gee,how kind.

As someone who grew up poor,surrounded by lots of poor or working class people, I find that statement very condescending. We all did very well.

.

[12th_Monkey]

Worthless parents, provide worthless examples, so what can one expect? garbage in, garbage out.

[Brooklyn Attitude]

There are benefits to having ambitious, educated and intelligent parents. They have more resources and money to spend on their children resulting in better outcomes. These are called GOOD Examples and role models. On the other hand there are detriments to having lazy, stupid parents with poor judgement. Their kids suffer for their stupidity. These folks serve as EXAMPLES of why its important not to be stupid and lazy. Its not privilege, its the result of the amount of work you put out and the choices you make. Equalizing the outcomes of the hard working and lazy is not fair and counterproductive.