[Clemenza]

The 100-lb. gorilla in the room in terms of American educational statistics is immigration from Mexico and Central America. That being said, certain ethnic groups (Koreans, East Indians, Persians, even Pakistanis) far outperform their white counterparts, especially in public schools.

The large Mexican/Central American youth population, combined with the plateauing and lower middle class whites and the continued academic underachievement of American blacks are the keys to understanding why so many schools are failing. It has nothing to do with "liberal" versus "conservative' (as the lib families in my area push their kids to be academic overachievers) or "religious" versus "secular." Its a question of culture and the importance of achievement in the academic sphere.

[Post Toasties]

I wouldn’t say it has ‘nothing’ to do with ‘liberal’ vs ‘conservative’, because black underperformance in particular is aided and abetted by liberal social and welfare policies that encourage single parent households.