Inequity

Inequity prevails in America. If you are rich in America, it is quite easy to stay rich due to the many tax breaks for extremely wealthy people. Climbing out of poverty is another story altogether. This fundamental inequality at the core of our country contributes to the rise in income segregation in our public schools. Simply bestowing more funding on under-performing poverty-stricken schools does not seem to be the answer. Desmond specifically mentions a natural experiment in Montgomery County, Maryland soon after the turn of the century. The public housing authority randomly assigned families to different housing units--some in affluent school districts and some in high-poverty school districts. The overwhelming question was whether students would do better in the affluent school districts or in the high-poverty school districts which had been awarded a great deal of extra money and resources. The results were not even close. Students in...