Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Poverty and the Achievement Gap | Seattle Education

Poverty and the Achievement Gap | Seattle Education

Poverty and the Achievement Gap

A few issues are touched upon in this Democracy Now interview with Barbara Ehrenreich, author of “Nickle and Dimed” that have much to do with education in this country and why some students succeed and others do not. Don’t let anyone lead you to believe that a few recruits from Teach for America and charter schools are going to bridge the so-called “achievement gap”. That idea is simplistic at best and erroneous on many levels.

The Waltons, owners of Wal-Mart for instance, are big believers in charter schools which is basically the privatization of public funded public schools. They also rely on the government to subsidize their exceptionally profitable business by expecting the government to provide their employees with food stamps and health care