A dumb rich kid more likely to graduate from college in America than a poor smart kid

[SahanGalbeed]

[quote]“Yes, the economy is rigged in favor of those at the top,” Clinton declared in the Democratic debate last week.

One glimpse of the structural unfairness in America is this: A dumb rich kid is now more likely to graduate from college than a smart poor kid, according to Robert Putnam of Harvard University.[/quote]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/opini ... &smtyp=cur

[Hyperactive]

it's true. i havent seen some one failled in my expensive private school. do you think they will faill you, when your parents pay $23 000 a year for your private school? even if you are dumb, you get chances until you get it. ive seen it in first hand.

[SahanGalbeed]

Putnam , harvard professor

Putnam emphasized that the children of middle class and working parents now have far fewer opportunities to succeed than those children of wealthy parents.

“How much your parents make now determines more than if you’re smart,” he told students. “It shouldn’t matter what your parents do but what you can do. I want to scare you because if we don’t change this you’re going to be growing up in a society unlike anything we’ve ever had before.”

He put the price tag to society at $5 trillion for loss of productivity, higher health care, welfare and incarceration costs. It’s a universal problem that can only be solved when references to “our children” means more than a family’s immediate offspring, he said.Nowadays, the sense of obligation to make opportunities available to all seems to have narrowed, he said. That’s different than when he grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. He said he approached the issue as a worried grandparent who wants a better future for all. He told the story of his Ohio hometown and the challenges faced by one young woman who didn’t have the opportunities of Putnam’s own granddaughter.

“We’ve got a very big problem here and your kids and grandkids are going to be living in a very different America if we don’t fix it,” Putnam told the Associates audience. “It’s evil what we are doing to these poor kids.”

Putnam’s most recent book is titled “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.” In it he outlines conditions that have created the disturbing trends. Fewer kids can afford extracurricular activities like sports and band and church membership has fallen. These trends, along with the collapse of two-parent households, means kids have less face time with responsible adults.

“Increasingly kids coming from working class backgrounds are alone. They can’t trust anybody,” he said. “Think what it means to grow up in a society where you don’t trust anybody.” That breeds cynicism, he said.Nowadays, the sense of obligation to make opportunities available to all seems to have narrowed, he said. That’s different than when he grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. He said he approached the issue as a worried grandparent who wants a better future for all. He told the story of his Ohio hometown and the challenges faced by one young woman who didn’t have the opportunities of Putnam’s own granddaughter.

He likened today’s trends to those of America in 1910 when the income gap was similar, there was an influx of immigrants and individuals became selfish. The idea of public high schools for all children regardless of wealth was conceived in small towns across America and became the great equalizer.

“It turned out to be the best public policy decision Americans have ever made,” he said. “It required people to think of other people’s kids as our kids. Everyone was better off and it leveled the playing field at the same time.”

He remains optimistic America can solve its current problem. It will take an investment of time and money and will not be a quick fix. It will take dedicated political will, churches, mentoring and more early childhood education programs such as those started in Oklahoma.

“If you look at this problem, you can’t ignore it,” he said.

http://www.normantranscript.com/news/ha ... be7bf.html

[Sumubaridi]

it's true. i havent seen some one failled in my expensive private school. do you think they will faill you, when your parents pay $23 000 a year for your private school? even if you are dumb, you get chances until you get it. ive seen it in first hand.

Hyper, what does your father do?

[JSL3000]

[sidiirageedi]

All I want to know is what Kenyamedia has to say about this.