Why American Education is on the Ropes. Poverty.

An article about poverty in Janesville, Wisconsin made it perfectly clear how it effects our kid’s education. It’s the root cause of low achievement and graduation rates. Poverty controls their lives.

StateJournal: Rock County is scrambling to help two groups of needy children - those who were born into poor families and those who fell from the middle class when the Janesville GM plant closed in December 2008 … Rock with the second worst child-poverty rate in the state … The Janesville Public School District is seeing more students coming to class hungry, without a good night's sleep and distracted by the stress of living in need, said Ann Forbeck, school district homeless education coordinator.

"The stress of the economy tends to increase family conflict, and if there's drug and alcohol abuse or violence, those things can become more severe," Forbeck said.

More than two-thirds of the district's students are poor enough to get free or reduced-price lunches.

They've needed donated school clothes, shoes and classroom supplies. Now an effort is underway to find funding for bus passes for those who don't have transportation.
"Kids are missing school because they can't afford to get to school," she said.

Thanks to the economic collapse caused by the unintended consequences of free market politics, the story here doesn’t sound anything like the America we grew up in. I have a feeling it will only get worse.

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