All the “poor” have to do to equalize things a bit is spring for prep courses for their kids.
These courses are expensive, and people think they don’t need them, or that they are only for kids who are very smart to begin with, but they are private enterprises and therefore hire the best and brightest teachers. The first thing they do is a diagnostic so each kid ends up in the right class getting taught exactly what they are weak in.
They do not “teach to the test” but actually teach the math and English the way they should have been taught in the first place. The kids come out of even their first session saying things like, “So THAT’s what it’s all about!”
Problem is, most “poor” families will buy expensive TVs and other electronics and smartphones and Nikes before they will spend one-tenth that amount on a prep course.
I’m talkng about the ones for the private high schools and “science” schools, as well as for the PSAT and SATs. A good score on the PSAT can get you a National Merit citation, which is worth its weight in scholarship gold and college acceptance, both of which vastly improve the child’s future.
I’m a bit off-topic here, and don’t mean to hijack the thread, but this is basic to me and can eliminate at its root some of the generator envy that Rush was talking about.
Interesting...