Obviously the opportunities for children in poor families are much less then for children in more affluent families. This has always been the case.

But is the difference getting worse? Is upward mobility as accessible as it was to our parents and grandparents?

The difference in education is stark in many areas. Extracurricular programs, parental involvement, college enrollment, school culture and the list goes on.

Comparing the Troy and Santa Ana high schools makes the differences easy to see. At Troy there is a culture of doing well in school, parental involvement, donated money for extra programs. Santa Ana is full of poor families, parents or Grandparents with little education and little time to help. Kids just trying to survive let alone learn.

Solutions:

Better parenting, reduce single parents, better community, more volunteering, different forms of teaching see the recent wired article, more funding for after school programs, decriminalize drugs, rehabilitation instead of punishment, the importance of preschool education and the list goes on.

It was an interesting book, one that made me grateful for what I have, and one that made me want to do more to help those around me.