Carolyn Fox

It is a very complicated issue, but with DC (or some other school systems) it may depend where the money is actually going.

Availability AND accessibility to resources (types of textbooks, books, and other printed materials) have played a role in student academic achievement. If a school doesn't have enough books on The Diary of Anne Frank for their students, guess what isn't covered. Likewise, a school, for instance, may have algebra textbooks for high school students, but such textbooks are not usually available or accessible to elementary school students even though there may be a student who is eager and able to learn algebra in the 3rd grade, for example. Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy, who was raised by a single mom and grew up in Metairie, LA, faced this issue with math; his school would not allow him to skip ahead in math.

In high school, many students are limited to what courses they can take based on what a school offers or what's available. Years ago, AP classes were not an option, only honor classes were. Today, a top-ranked high school like Lexington High School can give students more options from courses to chose. In other school systems, they may lack a French teacher to provide an AP French course. Similarly, Chinese or Mandarin is now becoming popular as a language course for American students, but it's not always widely available due to staffing, textbooks, and/or funds.

High school electives are offered based on student interest/needs, textbooks or other materials available, and a teacher's background/interest. Such electives in public schools can vary considerably to what Phillips Exeter Academy can offer, for example.

I wrote this article on behalf of some of my former students. These kids were poor whites or minorities who came from the projects or deprived areas in neighboring cities. I tap my hat off to these former students of mine and their parents. Their daily journey for a high school education was not easy.

All the statistics and research in the world is nil if you value education and you are zoned for a failing school with a child. Unfortunately, many of these failing schools are in the inner cities where educational resources are limited in terms of textbooks, educational tools, or materials. Too often, school libraries and librarians are cut too.

WordPress - thanks for the info on web browsers; that was slip up. Of course, you're correct on Mozilla Firefox.