Reply to Do DC CAS gains track increasing income?

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Reply to "Do DC CAS gains track increasing income?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is like pre-season when will the leagues of FARM and SES start training camp?

Really, SES thinks that FARM don't value education or they aren't educated.

This is league is so much vicious than the Us vs Them league.[/quote]

I'm curious: do you think there's no difference? Or to put it more bluntly, do you believe there are any negative characteristics that correspond to poverty? If not, why do we bother trying to address poverty in America in any way? I always thought it was because those living in poverty--and their children--experience hardship. Guess not.[/quote]

Not the PP but I think it's a combination of things - hardship and environment being big players, but culture is also an important consideration.  Compare for example immigrants coming from extreme poverty - they came because they are extremely motivated, and given their motivation are far more likely to succeed.  A culture of motivation or lack thereof is a big piece of the puzzle, and no doubt a far better determinant of what makes the difference between ordinary poverty of hardship versus multi-generational poverty.[/quote]

The "immigrant coming from extreme poverty whose children always succeed" is a bit of a myth. Most immigrants to the US are either educated, middle-class people in their home countries. Or if they weren't, they already had such high barriers to overcome in order to immigrate to the US they're extreme outliers. For example, consider what it would take for an impoverished peasant in Guatemala to make it to the US. They don't just get on a plane one day and come to the US. Whether they immigrate legally or illegally, there is a huge amount of saving that needs to happen.

So the whole, "immigrants do great!" thing is a bit of a cop-out.[/quote]

Reality check:  What would qualify as "middle class" in Honduras or Nicaragua is about 10 times poorer than the typical FARMS household in DC.  Yet, they will do whatever it takes, make whatever sacrifices necessary to come here, work hard, and if their kids end up in our schools, they will push them hard to do well in school.  They see opportunity, and they seize opportunity - where so many Americans sadly do not.  They will walk miles of unpaved road, cross streams and jungle to get to school - even if it's a one-room building with a dirt floor.  Kids in places like Afghanistan will brave risks like being shot just for having the audacity to try and get educated.  Here we have kids shuffling in 2 hours late to their neighborhood school that's just 2 blocks away - only to space out and whine about having to do any work.  And that's if they even bother showing up at all, since they'd rather just hang out on a corner and do nothing.  In Guatemala, if a kid's not in school, then he's probably out putting in a long day working to help the family put food on the table.

So the whole, "life's so hard for FARMS kids in DC" is a bit of a cop-out.[/quote]

+1000. Enough excuses. Life indeed can be hard, but in most cases ( not all) it is hard mostly because of parents' behavior. Opportunities and support here are better than in most countries in the world.[/quote]

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