Reply to Another article about the magnet programs in Washington Post

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree with PP who wrote that early intervention is the key.[/quote]

We've spent 200 billion on Headstart with absolutely no lasting results. [/quote]

Over 50 years...

But it shouldn't be surprising that a few years of preschool that is not necessarily high quality wouldn't make a big difference in the lives of children who were born into the effects of poverty and continue to live in the effects of poverty. The corollary of the "Headstart hasn't done anything" argument always seems to be, "So let's get rid of it." We could improve Headstart, we could continue intervention, we could do things to mitigate the effects of poverty seriously in other ways than just a few years of preschool, we could actually reduce poverty -- but nah, let's just get rid of Headstart altogether. Why bother, after all? We will always have the poor among us. [/quote]

Imagine living in a country where we viewed each child as an investment in the future of our nation, vs. a burden.  Imagine if we could give each child the best possible education instead of scraps.  Imagine how great England must feel to have invested welfare dollars into the sustenance of JK Rowling, and how much she has repaid that debt to the nth degree.

But by all means, let's give the poor kids the crappiest scraps we can scrounge up and then wonder why they don't thrive.  [/quote]

Money comes from where? [/quote]

We're already spending a lot of money on the effects of poverty. It's just that we're spending it after the poverty has already done its harm -- for example, by locking people up. I'd rather spend it to prevent harm in the first place.  Not to mention, how much does it cost us to waste human potential?[/quote]

I'm one of those crazy weirdos who pays my taxes and is glad to do so to contribute to a better country for all of us.  I figure the education my taxes provide some kid might mean that kid grows up to be a doctor, or nurse, or maybe just a nice person who brightens the day of everyone around them.  People who are educated and happy are good people to live around, people who are uneducated and stuck in poverty create crime and much more expensive problems down the road.  You'll pay one way or the other.

Also agree with another poster that our educational system *should* be offering more opportunities for all kids, not just the very brightest.  But that is in an ideal world.  In the actual world we live in, we underpay the people we trust with our most precious resource because people like Ms. Money Comes From Where are too busy hoarding their stash of gold.  [/quote]

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