Our Broken Escalator

linked a post to Nicolas Kristof's article in the New York Times entitled Our Broken Escalator, which discusses the problems with funding education in Afghanistan, and not ensuring funding in our own school systems in the U.S.

The point remains that education is the best way to combat poverty, and while we can focus on doing that in countries across the world poverty is still striking large communities all over the country.

Here is an excerpt from the article

"When I report on poverty in Africa and poverty in America, the differences are vast. But there is a common thread: chipping away at poverty is difficult and uncertain work, but perhaps the anti-poverty program with the very best record is education — and that’s as true in New York as it is in Nigeria.

Granted, budget shortfalls are real, and schools need reforms as well as dollars. Pouring money into a broken system isn’t a solution, and we need more accountability. But it’s also true that blindly slashing budgets is making the problems worse. As Derek Bok, the former Harvard president, once observed, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”"

I can't think of a better way to state how much education in America needs to change.