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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (62182)	4/28/2008 1:04:35 PM
From: slacker711	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541977

School success is all about family. Without a doubt, that is the biggest factor. We wouldnt need all of the programs if we didnt have the problem of kids having kids and single parent families. That being the situation, where do we go from here? I believe two things.... 1) We almost literally couldnt be doing a worse job of creating productive citizens out of at-risk kids. The heart of the problem is the families but add in the welfare culture and crappy schooling to the mix. I dont want to throw money at some sort of universal rollout, but I do want lots of things to to be tried and expand those that show positive returns. I am not as pessimistic as you that none of them will show gains. 2) While the problem cant be solved through government involvement, even relatively small improvements should have huge benefits. We are talking about spending extra money for a few years to help avoid the possibility of future welfare payments, jail and numerous other costs to society. That doesnt even add in the positive return of a productive tax paying citizen. I doubt you would have to move the needle much in terms of highschool graduation or enrollment in college to make these programs beneficial from a cost standpoint. The best hope is to find programs that move the needle enough to start getting a positive feedback loop in these areas. A kid who graduates high school and has some goals is less likely to have kids of his/her own in their teenage years. Slacker