The U.S. educational system cannot be the sole cause of the waning educational stature of the U.S. - Robert D. Putnam

Our contemporary public debate recognizes this problem but assumes it is largely a “schools problem.” On the contrary, we have seen that most of the challenges facing poor kids are not caused by schools.

These two types of equality are obviously related, because the distribution of income in one generation may affect the distribution of opportunity in the next generation — but they are not the same thing.

Without succumbing to political nightmares, we might ponder whether the bleak, socially estranged future facing poor kids in America today could have unanticipated political consequences tomorrow. So quite apart from the danger that the opportunity gap poses to American prosperity, it also undermines our democracy and perhaps even our political stability.