Thoughts
I believe that our nation's most pressing domestic problem is the gap in educational outcomes that persists along socioeconomic and racial lines. In our nation today, 9-year-olds in low-income communities are already 3-4 grade levels behind 9-year-olds in high income communities. The 50% of students in urban and rural areas who do graduate from high school are on the 8th grade level compared to their more privileged peers. Only 6% of the 13 million children in our country living in poverty will graduate from college. These disparities are unconscionable in a country that aspires so admirably to be a land of opportunity.
And what I've learned from the corps members and alumni in Teach For America is that these gaps don't have to exist. Every day, in classrooms across the country, I see evidence that when children in low-income communities are given the opportunities they deserve, they excel on an absolute scale. This recognition -- that this problem is not intractable but in fact can be solved -- is fueling my sense of responsibility and sense of urgency to create a veritable movement in our country to ensure that we realize the day when all children in our nation have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. There are many other problems in the world, but by ensuring educational opportunity for all we take a giant leap forward in creating a society with the leadership and talent necessary to address those problems. |
