by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
I was fortunate enough to go to a high school where almost everyone graduated and went on to a four-year college. I have family members who went to schools where a sizeable minority didn't go to college. I have some notion of what it's like to go to a high school where 30-40% of the graduates stay in school, usually at two-year or maybe four-year state schools.
I have no idea what it's like to go to a school where the high school dropout rate is near 70%. Surely it happens somewhere, but I can't visualize how such a school could function. Or not function, as the case may be.
The next time someone says "Education is the Silver Bullet", point them to this interview with Ed Burns, co-author of The Corner, former eighth grade teacher in inner-city Baltimore, and now the source of inspiration for season for of The Wire.
