In recent years, there has been a great deal of legitimate concern over and focus on how ready students are to learn when they get to the school door. And certainly factors such as nutrition and parental support remain important in academic success. But these test scores make it clear that public schools, with the right leadership and attitude, can meet the challenge of helping kids rise above the disadvantages they may bring with them to school. The message here is that it's far too early to give up on the public schools. The purported inability of public schools to improve themselves has been fodder for those who advocate abandoning the public system in favor of vouchers.
Vouchers drain from the public schools the very families essential to making schools better.
The success of the public school system will be measured by its success in educating its least-advantaged children. This study suggests that such success is within our grasp.