This is what really stood out to me in this discussion. I've worked in several different school districts in SoCal and the resources that some kids have access to is totally different than what other kids have. You see why some kids are set up to fail while others aren't...
I worked as a tutor for this one family in South Central. Loving family, hard-working, etc (As were just about all of the families I worked with at this time). The kid I'm worked with has a learning disablity and somehow, his local elementary school just kept passing him from one grade to the next. The kid wants to learn. He enjoyed working with me and used to work his ass off. His parents have taught him the importance of an education, but the school system sucked at offering any decent services (besides me of course). His parents were too busy working, so many times he didn't get help he needed. I really worry about him sometimes because I know as he gets into high school, he's going to try to hide his disability behind being a tough guy or something like that. Many of the kids lack confidence in their abilities and the school system does nothing to change that.
Contrast that with a more affluent area in which I worked that have individualized educational plans for children with learning disabilities, neurological disorders, hearing and vision problems, etc. They have aides like myself that work one-on-one with the kids and they end up going through high school and college with no issues at all. The crappy one-on-one services they have at poorer districts just consists of scolding and making sure the kid doesn't cause any major disruptions, not actually helping them better themselves (because many of them can if it is detected early and worked on).
On the local level, I always thought that tax dollars should go towards education, police, fire department, medical services, and making the city a business-friendly environment (great job with that Villarogosa).
