The Achievement Gap

The achievement gap is the shame of our nation.

Across the country, schools are failing to educate low-income and minority students. A few sobering facts:

A low-income child has only a 1 in 10 chance of graduating from college and escaping the cycle of poverty.
The average black or Hispanic high school graduate can read and perform math at only an 8^th grade level.
The average low-income fourth grader is already three years behind wealthier peers.
Nearly 50% of minority students drop out of high school. Over their lifetimes, these dropouts will earn $260,000 less than their peers with high school degrees. Dropouts from the class of 2008 alone will cost the nation $319 billion in lost wages.
Black, Hispanic and low-income students are significantly behind white, wealthy peers in Boston Public Schools.