We have pushed so many of our children into the tumultuous sea of life in small and leaky boats without survival gear and compass. I hope God will forgive us and help our children to forgive us. (The State of America‟s Children 2011, Children‘s Defense Fund, July 18, 2011 p. viii.) http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/state-ofamericas-2011.pdf
I‘ll end with this question from The Bible: ―What does the LORD require of you but to do justice . . . ?‖ (MICHAH 6:8)
Chapter 1: Are the odds stacked? 1.1. ―Who gets a bachelor‘s degree from college by age 24 is largely determined at birth.‖--Thomas Mortenson, ―Family Income and Higher Education
Opportunity, 1970-2002,‖ Postsecondary Education Opportunity 143 (May 2004): I-13 in Peter Sacks, Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007, p. 4.
On February 24, 2009, President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress. In that speech, the President said the nation must face ―. . . the urgent need to expand the promise of education in America.‖ As President Obama put it: ―Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma. And yet, just over half of our citizens have that level of education. We have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation. And half of the students who begin college never finish.‖ (Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery Address to Joint Session of Congress, Tuesday, February 24th, 2009.) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-of-President-Barack-Obama-Addressto-Joint-Session-of-Congress/
The President continued: ―. . . it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education – from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.‖ Then, he announced this national goal in unmistakable language: ―That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. ― (Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery Address to Joint Session of Congress, Tuesday, February 24th, 2009.) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-of-President-Barack-Obama-Addressto-Joint-Session-of-Congress/
According to an article by Jon Marcus in The Hechinger Report, posted two years after President Obama announced his college-completion goal, prospects for achieving it are not rosy. Indeed, as it stated:
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