This blog will describe the problem, explain why the current approaches will never work, and outline eight steps that can be taken to really fix urban K-12 education in America.

The Problem

As most people know, a large percentage of students in urban school districts are not performing near their grade level and end up dropping out before the eleventh grade.  Large urban school districts struggle to get 50% of their students to graduate from the 12^th grade.  On any given day you can find students fighting, cursing at teachers, shooting dice, having sex, and/or skipping class in almost every school district, especially in high schools.   Too many students go to school for everything except education – they do not study, do not do any homework, and misbehave in class on a regular basis.  It does not help that parents frequently are unable or unwilling to work with the school to improve their child’s performance.  In many cases, the only reason that parents come to school is to complain about something or attempt to set the school up for a lawsuit.

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