No debating it: In education, class matters

In statistics, this is a slam-dunk correlation:

Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that more than 40 percent of the variation in average reading scores and 46 percent of the variation in average math scores across states is associated with variation in child poverty rates.

But I know you conservatives and "school choice" folks eschew statistics and prefer anecdotes about that one charter school, or some movie about over-achieving minority students, when it comes to U.S. education policy.

It's too bad our public and private schools don't teach statistics to over-achieving white kids....

Class Matters. Why Won't We Admit It?

By Helen F. Ladd and Edward B. Fiske

December 11, 2011 | New York Times

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/opinion/the-unaddressed-link-between-poverty-and-education.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me