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1. Yes, but schools can be incredibly bad. They are largely funded by local taxes and tend to be playgrounds for lunatic educational theories of both right and

1. Yes, but schools can be incredibly bad. They are largely funded by local taxes and tend to be playgrounds for lunatic educational theories of both right and left. You need a big dose of luck to ride this train. 2. Assuming you can get the grades, without a library, internet, or a stable home life, sure. And that you can navigate the fafsa and the rest of the college bureaucracy, potentially without parental help (and god help you if you have an uncooperative parent and cant get the data). 3. Sure, assuming your home life is stable enough to keep you out of this. Harder if mom or dad is already neck deep in weed, meth, or opioids. 4. Sure, if we are talking about shoplifting or larceny. But a teen can be pulled over for riding in a car on the flimsiest of reasons, and if the cop doesnt like you, you can easily get sucked into the maw of the justice system. I think we've all seen enough video of police acting badly to know that things can easily go badly wrong in a heartbeat. 5. Yes, except that not every plan covers it, and sometimes it fails, and it is becoming increasingly hard to get a plan B, like literal plan B or abortion. Plus we may have higher rates of sexual crime. All the things you say are correct, but the reality of being poor in America is much, much uglier than straightforward theory suggests.

WalterBright 4y ago
The schools are run by the teachers' union. If the schools are bad, it starts and ends with the union. Yes, sometimes birth control fails, and there are sexual crimes. That doesn't explain teen pregnancy rates, though. > without a library, internet, or a stable home life The library, internet, or home life is simply not necessary to get good grades. The schools move along very, very slowly. 6 hours a day in class is enough time to learn it all several times over. If one pays attention. > enough video That implies that all the crime in poor neighborhoods is actually over-enforcement by the cops. That doesn't explain the bars on the windows. > And that you can navigate the fafsa and the rest of the college bureaucracy, potentially without parental help What do you need parental help for there? The colleges provide everything necessary. When I was in that situation, I sent a letter to each college asking for their admissions package. They mailed it to me. I followed the directions in it. Fulfilled the requirements. Wrote the essays. Filled in the forms. Sent it in. My parents did exactly none of it. If one stayed in school K-12 and paid attention in class, one should be quite capable to handle applying to college.

WalterBright 4y ago

The schools are run by the teachers' union. If the schools are bad, it starts and ends with the union. Yes, sometimes birth control fails, and there are sexual crimes. That doesn't explain teen pregnancy rates, though. > without a library, internet, or a stable home life The library, internet, or home life is simply not necessary to get good grades. The schools move along very, very slowly. 6 hours a day in class is enough time to learn it all several times over. If one pays attention. > enough video That implies that all the crime in poor neighborhoods is actually over-enforcement by the cops. That doesn't explain the bars on the windows. > And that you can navigate the fafsa and the rest of the college bureaucracy, potentially without parental help What do you need parental help for there? The colleges provide everything necessary. When I was in that situation, I sent a letter to each college asking for their admissions package. They mailed it to me. I followed the directions in it. Fulfilled the requirements. Wrote the essays. Filled in the forms. Sent it in. My parents did exactly none of it. If one stayed in school K-12 and paid attention in class, one should be quite capable to handle applying to college.