But using the same reasoning you give, we can point out that there are other poor regions in the US with better graduation rates. Surely, cultural and historica

But using the same reasoning you give, we can point out that there are other poor regions in the US with better graduation rates. Surely, cultural and historical reasons also play a big role. The solution is to realize that the causes are many and big. Rather than trying to take these on in a gargantuan effort, which is pretty much doomed, my suggestion would be to ... just ignore the causes! Forget about what causes the problem, just fix the problem for now. When somebody heavily bleeding you don't stop to find out what caused the wound. This would be a transitory approach, of course. But, as you stated, once you make headway into education, you'll be much better equipped to tackle the root causes.