> I think the question is, can 100% of children be brought up to read and write and do basic math? No. There are children whose brains pretty much failed to fo

> I think the question is, can 100% of children be brought up to read and write and do basic math? No. There are children whose brains pretty much failed to form, children with intact brains but severe mental retardation (such as the most serious form of Down Syndrome), and children who were normal until an adverse environment in the womb or later made them seriously mentally retarded, such as fetal alcohol syndrome. You can reduce the fraction of the children we can't help by defining "read and write and do basic math" as broadly as possible, but that won't be useful from two angles: One, at some level you have to really be able to read and write and do basic math, and, two, some children can't be brought up to any reasonable level. The fraction of the ineducable might end up being very small, but, hey, you're the one who said 100%.