Lent Challenge: TFA: The Achievement Gap

I am not going to give up the first day of Lent, no matter how tired I am! However, this isn't the most thought out introduction to what the achievement gap is to me. I am still thinking and learning about it through my TFA readings. I need to tell someone these things though:

• "By the time students from low-income communities reach eighth grade, they are on average three years behind their more affluent (and more often White) peers in math and reading."
• "Nearly 70 percent of inner-city and rural fourth graders cannot read, even at a basic level."

(Quoted from my TFA required readings, page 19)

I can go on and on (and probably will) with the stats. I am from a poor, rural school. I had to leave my high school to get a good eduction, so I feel like I understand at least a little bit of what TFA is trying to fix. Education in America is in a sad state; yes, there are a lot of bight spots, (like TFA) but how did we end up letting so many students down, just because of their zip codes and parents' income? How are we going to fix it?

That's probably a question akin to "how does one eat an elephant?" One student, one school, and one bite at a time. Or, at least, that is my hope.