Schooling

Access to adequate education for enough years is the backbone of many of these areas of policy failure and also of disagreement. Schooling extends from pre-K, through K-12 and on to college/university and post-graduate education. Lack of adequate education early in life has a significant negative impact on one's lifetime earnings. The causes range from lack of pre-K, low quality schooling, an unsafe neighborhood, insufficient family income to support learning, and poor diet. This problem is concentrated in lower income students and in minority students. For some students the best option would be a high quality vocational training program either in high school or post-high school. There is much that can be done to make this as attractive and beneficial as it is in many other countries. Looked at from the standpoint of the community, a well-educated labor force is a strong element in a city's or town's competitiveness vis àvis other places, so the benefits of a good education go far beyond the individual having the education.