There are lots of problems in this and no real solutions. If there were real, easy, or plausible solutions, they would already be here.
I think this is largely the point the author is making, if subtly - that the solution is hard, so we aren't bothering.
The author says, "We kick twenty percent of our kids out of school illiterate, innumerate and socially dysfunctional . . .", as if... what? Those kids can be made more literate by more time in the school system that's had them for 13 – 16 years?
I'm not sure that's the suggestion - the author talks about being involved in various types of different forms of education (including adult). There are ways to do outreach and give these people options. Some are in place. Most are understaffed.
How much of the responsibility is the schools, and how much is the individual's or the parents'?
A bit of everything I think. I know a few inner city school teachers, and most despair at an inability to get through to the kids. By the time they are 8-10 they are already tied into the downward spiral - by poor early education, their parents and their peers. Cutting that cycle requires something dramatic or radical (for example; getting locked up, which is why you hear about youth offenders who were "converted" and make a success of themselves - once kicked out of the cycle and forced to seriously consider their future they made an upward choice).
One of the saddest things I have ever seen were the personal statements I was shown once, for 16 year olds. They simply did not seem to grasp the concept of achievement beyond "I got a GCSE"; largely because no one has taught them that achievement doesn't simply mean academic qualifications.
And these were kids who cared, that actually wanted to go further than the dole.
I think this is largely the point the author is making, if subtly - that the solution is hard, so we aren't bothering.
The author says, "We kick twenty percent of our kids out of school illiterate, innumerate and socially dysfunctional . . .", as if... what? Those kids can be made more literate by more time in the school system that's had them for 13 – 16 years?
I'm not sure that's the suggestion - the author talks about being involved in various types of different forms of education (including adult). There are ways to do outreach and give these people options. Some are in place. Most are understaffed.
How much of the responsibility is the schools, and how much is the individual's or the parents'?
A bit of everything I think. I know a few inner city school teachers, and most despair at an inability to get through to the kids. By the time they are 8-10 they are already tied into the downward spiral - by poor early education, their parents and their peers. Cutting that cycle requires something dramatic or radical (for example; getting locked up, which is why you hear about youth offenders who were "converted" and make a success of themselves - once kicked out of the cycle and forced to seriously consider their future they made an upward choice).
One of the saddest things I have ever seen were the personal statements I was shown once, for 16 year olds. They simply did not seem to grasp the concept of achievement beyond "I got a GCSE"; largely because no one has taught them that achievement doesn't simply mean academic qualifications.
And these were kids who cared, that actually wanted to go further than the dole.