The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel – Alan J. Borsuk
“The Fourth of July weekend is a good time to pause to appreciate the opportunities that America offers to so many millions of us. I focus generally in these columns on the problems and needs of kids and schools, but I also have many chances to see the good, often great, things kids are doing and the great things going on in many schools. Bright futures beckon for many of the students I meet. This is not lip service. I can name specific schools I have visited, specific parents and kids I have talked to, just in the last few weeks, that show that the positive heartbeat of America is strong. But opportunity is a complicated subject. That, too, is something worth considering on as we mark our independence. This brings me to my book report for today. “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis,” by Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam, is a provocative, detailed examination of the paths to successful lives in America. More and more, the chance to travel those paths is easier for some than for others, Putnam argues. When it comes to opportunity, America is not exactly an equal opportunity place.”(more)