Much has been written in both the local and the national press about failing schools and the attitudes prevalent in those schools.

Some pundits suggest (Governor Nathan Deal among them) that there is something inherently defective in “failing schools” and that a state-led take-over will solve the schools’ problems. Some refer to this “Opportunity School District” proposal as the magic bullet theory.

Others are doubtful that wresting away local control will solve the problem. It seems that many troubled public schools — some would say most — are in declining neighborhoods. Urban blight, resulting from a failure to enforce housing codes, has resulted in affluent residents freeing those neighborhoods. Unmaintained rental property and abandoned houses attract people who are seeking a locale where misdeeds can occur without police scrutiny.

Need a place for a drug deal, “a quickie” with your 15-year-old sweetie, or maybe an act of prostitution? Abandoned houses are the ready solution.

When conscientious parents drive into such a neighborhood, regardless of the modern attractive school building, they are understandably intimidated.

The result is that the parents opt out of public schools, which sets in motion a devastating snow-ball effect. In the adjoining photo, see the abandoned house — doors wide open — across the street from what should be an attractive high school and middle school.

Do we have failing schools? I think not: We do have failing neighborhoods. Are the residents likely to be able to expose their children to educational travel? Are their homes furnished with books and quality magazines? Will the children be exposed to museums, live theater or orchestral music?
Cynics would say that what they regard as “the great unwashed” have little desire for such refinements, yet do not the parents and educators of children in the affluent neighborhoods regard these experiences as a vital part of a childhood destined for a selective-admissions college.
Yes, our schools are the products of our neighborhoods. And that is where reformers must begin their work.

One of the most telling passages in “Nickel and Dimed” is found in the footnotes on page 211. Ehrenreich, when discussing the psychological toll that living under a dictatorship can take, suggests that being treated as someone of lowly status ultimately leads to acceptance of that position, and when that occurs the cycle of a self-fulling prophesy occurs. As Ehrenreich puts it, “If you’re made to feel unworthy enough, you may come to think that what you’re paid is what you’re worth,” and the footnotes cite two studies that support this point. Thus, she says, “we depend for our self-image on the humans immediately around us–to the point of altering our perceptions of the world so as to fit in with theirs.”

I cannot sufficiently emphasize the importance of this point. Indeed, elements of my own experience bears it out. At various times in my career I have occupied positions at exalted levels (for example, in the upper echelons of large non-profits in Mew York City), and at other times I have struggled to hold my head up amongst people who very likely would not meet the qualifications to vacuum the floors on 49th Street (for example, when I was tending bar in a campus hangout in Tallahassee, Florida).

Oh, yes, over time our self-image can vary enormously. What does this mean for social class and upward mobility in current employment situations? A lot, as we shall see.