3 Myths About Failing Schools

This link, http://www.policymic.com/articles/24288/3-myths-about-failing-schools-debunked, states that there are some myths that are going around in America about how and why our school system is failing.  The first myth that is commonly believed was "U.S. test scores are declining." The author states that National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the "nation's report card", is actually increasing  across the board and that the gap between the white and minorities is narrowing.  The second myth the author discusses was "we're  falling behind the rest of the world." Daniel Dawer, the author, states that test scores have not changed much throughout recent time and that we have never come close to being considered number one as a school system.  Finally, the third myth mentioned about failing schools was "we are producing a shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) graduates because our math and science education is declining." He suggests that the number of graduates actually exceed the STEM jobs to fill.

Dawer suggests that the real problem is, is the amount of children living in poverty. "Out of 35 developed countries, the United States ranks 34th on the percentage of children living below the poverty line." Dawer goes on saying how these students are facing poor health care, access to nutritious food, harmful environments, and more stressful experiences. Poor children are more likely to miss school frequently and go to a school that is "under-funded and under-resourced". They are also less likely to have access for help on school work. It seems like these children are pretty much set up to fail because of the lack of resources they have available to them. What can we do to help reduce this high proportion of children in the United States below the poverty line? Could reducing the poverty rate of  children help increase school statistics?