Originally Posted by Fat Boy

LAUSD is one of the worst school district in the nation, but for sure, the state. You can blame the teachers and the administrators, there certainly are fingers to point in that direction, but I really only put maybe 30-40% at their doorstep. The real issue is the children's parents. If the parents push a child to succeed, that child will succeed. You see it time and time again.

My children go to a school with a lot of Asian kids. Many have parents who can't even speak English all that well. You know what, though? They get damned good grades in school. Those parents do not take 'no' for an answer. They push each other and pull the level of the whole group up. It's sad to say, but other sub-cultures just do not see the importance of an education, and their children suffer because of it. You can see it in the test scores, school demographics and attendance rates.

You can say that this person or that person wasn't dealt a fair hand in life. Well, many of the Asian parents (and grandparents) I'm talking about had to GTFO of Vietnam in the 70's. They had nothing, didn't know the language and didn't know the culture. They certainly didn't have it easy. They worked like hell and have made a much brighter future for themselves and their children. There are some really good stories there.