Zócalo Public Square Presents... Can Poor Children Still Achieve the American Dream?
With Harvard Kennedy School Professor Robert D. Putnam - Moderated by Carol S. Larson, President and CEO, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 @ 7:00 PM
RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Has the United States become a land of opportunity only for those kids whose parents have money, connections, and a college education? Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam, author of Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, thinks so. Putnam has found that in the past five decades, the collapse of American communities he chronicled in Bowling Alone has created a growing gap between the childhood experiences of American kids from well educated, affluent backgrounds and kids from less educated, impoverished backgrounds. Rich kids have access to homework help and extensive social networks as well as piano lessons and summer programs. Meanwhile, poor kids are growing up in less stable homes with fewer adults around, and with fewer choices than ever before, from after-school sports and choir to honors classes. Today, poor kids who score well on standardized tests are less likely to get a college degree than rich kids who test poorly. Are our institutions and communities failing poor kids? And is the American dream out of reach for them? Putnam visits Zócalo to discuss why the obstacles faced by poor children today are larger than ever–and what can be done to close this opportunity gap.
Books will be available through Skylight Books.
Photo courtesy of Chris Devers.
Cost: No charge
Register: Through Zocalo Public Square website