GroshLink

As Pitt & CMU students hit the books, joined by the Pittsburgh Public School System on September 1, here is a disturbing NY Times Op-Ed piece regarding the state of education. Please ake a moment to pray as the new year starts that our neighborhoods would surge in the number of parents, community members, local congregations, teachers, and school board members which seek the growth and development of our youth in all aspects of their life. Pray also for each of us to step forward as role models to provide direction and give time toward this end.

Of all the factors combining to shape the future of the U.S., this is one of the most important. Millions of American kids are not even making it through high school in an era in which a four-year college degree is becoming a prerequisite for achieving (or maintaining) a middle-class lifestyle . . . Cartoonish characters like Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton may be good for a laugh, but they're useless as role models. It's the kids who are logging long hours in the college labs, libraries and lecture halls who will most easily remain afloat in the tremendous waves of competition that have already engulfed large segments of the American work force.