Weissmann on Class Based Educational Achievement Gap

The Atlantic's Jordan Weissmann reports a widening education achievement gap between affluent and underprivileged students that is, according to a new Stanford University study, nearly double that of the gap between caucasian and African-American students.  According to Weissmann:  

One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children (in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors, and in overall involvement in their children’s schools), while lower-income families, which are now more likely than ever to be headed by a single parent, are increasingly stretched for time and resources. This has been particularly true as more parents try to position their children for college, which has become ever more essential for success in today’s economy.

Additionally, Sabino Kornrich (Juan March Institute) and Frank Furstenburg (University of Pennsylvania) suggest that Americans at the upper end of the income spectrum continue to increase the amount by which they out-spend low-income families. By 2007 that gap had grown to nine to one.