In China there is a huge difference in the average academic achievement of students from country schools versus city schools. A similar gap exists in America except that the high-achieving schools are not in the city but the countryside, or the suburbs. Cities generally have low-achieving schools with many of the same problems that afflict rural schools in China: less well-trained staff and fewer resources. Test scores are high in suburban schools and low in city schools.

　　In November 2002, the UN Children's Fund published a report on the performance of rich industrialized nations in meeting the educational needs of their children. The data came from 24 countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The goal of the UN report was to compare educational underachievement across the industrialized countries. It measured the proportion of students falling below certain standards of achievement. The report also looked at how far beneath the national average the lowest-achieving students were allowed to fall. A table called the 'Educational Disadvantage League' ranked the 24 nations in the study. If a nation was at the top, there was relatively little difference between high-scoring students and low-scoring students, or between the best and the worst schools. If a country appeared at the bottom of the list, that country had a comparatively large achievement gap.

　　The results for the US were shocking: of 24 nations, America ranked 18th. A journalist decried the data in the report as shameful for the nation. Only 6 nations ranked below the US: Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Greece, and lastly Portugal. The top seven nations, those in which there was little difference between the achievement of top students and those at the bottom, were Korea, Japan, Finland, Canada, Australia, Austria and the UK.

　　In the US, schooling is free from grade 1 to grade 12, and school costs are paid by the cities and towns. Americans pay taxes to a state as well as to the federal government; the state government and local school boards provide money for public education. Towns with a large tax base, i.e. with wealthier citizens, can afford to put more money /into/ their local schools. As their incomes grow, Americans tend to move from the cities to the suburbs.

　　There are several other factors which contribute to better schools in the suburbs. Better-off parents can be more involved in their children's lives. Parents vote for the boards that oversee the school system, and more educated parents also make their voice heard inside their child's school. In addition, these middle- and upper-class families have greater resources to devote to their children: cash not only for books, magazines, trips to museums, concerts and travel, but also for extra classes in music, sports and academic subjects.

　　City centers are /where/ one finds a greater concentration of low-income housing, as well as housing for welfare recipients and shelters for the homeless. Apartments are smaller and more run down. New immigrants congregate in the cities, taking such service sector jobs as washing dishes and cleaning residences or offices. Consequently city schools lack a wealthy tax base and are short of money. A cycle begins. There is less money for school buildings, books and supplies. These schools are often staffed with less experienced teachers or older burnt-out teachers just waiting to retire. Ever fewer①parents want to send their children to schools in such manifest decline.

　　What can be done about the achievement gap? First, we need to educate the public. Most people have never read the UN report. As in China, Americans who send children to better schools seldom live next door to the poor. They do not see the effects of poverty and educational discrimination. We need to realize that what is good for our child is good for everyone's child. We need to stop blaming poverty, parents or the home environment for the difficulty a child has in learning. Some children are scared; some have been convinced they cannot learn, but in thirty years of teaching I never met a child who did not want to succeed. It is our job as teachers to help every child move ahead triumphantly. We can do it! We the teachers are the diagnosticians who can look at a child and discover his or her strengths. We need to break tasks /into/ small stages to assure success at each level. A child may start with very small steps but as confidence and ability grow, the child will leap ahead, faster and further each day. Academic success is our goal and academic achievement must become every child's birthright.