Six Myths Debunked

Steven Hayward at Power Line links to a Mother Jones article by Kevin Drum that, typically for him, is not in the usual MJ rut. For liberal media, this article is remarkably nuanced. Drum writes about six things liberals believe that they shouldn’t:

Head Start (and similar pre-K programs) raise student achievement.

American health care is expensive because of private insurance.

We have a retirement crisis.

The black/white test score difference is all about test prep, biased tests, etc.

The 1994 crime act was responsible for mass incarceration.

Charter schools don’t work.

A couple of COTTonLINE observations:
A major impediment to black achievement in school and on tests is the widespread cultural belief that doing well is “acting white” which equates with being a collaborator or quisling.

Obeying the law is similarly viewed, resulting in mass incarceration. Understanding these cause-effect relationships does not equal blaming the victim - culture matters.