Since then, the already alarming achievement gaps that separate poor and wealthy children have only widened. As Troy Closson of The Times wrote this week, some school systems have opted for policies that disguise the achievement gap without remedying it. This system wrote off poor students who might have benefited from exposure to new material and denied well-prepared children the opportunity to forge ahead in their studies. Not surprisingly, the policy failed to achieve its central goal, which was to close racial gaps in the taking of advanced math courses. Chastened by parental outrage, San Francisco reversed course.

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Persons: Troy Closson Organizations: The Times, San Francisco Locations: United States, San Francisco