I, too, agree that affirmative action should be based on class. Although we try to deliver equal opportunity through public education, very few students from the lower classes make it to university. Perhaps a good start would be to provide free tuition to those students who excel academically and who are from families living below the poverty line. At least there would be some incentive to succeed in school.

I struggled through university with absolutely no help or incentive from anyone. My own mother was threatened by the thought of her daughter obtaining a university degree. She was afraid I would become 'uppity' and forget my roots. Sure I was given govt. student loans but that's not much of an incentive when you realize that after graduation you will still be living below the poverty line for many years. Now that I am about to retire, my student loan and accumulated interest has been paid but I have very little saved for retirement.

The statement that, "No one wants education imposed upon them (or their children) with the message that the recipient isn't good enough, or with the great happy news that someone who is clueless about real life has come to save them by making them into someone else they have not asked to become," isn't going to help form positive attitudes about learning. Its this kind of thinking that keeps people in their place.

I agree that we need more teachers from other cultures and other classes to provide education to our children but how is this going to happen without higher education? Individuals have to break through the barriers and to do this they need to transcend the anger that keeps them down and they need financial help.

My daughter once thought that her way of "getting even" with a teacher who was "clueless about real life" was to shut down and refuse to do the assignments. Luckily, I was able to convince her that the way to prove her wrong was to excel academically. Another time a high school teacher stated in class that children from single parent families didn't have a chance. My daughter walked out of that class and marched into the principal and demanded an apology. She told the principal that the teacher had no right to destroy her hopes and dreams. She received the apology.

So yeah, its a struggle to overcome poverty, become educated and hope for a better future for your children but its not impossible. If America is to maintain its reputation as the land of opportunity, education is crucial. To call teachers that are from a different class, clueless, is just another way to create division. Its a stereotype that serves no useful purpose. Teachers come in all shapes and sizes.

I'm happy, Susan, that you think you have been called. Many teachers feel the same way. Most teachers, however, have been asked to consider the question, "Are you doing this for your benefit or for theirs?" Upon reading your post, I think that you derive a great deal of pleasure from being in the position to nurture those that are less fortunate. My questions are, "Who derives the most safisfaction from the fact that they open their hearts to you?" You or the one you pity? Does opening their hearts help them to rise above the misery of poverty?

I think it is far more useful to educate the poor than to pity them.

Yes, the mutt boys are real. They serve the needs of the military. They do not serve the needs of society or anyone else. I grew up with these mutt boys, I even have a brother that is a mutt boy, and when he couldn't find work, he became a Marine. When he came back home, he resumed his mutt boy ways. What a waste! He was such a sweet, sensitive child. I'm sorry to say that he just couldn't find a meaningful place in society and that he still has not found that place. For awhile, his life as a Marine gave him the self-esteem he needed. Too bad it didn't carry over to his civilian life. It just made him into a mutt man.