this guy is my kind of guy.

I just started reading "Whatever It Takes" by Paul Tough and I can already tell that I would recommend it to anyone.  I believe in this guy, I really do.  Here are just a couple of quotes from the book and then from this clip that I think are important things to think about.

"The big question in American is: Are we going to try to make this country a true meritocracy? Or will we forever have a class of people in America who essentially won't be able to compete, because the game is fixed against them? There's just no way that in good conscience we can allow poverty to remain the dividing line between success and failure in this country, where if you're born poor in a community like this one, you stay poor. We have to even that out. We ought to give these kids a chance."

--Geoffrey Canada

"These are kids that a lot of people are giving up on, and [Geoffrey Canada] has shown that it's never too late."

"It's a lot of money until you see what it costs us when we fail these kids."

"When I go home tonight to my own kid, whose life is pretty much secure, its not going to make me sleep well knowing there are kids and families out there that don't feel secure. They just are terrified that their child is not going to make it...We've got to do more. We've got to give these people a chance for hope."

"You see the fear and the terror and the clear understanding that the system is designed so that their kids are probably not going to make it."

I believe in Geoffrey Canada and his program and I really do believe this is something we owe to our country's children.  I hope we can all think more critically about poverty and the way it affects people who are doing the best they know how.  I hope we understand that poverty is not something that anyone wants, for themselves and especially not for their children.  I hope we can look at these families as Christ would, recognizing their potential and helping them to achieve that.  I look at these parents who are desperate to get their kids into Geoffrey Canada's school and I know that most parents want what is best for their children and are doing everything they can to give that to them.  I believe that education is our best hope for our children.  We can't give up on these children.  We just can't.