It’s hard to teach your kids if you haven’t taught yourself

A letter to Andrew Dalton’s “Ask Dad” blog caught our eye this week:

“My kid sucks at math but I suck worse. I was a high school dropout. We can't afford a tutor. How do I help her?”

Each year, thousands of U.S. high school students drop out of school in order to raise a child, sacrificing their own opportunities in order to give their children a better life.

Except that’s not where the sacrifice ends.

Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, more likely to be low-wage earners, more likely to move from one dead-end job to another — and these conditions all directly affect the care and opportunities they can provide to their children.

And, as this sad letter demonstrates, the lack of a foundational high school education can be an obstacle for dropouts who wish to help their own children learn, years down the road.