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Us and them and why: closing learning gaps in American high schools

Funding, staff shortages, literacy, safety and more are on the minds of students, families and educators as they head back to school. Pictured: Students in the hallways at Cedar Park Middle School in Beaverton, Ore., Feb. 22, 2023.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff
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OPB
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The more academically rigorous courses in any high school tend to be composed of few, if any, students from Black and/or low-income households.

Reid Saaris noticed this when he was a high school student, and he noticed it even more when he became a teacher. So he set up a national nonprofit, Equal Opportunity Schools, to challenge the status quo and make good educations available to more people.

He details his observations and responses in a book, The Kids Across the Hall: The Fight for Opportunity in Our Schools. We spend some time with the author hearing about what it takes to get from where we are to where we'd like to be.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.