Look for President Obama to emphasize inequality’s effects on Americans in his State of the Union address tonight. In his candid interview with David Remnick in the latest edition of New Yorker Magazine, the President cites the work of Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone. The President observed, “You’ve got folks like Bob Putnam, who’s doing some really interesting studies indicating that the degree to which some of those ‘pathologies’ that used to be attributed to the African-American community in particular—single-parent households, and drug abuse, and men dropping out of the labor force, and an underground economy you’re now starting to see in larger numbers in white working-class communities as well, which would tend to vindicate what I think a lot of us always felt.”
Editor’s Note: Tonight EdSector@AIR will be watching the State of the Union, listening in particular for what President Obama says about Education. AIR researchers have spent years conducting in-depth research and analysis on many of today’s education issues – from pre-school through college. During and after the State of the Union, we will be linking to the latest AIR reports about the issues, live-tweeting, and adding new perspectives. Follow us on Twitter at @EducationSector and here on The Quick & The Ed.