How to beat inequality Arguably the most important and
innovative idea proposed by President Obama in his State of the
Union address on Tuesday night was his call for high-quality,
universal pre-school education. "Every dollar we invest in high-
quality early childhood education can save more than seven
dollars later on, by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen
pregnancy, even reducing violent crime," Obama said. "In states
that make it a priority to educate our youngest
children...studies show students grow up more likely to read and
do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form
more stable families of their own." He's right. Most Americans
would be surprised to learn that the United States now does
worse in terms of social mobility than many European countries
-- especially those in Scandinavia -- as well as Canada. What
does this mean in practice? It means that a poor child born in
the United States is much more likely to remain poor than one
born in Canada or Denmark. The Pew Charitable