The U.S. spends more on education than our competitors, but gets less brains for the buck, writes Dominic Rushe in The Guardian. The US averaged $16,268 a year on education (including college and trade school) in 2014, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) report of education indicators, he notes. The global average of $10,759. “Children in countries as diverse as Canada, China, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Netherland, New Zealand and S

America to Me, now on Starz, explores a suburban Chicago high school where black and white students “find themselves on different tracks, in different classes, with different outcomes,” writes James Poniewozik in the New York Times. We meet Charles Donalson, a wry junior with a gift for spoken-word lyrics; Jada Buford, an outspoken senior and a budding documentary filmmaker herself; Ke’Shawn Kumsa, the first college-prep-track student in his family and a self-described “goof-

“Inequality in America is apparent by age 3, writes writes Heather Long in the Washington Post. “Most rich kids are in school, while most poor kids are not,” according to a new book, Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality. At Manhattan preschools, wealthy parents pay $30,000 a year for their children to learn  “French, Chinese, violin, yoga and robotics — all before kindergarten,” writes Long. Is care by family members inferior to formal care? In the Bronx, w

Robots — artificial intelligence technology — will take up to 47 percent of U.S. jobs in the next few decades, predicts a White House report released last month. The least educated will be the most vulnerable: Self-driving vehicles are expected to replace 2.2 million to 3.1 million people with driving jobs. Investing in education could keep the American Dream alive, writes Drew Hanson in Forbes. Retraining displaced workers isn’t enough. he writes. “We must improve secondary

In Lucinda Rosenfeld’s Class, which satirizes privileged, perfectionist Brooklynites, “parent is both a verb and a competitive sport,” writes Sarah Lyall in a New York Times review. Karen who works for a non-profit, and her husband, a housing advocate, send their child, Ruby, to a public school where whites are a minority. But uber-liberal Karen is dismayed by Ruby’s black classmates with “beaded braids, buzz cuts and neon backpacks” and oddly spelled names. Their daughter is