ABSTRACT
Americans have long had faith in education to raise the economic prospects of the poor. And the federal government, primarily since the 1981-89 presidency of Ronald Reagan, has relied on the policy that increased education (e.g., college or job training) would put the poor to work, and thereby substantially reduce U.S. poverty. African American, Latino, and White workers now have more education than ever before, as detailed in the sections that follow. However, as the previous chapter demonstrates, wages have been falling across the board for at least two decades. For an increasing number of Americans, but for Blacks and Latinos especially, job training, a two-year associate’s degree-or even a bachelor’s degree-does not ensure escape from near-poverty or even poverty wages.
