Chapter 4 of the book focuses on problems within schooling systems around the world. The chapter focuses on the problem within a supply and demand framework. The main question or problem asserted in the chapter is why schools continue to fail. The chapter has two very different answers to this question. On the supply side some argue the government is responsible for providing children with better schooling. This will require increased spending for local governments. Many of the problems within the schools are poor faculty, poor resources and poor facilities. The supply argument believes that the government should be willing to provide these necessities. On the demand side of the argument the chapter states that parents do no lobby for quality education because they do not see a direct benefit from schooling. “When the benefits of education become high enough, enrollment will go up, without the state having to push it.” Pg 76 Parents expect both too much and too little from schooling. For example passing college will get you a good job while passing high school can get you nowhere now-a- days. The parents do not see the benefit of their investment in their child’s education. Either their child reaps the benefits sometime in the future or they default on the investment. From the chapter it is obvious that neither problem is the sole cause. Each must be evaluated in order to solve the problem of poor schooling.

I found an article on the poverty ridden educational infrastructure in Mumbai India. My article was in the Wall Street Journal and is called “India Journal: The Basic Shortages that Plague our Schools”. http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012  This article deals directly with the supply side of the argument presented in the book. The Indian government is unable or unwilling to fun adequate educational infrastructure. Many of the overcrowded cities have very poor facilities with, in one case, no books to be used.  While the past decade has seen an increase in efforts to increase infrastructure many critics argue that more of an emphasize should be put on learning outcomes.  Some good statistics that the author uses is a survey showing 81,000 schools operate without chalkboards and 42,000 government schools operate without a building. These staggering numbers show the problems within the schools. Another good point made by the author is the loss in teacher and student motivation due to the poor schooling infrastructures. This plays into the chapters demand side argument.