Paul Thomas reminds us that poverty is destiny if we do nothing about it.
Finland figured this out and it has a strong system of social protections for children and families.
If we keep expecting schools to close the achievement gap by testing more, by adopting higher standards, by closing schools with low test scores, by evaluating teachers by test scores, and by offering carrots and sticks to teachers, we are deluded.
To make sure that poverty is not destiny, we have to take concrete steps to improve the lives of children and families.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is so frustrating that reformers decry how we are falling behind in international comparisons, and yet fail to examine countries with more successful educational models.
It is sad to have to say it, but in this current deform environment, Poverty Is Indeed Destiny! And it will continue to be the reality of most children in poverty until the political tide turns back in the direction of social reforms that address the generational cycle of poverty. Children on poverty deserve a chance at a better future. It is our responsibility to put safety nets on place for those children in poverty who have no choice as to their situation. I don’t know why the idea of social reforms suddenly became such a horrible ambition, but as long as the message is driven by rich corporations whose only agenda is to get richer and keep more of their money, the rest of the nation will continue to suffer. Wake up America! We need to invest in the working class and stop falling for the lies perpetuated by the super wealthy. Christian conservatives no longer follow the path of their God, who taught that we should care for the sick and poor. Remember what He said “whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me”. When we stop caring about those less fortunate than ourselves, it is a sad future we face.
There is a mean-spiritedness out there right now: I got mine, you didn’t get any, tough luck! We have regressed as a society.
I am insulted that we are accused of believing that poverty is destiny. Many of us teachers come from poverty! I grew up in a blue collar family during the recessions of the 70’s. Times were tough. Education helped me immensely. I demand a lot of my students. They know every day that they are expected to be the best students they can be, even though they are only 6 and 7 years old. But I can deliver this message without bubble sheets and ridiculous “assessments”. I still can’t figure out why a second-grader has to analyze the structure of a paragraph (Did the author state the main idea and give supporting evidence? Was the author comparing and contrasting? Or was the author writing a sequential paragraph?)
Look at all the college graduates now in poverty with loans they can’t pay. Education does not guarantee freedom from poverty. This is just the “Big Lie” repeated over and over. Maybe our schools have failed, the public buys this perverse prevarication. I with they had studied a bit harder. For Lehrer, a great name for a teacher by the way, the testing magnates do not care about what is appropriate. They design tests to keep kids in the same part of the bell curve they believe they should be in. They never read Piaget. You know what my school psychologist says as she fights the misuse of testing, Piaget may be dead, he wasn’t wrong.