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We need her in Long Beach, where the school district is determined to institutionalize income inequality by making most school activities accessible to wealthier kids only.When you implement a system in which those who pay the most get the most, then those who can't feel left out and are not as likely to succeed.

JOFFE-WALT: Well, it's definitely not easy. It can be a long arduous process to apply for disability the first time, the second time. And this is part of the problem with the programs growing. As more and more people apply for disability, there's a growing backlog of applications. It can take two years to move through an appeal for a disability claim. You hear stories of people dying while they're waiting. And while you're waiting, for the most part you can't work, so you're not making income. And then in the end, of course, there's no guarantee that you will get back on the program.

In summary, I have argued that, despite our dedication to the idea of a higher education system open to all, we are not doing a very good job of leveling the playing field. The result is that opportunity is still linked too strongly to class. In the longer term, the solution needs to involve improving the K–12 system. It also needs to involve making learning and access to skills beyond this level a less costly process and one that does not necessarily require four to six years of college. In the near term, more could be done to better inform students and their families about available options, including the availability of financial aid for well-prepared students from low-income families; the importance of matching one’s interests and skills with what different institutions have to offer; and the availability of more work-focused career and technical training for those most likely to drop out of college saddled with too much debt.

America faces an opportunity gap. Those born in the bottom ranks have difficulty moving up. Although the United States has long thought of itself as a meritocracy, a place where anyone who gets an education and works hard can make it, the facts tell a somewhat different story. Children born into the top fifth of the income distribution have about twice as much of a chance of becoming middle class or better in their adult years as those born into the bottom fifth (Isaacs, Sawhill, & Haskins, 2008). One way that lower-income children can beat the odds is by getting a college degree.[1] Those who complete four-year degrees have a much better chance of becoming middle class than those who don’t — although still not as good of a chance as their more affluent peers. But the even bigger problem is that few actually manage to get the degree. Moreover, the link between parental income and college-going has increased in recent decades (Bailey & Dynarski, 2011). In short, higher education is not the kind of mobility-enhancing vehicle that it could be.

Kristen Larson, vice chairwoman of the Richmond School Board, says the city’s school buildings have been allowed to decay for so long that at Fisher Elementary, “one staff member came to me and said, ‘There’s a 20-year-old leak in a classroom.’ ”

The central question that Mr. Obama’s budget will pose to Congress is this: Should Washington worry about what may be the defining economic issue of the era — the widening gap between the rich and everyone else — or should policy makers primarily seek to address a mountain of debt that the White House hopes to control but only marginally reduce as a share of the economy?