A Sign of the Times

Detroit, once the poster city for American capitalism, has fallen on hard times, as has the rest of the U.S. With the auto industry in shambles, the erstwhile "Motor City" has run out of gas. Having lost a quarter of its population, its crisis just keeps getting worse. The latest problem it faces is the layoff of close to 6,000 public school teachers, due to the fact that, given a significant drop in enrollment, they are not necessary. At the same time, if education is the major factor in social mobility, Detroit's youth will be seriously hampered in its effort to improve itself. Thus, a vicious circle is put in place, which will be very hard to break out of.

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