The Million Dollar Decision incisively diagnoses the causes of educational disadvantage in Ireland. From creche to university, we see how educational practices nurture or negate a student's potential. Stretching beyond the education system, the book shows how education is heavily influenced by a range of cultural factors within families and local communities. The book clinically describes how education disadvantage acts as an anchor on social progress. At the extremes, 95% of students in some middle class communities go to third level, while only 5% from some disadvantaged communities complete their educational journey. It looks at why each year 1,000 twelve-year-olds never even make it into secondary school, and why 9,000 students quit every year before completing the Leaving Certificate. For those who make it to college, the book highlights the very high student drop-out rates, a result which has a huge negative effect in terms of future employment. Critically, the book provides a comprehensive set of recommendations, supported by research findings, in a radical overhaul of the education system, and offers a new model to cater for future generations.
Individual student and community stories peppered throughout the text bring a simple message alive: educational inequality can be overcome if we have the political will to tackle it.
