Permanent National Recession

From McKinsey & Company’s Closing the talent gap: Attracting and retaining top-third graduates to careers in teaching:

“McKinsey research last year found that the achievement gap between the U.S. and top performing nations — a burden borne most directly by low-income and minority students — imposes the economic equivalent of a “permanent national recession” on the United States.”  -  Executive Summary, pg. 8

In hindsight, it probably WOULD have been a very good idea to give education funding to the children of enslaved Africans back in 1866.  Too late now.  Permanent national recessions don’t go away…they’re permanent.  Or are they?