DEPRESSING OBSERVATION OF THE DAY. Joanne Jacobs: Start in remedial ed, end in remedial ed.

On Community College Spotlight: Unprepared for the college placement test, high school graduates start — and often end — their community college education in remedial classes. Some 60 to 80 percent of students are told to take basic-skills classes. Half of those referred to remediation never take a single college-level class.

Disabuse K-12 of the notion that developing the habits of the middle class is oppressive, and perhaps more graduates of K-12 will develop the habits of the middle class, including studying.