By one estimate, Americans spend $4.4 billion on over the counter and prescribed cold remedies including $1.1 billion for antibiotics. In truth, there is no cold remedy and, on top of that, colds are a viral disease that antibiotics cannot touch. Cold remedies, outside of the useless antibiotics, treat cold symptoms. They will inhibit a runny nose and cough but will not remedy a cold.

Our national concern about failing schools falls into the same category. From the federal government down, everyone is looking to remedy the issue of low school performance. Why are our students not achieving to acceptable standards? In truth, many of them are. When looking at averages, it is often helpful to disaggregate the elements that make up the averages. Are results being skewed by certain elements?

In terms of poor educational outcomes, blame has been laid at the school house door. Thousands of schools have been rated priority or failing. Locating the failing schools is easy - simply look in our inner cities and poorest neighborhoods.

Now, it defies all logic to assume somehow all of the least capable educators have been concentrated in our poorest neighborhoods. Granted there are downsides to providing education in high poverty areas but that has not dissuaded many highly motivated and capable educators from working with the neediest of students.

So, if the problem is not the school, what is it? If nearly all failing schools are in high poverty areas, might poverty play a role? At this point, nearly everyone knows that it certainly does. But what creates the learning gaps?

Poverty homes do not provide their children, as a rule, many of the advantages enjoyed by more affluent children - educated parents, technology, books and magazines, safe living environments. These supports get reflected in standardized tests. Wealthier students do better because they have more help from home. Johns Hopkins University proved that while researching Baltimore schools.

But, there a more insidious factor at play. Poverty causes stresses: food, housing, violence, medical and dental needs. These stresses cause an overproduction of cortisol, the fight or flight chemical. Too much cortisol over extended periods creates a toxic situation. It can lead to the same symptoms as lead poisoning and PTSD. Two brain parts, the amygdala and hippocampus, actually shrink rather than growing normally. The results are poorly developed behavior controls along with impaired concentration and short-term memory – three key components impeding the learning process.

Poor student performance is a symptom – a symptom of poverty. Treating the symptom is no more effective in education than it is in treating colds. Students living in poverty will always perform less well than more wealthy students as long as they are suffering the stresses of living in poverty and the issue is un-addressed. It happens the world over.

Much can be done to level the playing field. Nurturing school environments are critical along with extended school day and school year programs. Supporting parents helps.

Yet, if poverty is the underlying problem, poverty needs to be addressed. Currently, in America, the poor are maintained in poverty. They are not allowed to starve and, for the most part, have housing and medical supports. But little is done to move them up the ladder. Granted, that is a huge task.

On the other hand, leveling the playing field for children living in poverty is doable. The costs of needy children going through school without the education needed later to properly support themselves and their families is huge and growing. Investing, and the word is investing, in our children pays dividends far beyond the investment. Programs such as pre-school, extended school days and school years have proven to be effective. Some of our charter schools have found means of helping children living in poverty. These effective means need to be adopted into our public schools, a far more productive and far reaching choice than building more charter schools.

The payoff for educating children out of poverty? Huge savings in the monies now used to maintain families in poverty. And, when one looks at the profile of the vast majority of prison inmates, poorly educated after having grown up in poverty, even larger savings in prison costs. The old ad, Pay me now or pay me later, holds true. We can pay to educate children now over thirteen or fourteen years so they will be able to support themselves later or wait and support them over a lifetime because they are incapable of supporting themselves.

Joseph H. Crowley, who served as director of the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center is a retired educator. This piece was written with Al Colella, author of Poverty & Despair vs. Education & Opportunity.