The numbers concerning the readiness of children to learn when they enter Gwinnett County Public Schools are unsettling, if not alarming.

The latest research indicates that more than 50% of the county’s incoming kindergarten students are not ready for school, and the system counts more than 40 schools where more than 50 percent of first-time students are not ready to learn. The result of this lack of preparedness is such that students spend most of their academic careers far enough behind that it’s almost impossible to catch up.