We are in an era of increased inequality, meaning the chances of children doing as well as their parents is declining. And there is a high correlation between socioeconomic status and educational success.

"The best predictor of how you're going to do is where you're born and to whom you’re born and what income level they're at. Well that's not the way it's supposed to be," said Paul Reville, Harvard Graduate School professor.

Reville claims opportunity isn't evenly distributed — research shows one third of our children are poor. That affects their success in both school and eventually the workforce. For example, some students of lower means can't afford to build their resumes by participating in unpaid summer internships.

"Talent is evenly distributed, but opportunity is unevenly distributed across our zip codes... And poverty matters. As you probably know, over 50 percent, and it's even more in this district, are low-income students," said Reville.

The solutions aren't one size fits all, and it goes beyond just the classroom. Reville says kids only spend 20 percent of their waking hours in school.

"Outside of school, a great deal of learning either happens or doesn't happen, which contributes not only to your readiness to learn, but your actual learning," said Reville.

Reville's suggestion is to build a cradle to career path, which includes more out of school learning opportunities for all children. Some of the suggestions involve using social media to connect people and reaching out to those in need, and asking communities to do more for our children.