The main argument of the passage is that ____

Eliminating poverty is largely a matter of helping children
born into poverty to rise out of it. Once families escape
from poverty they do not fall back into it. Middle-class
children rarely end up poor. The primary reason poor
children do not escape from poverty is that they do not
acquire basic mental skills. They cannot read, write,
calculate or articulate. Lacking these skills, they cannot
get or keep a well-paid job. The best mechanism for
breaking this vicious circle is to provide the poor with
better educational opportunities. Since children born into
poor homes do not acquire the skills they need from their
parents, they must be taught these skills in school.