money by teaching are higher. Schools with fees generally offer scholarships. In 2005, the German government spent €5,400 per student for those attending public gymnasium. This is less than what was spent on a student attending Hauptschule, but more than was spent on those attending Realschule. Some Hauptschule and Gesamtschule students have special needs requiring extra help, so those schools cannot operate as cost-effectively as gymnasia. On cultural and ethnic diversity While one third of all German youngsters have at least one foreign-born parent and other German schools are becoming more multicultural, gymnasia have remained more or less socially and ethnically exclusive. However, that is only half the truth. Children belonging to Russian-Jewish, Chinese, Greek, Korean or Vietnamese minorities are more likely to attend a gymnasium than ethnic Germans. Yet, most minorities are less likely to attend a gymnasium than ethnic Germans. A study done in Baden-Württemberg revealed that 85.9% of students attending a gymnasium were ethnic Germans. Thus the gymnasium is the German school with the most homogenous student body. According to Der Spiegel magazine, some minority students were denied a letter of recommendation for entrance to a gymnasium by their teachers simply because they were immigrants. According to Der Spiegel, teachers think minority students would not feel at home at a school having such a homogenous student body. "Great equaliser" or "breeding ground of privilege"? A study revealed that 50% of the students visiting a gymnasium come from families of the top levels of German society. Some people have voiced concerns that gymnasia are designed to accommodate a minority of privileged children and that talented working-class children are impeded in gaining access to gymnasium. There have been calls for the abolition of the gymnasium and a switch-over to comprehensive schools. Others want the gymnasia to target more children from poor backgrounds. Some believe that gymnasia are "the great equaliser" and have pointed out that state-funded and parochial gymnasia have helped many students rise above humble backgrounds. Some also point to the fact that gymnasia are the only schools where working-class students nearly catch up with their middle-class peers, while in the case of comprehensive schools, the effects of social class on student academic performance are more pronounced than in any other type of school. Progress in International Reading Literacy Study The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study revealed that working-class children needed to achieve higher reading scores than