You're making that statement based on how many weeks of working in Poland? I've been working here for more than two decades.
1400 some weeks of being a Polish citizen, spending a significant amount of time in Poland, having my whole fam in Poland, running a business in Poland, owning property in PL, etc etc.....
her plan of getting into and going to UW to study law while her husband works to support her and their kid is virtually a non-starter.
That is true. Her husband doesn't know Polish so he'd have a hard time finding work unless he's an IT pro. Also, if they teach English for a living they won't make enough money to pay the student loans, raise a kid, and manage a 3 person household. There are other opportunities oczko and her husband can pursue though which would make life in Poland realistic.
right is the unwillingness some Poles have to hire people who are from a different culture, which very much includes Polish-Americans
Absolutely. That's why educated skilled PolAms with dual citizenship can take advantage of the management niche where US corps want to hire a person familiar with American corporatism but still has a knowledge of Polish customs, society, language, etc. They'll have to of course have the appropriate experience, education, and contacts to get into such a position. Once you can get into a job like that and are making 20k plus zloty a month you're on easy street.
Speaking fluent Polish is not necessary, especially in international companies with people coming from different countries.
If you look at various job ads most require knowledge of 2, sometimes even 3 languages - sometimes it's Polish and French, sometimes English and Spanish, just depends on the job. Nonetheless, most jobs whether a waiter, retail store manager, security guard, account executive, firefighter, etc will require fluent Polish. Yes, there are exceptions like IT and perhaps jobs like customer service that deal primarily with clients outside of Poland.