The number of people living in concentrated poverty rose substantially over the past decade, according to a Brookings Institution report published on Nov. 3rd: ”After declining in the 1990s, the population in extreme-poverty neighborhoods—where at least 40 percent of individuals live below the poverty line—rose by one-third from 2000 to 2005–09.”
Photo by Dorothea Lange
Education reformers who ascribe to the No Excuses movement have argued that poverty shouldn’t be used an excuse for writing kids off, and the recent release of scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that the gap between poor students and their more affluent peers didn’t grow during the recession.
Still, research has found that concentrated poverty is associated with lower academic outcomes, and that more poverty makes the job of educating children more difficult. Kids living in poverty often have to deal with other problems—homelessness, domestic violence, health issues—that make it hard for them to concentrate on their schoolwork, and their parents are less likely to be well-educated than other parents. But there’s also an added negative effect of concentrated poverty, above and beyond the effect of poverty at the individual level. In short, concentrated poverty can make bad situations exponentially worse. Among other things, it’s much harder to attract and keep quality teachers in poor neighborhoods.
Concentrated poverty is not rising everywhere, however. In New York City, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, the number of people in high-poverty neighborhoods declined over the past decade, according to the report. Around New York City, the number dropped by more than 200,000, to reach about 800,000 living in low-income tracts in the metropolitan area.
In other education reform hotspots, however—including Denver, Houston and Memphis—it’s on the rise.
Check out the cool map on the Brookings website to see if the city where you live saw concentrated poverty rise or fall in the past decade.
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at 6:27 pm
Among the many reasons educators, and everyone else, should be concerned about the increasing concentration of poverty is how we continue to fund schools based on property and values. That means schools in poor neighborhoods and the educators who choose to work there consistently have fewer resources with which to tackle the many challenges their students face. Sadly, students from the poorest homes usually attend schools that are in the worse physical shape and have the fewest of even the most necessary resources for a modern education. If we really believe that education is a route out of poverty, shouldn’t we at least pave the room and put up a street light?
at 7:00 pm
Why are you trying to make excuses?
at 8:28 pm
[...] The rise of concentrated poverty in major cities could pose a problem for school reform. (Hechinger) [...]
at 3:25 pm
I agree that the rise in poverty is an issue and the funds allocated to education should be dispersed in an effiecient, smart, and useful manner. However this should not be used as an excuse for administrators, politicians, and other stakeholders to hamper reform. School reform needs to take place and it starts from the top down. Adequate professional develpment needs to take place so that we can meet the needs of the struggling students whether they are living in poverty stricken neighborhoods or affluent ones. The same education needs to take place in either situation.