RACIAL DISPARITIES REASON FOR RANKING IN POVERTY
Race and location are still the strongest factors in determining whether a child lives in poverty in Louisiana , according to a recent report on the status of the state’s children. In Louisiana , black children are 3.5 times as likely to live in poverty as white children. Poverty rates are highest in rural parishes in northeast Louisiana , along the Mississippi River .
However, 2000 census data also show that a majority of black children in every one of the state’s eight largest metropolitan areas lived in a high-poverty neighborhood. Social service experts say government programs have not been expansive enough to fill in the economic and educational gaps.
“We have not had comprehensive supports in place to help move our poverty population out of poverty,” said Cecile Guin, director of the Office of Social Services Research and Development in the LSU School of Social Work.
The state report was compiled by the nonprofit Agenda for Children in New Orleans .
The Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, which collects data for an annual national report on child wellbeing, funded the report. Louisiana has consistently ranked poorly in the national report. According to the report, if racial disparities on child poverty were eliminated, Louisiana would have ranked 11th in the nation in 2007, instead of 49th.
One of the stark economic differences between white and black families is the amount of accumulated assets, which has implications on how financially stable and successful a family can be, the report notes. The median white household in Louisiana has $85,500 in assets, while the median black household has $3,700 in assets, according to the report.
Assets are a factor in whether a family can rent or own a home, borrow money for higher education, and maintain reliable transportation that provides access to a wider array of health care, child care and shopping options. Pat Cooper, CEO of the Early Childhood and Family Learning Foundation in New Orleans , said that regardless of race, poverty blocks any person’s access to resources. He points to early childhood education as the great equalizer. But while high poverty areas usually receive more federal and state dollars for education, it is spent on the wrong things, he said.
Cooper, a former superintendent of schools in McComb, Miss., said he told state school board members there that they were spending $47 million on testing that showed their students were last in the country. “We've made all the book and testing companies rich, but numbers aren’t changing,” said Cooper, who was also a Louisiana assistant state superintendent of education. “If I was going to do anything in this state to help those Agenda for Children numbers, I would do universal early childhood education programs for every child.” Guin with LSU also points to education as the central solution to problems with health, employment and income. “With a state having the highest dropout rate and innumerable education problems, it is no surprise to me that we have not been able to move forward,” she said.
Guin said policymakers are turning greater attention to truancy and dropout prevention. One truancy program started a decade ago is showing positive results because it is consistent, well monitored and funded, she said. But program officials have had to grovel at times for funding and in many parishes the local district attorney has supported the program, she said.
Teresa Falgoust with Agenda for Children said that in many ways, the disparities aren’t explainable by only poverty and education. For example, black women who had 16 years or more of education still had higher rates of preterm birth than white women with eight years of education. That statistic could be due to racial differences in health insurance, health care and stressful experiences, Falgoust said. “If we want to truly improve child wellbeing overall, we do need to work on reducing those disparities,” Falgoust said.
Guin said states such as Alabama and Arkansas rise out of low rankings almost always because a political leader has emerged, sought change, implemented programs and ensured those efforts continued after that leader left office. “I don’t think we've ever implemented anything big enough,” Guin said. “So much money is going into incarceration and lawsuits and where we spend our money is going to have to change before we have the resources to do systemic change.”
However, 2000 census data also show that a majority of black children in every one of the state’s eight largest metropolitan areas lived in a high-poverty neighborhood. Social service experts say government programs have not been expansive enough to fill in the economic and educational gaps.
“We have not had comprehensive supports in place to help move our poverty population out of poverty,” said Cecile Guin, director of the Office of Social Services Research and Development in the LSU School of Social Work.
The state report was compiled by the nonprofit Agenda for Children in New Orleans .
The Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, which collects data for an annual national report on child wellbeing, funded the report. Louisiana has consistently ranked poorly in the national report. According to the report, if racial disparities on child poverty were eliminated, Louisiana would have ranked 11th in the nation in 2007, instead of 49th.
One of the stark economic differences between white and black families is the amount of accumulated assets, which has implications on how financially stable and successful a family can be, the report notes. The median white household in Louisiana has $85,500 in assets, while the median black household has $3,700 in assets, according to the report.
Assets are a factor in whether a family can rent or own a home, borrow money for higher education, and maintain reliable transportation that provides access to a wider array of health care, child care and shopping options. Pat Cooper, CEO of the Early Childhood and Family Learning Foundation in New Orleans , said that regardless of race, poverty blocks any person’s access to resources. He points to early childhood education as the great equalizer. But while high poverty areas usually receive more federal and state dollars for education, it is spent on the wrong things, he said.
Cooper, a former superintendent of schools in McComb, Miss., said he told state school board members there that they were spending $47 million on testing that showed their students were last in the country. “We've made all the book and testing companies rich, but numbers aren’t changing,” said Cooper, who was also a Louisiana assistant state superintendent of education. “If I was going to do anything in this state to help those Agenda for Children numbers, I would do universal early childhood education programs for every child.” Guin with LSU also points to education as the central solution to problems with health, employment and income. “With a state having the highest dropout rate and innumerable education problems, it is no surprise to me that we have not been able to move forward,” she said.
Guin said policymakers are turning greater attention to truancy and dropout prevention. One truancy program started a decade ago is showing positive results because it is consistent, well monitored and funded, she said. But program officials have had to grovel at times for funding and in many parishes the local district attorney has supported the program, she said.
Teresa Falgoust with Agenda for Children said that in many ways, the disparities aren’t explainable by only poverty and education. For example, black women who had 16 years or more of education still had higher rates of preterm birth than white women with eight years of education. That statistic could be due to racial differences in health insurance, health care and stressful experiences, Falgoust said. “If we want to truly improve child wellbeing overall, we do need to work on reducing those disparities,” Falgoust said.
Guin said states such as Alabama and Arkansas rise out of low rankings almost always because a political leader has emerged, sought change, implemented programs and ensured those efforts continued after that leader left office. “I don’t think we've ever implemented anything big enough,” Guin said. “So much money is going into incarceration and lawsuits and where we spend our money is going to have to change before we have the resources to do systemic change.”
This story is proof that we have failed to appreciate the value of education in the Black community. We expect a group of strangers to do what we must do for ourselves. Financing this endeavor will only work if those that need a step up with regard to education apply themselves to what is truly important. We will be woefully lacking in the long run when it comes to an educational system that is most important to those that seek to control their future.