POVERTY AND EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY IN LOUISIANA Erica Tisdale – HSP 495

Louisiana is ranked as the seventh poorest state in the United States (Sauter)

As of September 2012 the median household income for Louisiana was $41, (median household income for the U.S. is $50,100) With a population of 4,574,836 An unemployment rate of 7.3% And 20.4% of it’s residents living below the poverty line (3 rd highest in the country). (Sauter)

The four poorest counties in Louisiana County-Population-Med. Income E. Carroll – 7,964 - $24,038 Madison - 12,286 -$26,441 Tensas - 5,430 - $27,157 Concordia - 20,502 - $30,062 (usa.com)

This area of Louisiana is the most impoverished and under-resourced Between 35-42% of the population does NOT have a high school diploma or GED. Between 44-54% of the children in these counties live in poverty. Between 77-96% of the students in these counties participate in the free/reduced lunch program (TeachForAmerica).

When the highest level of poverty rates are isolated in a specific area of a state, this can result in a negative stigma being associated with that area. (Boston)

This negative stigma can result in viewing the area as an unattractive prospect for highly qualified teachers, expanding businesses, and medical professionals (Boston).

These poverty stricken parishes rank among the lowest scores on state and national tests (TeachForAmerica) O Average ACT score for the nation: 21.1 (out of 36) O Average ACT score for the state of Louisiana: 20.2 (out of 36) O Average ACT score for Madison, Concordia, and Tensas parishes: 15.9 (out of 36)

Poverty Comes With It’s Own Set Of Problems That Wealthier Families Don’t Have To Deal With

Overcrowded living arrangements – mother, father, older child, and new baby sharing a one bedroom apartment because it’s all the family can afford. Constant worrying about being evicted if new baby cries too much or too loud (Klass).

Obesity – An overweight child who loved karate had to quit going because it was too expensive (Klass).

Lack of affordable quality childcare – A new mother has to go back to work too soon after having her baby and is forced to leave her newborn with the cheapest sitter she can find (Klass).

Affording healthy groceries or buying the cheapest fast food

Secure housing and access to medical prescriptions

Language deficit in poorer homes – By the time a child is 1 year old, they have already fallen behind middle class children in the ability to talk (Rosenberg).

Children from families who were on welfare heard about 600 words per hour Children from middle-class families heard 1200 words per hour Children from professional families heard 2100 words per hour O By the time a child in a family who is on welfare is 3 years old, they have heard 30,000,000 fewer words in their home than a child from a professional family. O Talk heard from the television did not help, in fact, it was detrimental (Rosenberg).

On average, children from rich families perform better than children from working class families or families who live in poverty (Reardon). On average children from wealthy families have: A families income is now a better predictor of children’s success in school than race. O Better grades O Higher standardized test scores O Higher rates of participation in extracurricular activities and school leadership positions O Higher graduation rates O Higher college enrollment and completion (Reardon ) O WHY?

The academic gap between children from wealthy families and the working class and poor families is continuing to widen because children from wealthier families are consistently entering kindergarten better prepared to succeed. This difference in preparedness continues into elementary and high school (Reardon). O The incomes of the wealthy have grown faster over the past thirty years, than the income of both the middle class and poor. O Money helps to provide more cognitively stimulating experiences for their children. O Increasingly, families with higher incomes are choosing to focus their time, money, and knowledge on what it takes to be successful in school (Reardon)

Money helps families provide cognitively stimulating experiences for their children. Money provides: O More stable home environment O More time for parents to read to their children O More access to higher quality child-care and pre-school O Access to tutors or more time for the parent to act as a tutor (Reardon).

March 2013 Unemployment Rates (FRED) O E Carroll Parish: 15.9% O Madison Parish: 10.7% O Concordia Parish: 10% O Tensas Parish: 8.9% O These figures don’t lend much hope to the students living in poverty.

What Can Be Done To Close The Gap Of Educational Inequality

Expand and Improve pre- school and childcare

Invest in parents so they can invest more in their children O Help parents become better teachers O Strategies for added support to working families so they can read to their children more often O Expand programs and research geared towards helping single parents educate their children O More support could be given by businesses, government, and community to maternity, paternity leave and daycare. This would allow the working class and poor to have some of the same benefits as the wealthy when it comes to early academic intervention (Reardon)

We need to rethink the notion that educational problems should be solved by the schools alone (Reardon) O The more we can do to make sure our children share in a similar cognitively stimulating early childhood, the less we will have to spend our time, efforts, and resources worrying about our failing schools. O In turn, our schools will then be able to focus on teaching complex problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration skills to our children (Reardon).

Fin

References Boston, D. (2013, July 20). Poverty Rates in Louisiana | Suite101. Retrieved May 15, 2013, from louisiana-a61101http://suite101.com/article/poverty-in- louisiana-a61101 Economic Research - St. Louis Fed. (2013, March). Retrieved May 25, 2013, from Klass, P. (2013, May 13). Poverty as a childhood disease. The New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from disease/?src=rechp disease/?src=rechp Louisiana Median Household Income County Rank Based on ACS data*. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2013, from county- rank.htm?yr=3000&sb=ASC&tag=Poorest+Counties+by+Income+in+LA county- rank.htm?yr=3000&sb=ASC&tag=Poorest+Counties+by+Income+in+LA

Reardon, S. F. (2013, April 27). No rich child left behind. The New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from behind/ behind/ Rosenberg, T. (2013, April 10). The power of talking to your baby. The New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from your-baby/ your-baby/ Sauter, M. B., Weigley, S., Zajac, B., & Hess, A. (2012, September 20). America's poorest states. 24/7 Wall st. Retrieved from Teach For America | Home. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2013, from