[Louisiana] Education is key to breaking cycle of poverty, officials say

From the Shreveport Times

By James Ramage

jramage@gannett.com

People who help the needy in the Shreveport-Bossier City area aren't surprised to learn that Louisiana ranks second to last in a recent national survey on children's well-being.

And although many who daily work with children who live in poverty regard the findings of the latest Annie E. Cushy Foundation study as a challenge, they note that a child's education is the real key to breaking the cycle.

"Things have not gotten better in the last couple of years," said Simone Hennessee, president of Providence House, a transitional homeless shelter in Shreveport that provides emergency services and programs that help move families into apartments and find jobs. "I think the state's situation is pretty dire; the likeliness of children repeating what their parents did is great."

Between 2000 and 2003, Louisiana's numbers of high school dropouts rose to 12 percent, of children in poverty increased to 30 percent and of children in single-parent households rose to 41 percent, according to the Baltimore-based foundation. Nationally, those rates increased by 8 percent, 18 percent and 30 percent, respectively, over the same time period.

Louisiana also saw rises in its numbers of teens not in school and not working as well as children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment.

"The high school dropout rate is an indication of poverty," Hennessee said. "If people don't have the basics in life to survive successfully, then their ability to do well in school is greatly diminished. School districts are feeling the full impact of that."

Gov. Kathleen Blanco agrees with the assessment. That's why she put $20 million into pre-kindergarten programs throughout Louisiana that will serve about 92 percent of the state's at-risk children, according to her press secretary, Denise Bottcher, who also spoke for the state Social Services Department.

"(Blanco) believes the heart of the matter is education," Bottcher said. "Once one gets educated, they'll be able to get a good-paying job that will pull them out of poverty. And they'll develop a culture (in the family) where education is valued. But this will take a couple of years to show up on the survey."

Poverty levels are used as criteria for students to qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Last school year, almost 60 percent of Caddo public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade qualified for free or reduced price lunches, according to Jacqueline Solomon, child nutrition director for the system. Caddo consistently has 52 percent to 59 percent qualify for free or reduced price lunches, she said.

In Bossier Parish, of 19,050 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, 7,260 of them -- or 38 percent -- qualified for free or reduced price lunches last school year, according to Pam Thrash, child nutrition field manager for Bossier public schools. That figure is consistent with others over the past few years, she said.

In June 2003, Sheila Carrigan looked into Section 8 housing for her and her two daughters but was told there was a two-year waiting list. Several months later, she chose to enter the Providence House program rather than wait.

Carrigan completed the program in March and she and daughters Rachel Balsinger, 7, and Rebecca Balsinger, 4, moved into an apartment in Shreveport's Ingleside neighborhood. Now Carrigan is a receptionist and saleswoman at Central Monument Co. on Mansfield Road.

Although educating her daughters is important, she said the state's efforts to assist single parents as they look for work play crucial roles as well for helping families loosen themselves from poverty's grip. To begin with, the state needs more Section 8 housing that's readily available, child-care facilities that include sick beds for children and a program that provides day care while single parents look for work, she said.

"In Louisiana, if your child is sick, you're staying at home. Period," Carrigan said. "I don't know what more (Social Services) could feasibly do with the money they have. I'd be willing to pay more in taxes if I truly knew where the money was going."

Shelley Lester works as a program development coordinator for Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal, which builds relationships within and outside low-income neighborhoods. Its volunteers live in homes in the neighborhoods that act as focal points for the organization's efforts, she said.

Despite the study, Lester said, she's still seen a genuine desire for local cooperation over the years between educational institutions, churches, social services and community leaders. But for her, the study serves its purpose.

"To arrive at the right answers, we have to have the right information. (The study) challenges us to work together toward solutions."