[Comment] A path out of poverty

from Yahoo News

By Oliver "Buzz" Thomas

In the hardscrabble world of Depression-era Alabama, my daddy said there were two pictures on his wall: Jesus and President Franklin Roosevelt. There was more behind those pictures than a wall, of course. Both men were viewed as saviors. One from sin. The other from the next worst thing — poverty.

Poverty is a monster. It saps the will and can kill the spirit. For the nearly one in six American children who grow up in it, poverty is also a dream snatcher, oftentimes snatching the dream of a better life before it can rise above the cracked plaster ceiling.

Nearly every religion gets this. One of the Five Pillars of Islam is almsgiving aimed at helping the poor. The Hebrew Scriptures laid out an entire economic system designed to eliminate poverty: There were gleaning laws requiring that a certain amount of grain be left behind for the poor and tithing laws that provided similar sustenance. There were even laws that prohibited lenders from charging interest. So strong was the Hebrew commitment to ending poverty that every seventh year, all outstanding debts were to be forgiven. Every 50 years, land was returned to its original owners. No one could own Boardwalk or Park Place forever.

America's churches have also done their part to confront the scourge of poverty. The Salvation Army and Catholic Charities have been serving up free beds and breakfast to the poor for decades. As we speak, the National Council of Churches is in the middle of a 10-year mobilization against poverty, and the Catholic Bishops went so far in November as to instruct voters to make helping the poor a top priority during the election.

No wonder. The Bible is filled with these little gems: "Happy are those who help the poor. The Lord will help them when they are in trouble." Psalm 41:1. "When you give money to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord. The Lord will pay you back." Proverbs 19:17. Even Jesus' inaugural sermon in his hometown of Nazareth begins: "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor."

A different world

Here's the wrinkle. The world has changed. Soup kitchens and emergency shelters alone can't do the job. And handing out money certainly won't solve the problem. To the contrary, such charity might well create a dependency in the beneficiaries that undermines their long-term chances for success. Even job training doesn't go far enough if it's geared to an economy that no longer exits. We can't just teach people to weld. We have machines that can weld. We can't just teach people to paint. We also have machines that can do that. We have to empower people to become employed again and again.

The U.S. economy has moved from its base of manufacturing and agriculture to one of information and technology. The majority of our citizens are now paid for what they know rather than what they do. When knowledge becomes the commodity that drives an economy, education is the only ticket in. In fact, a high-quality education is the only long-term solution to poverty in the highly competitive economy of the 21st century.

Yet across the nation, the hand-wringing continues as politicians ponder how to make poor schools successful. That's because educational data suggest that as the percentage of low-income students goes up, academic performance goes down. When about 70% of the students in a school become eligible for subsidized lunches, academic performance falls off rather sharply. By 90%, it's in the cellar.

Before we throw up our hands in defeat, I want to challenge the conventional wisdom and suggest that, given the proper instruction, low-income students can learn at the same level as their middle- and upper-income counterparts. I base that on hard data generated by the Niswonger Foundation, an educational foundation I run in some of the poorest counties in one of the nation's poorest states: Tennessee.

Although nearly the entire student body qualified for subsidized lunches at one of our partner schools, that school now ranks in the top 10% of Tennessee schools academically. Its state report card this year boasts seven A's and one B. (The school missed making straight A's by a single point.) When we started working with the school more than five years ago, it was making D's and F's. To its credit, the school has continued to improve each year since our partnership ended more than two years ago.

In Tennessee's poorest county — where the median annual family income is below the federal poverty level of $21,200 for a family of four — upper-elementary students moved from an F to an A in their reading scores. The Public Education Foundation of Chattanooga is having similar results with a cluster of impoverished inner-city schools.

These success stories aren't unique to Tennessee. Visit Chicago's Greeley Elementary School or California's Imperial Valley High. All across the USA, little pockets of success are springing up. The point is that there are no schools that cannot become successful and no students who cannot learn. With high expectations, a challenging curriculum, well-trained teachers, involved parents and visionary school leaders, we can give students the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty and enjoy the quality of life that God (and the rest of us) intended for them.

A call to the faithful

Interestingly, it isn't faith communities that are supporting the effort to improve America's public schools. (Roman Catholics have a fine network of private inner-city schools.) More often, it is groups such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that are working to duplicate these success stories in every metropolis and small town where children come to learn.

Although faith communities might lack the expertise of an educational foundation, there is room at the table for all when it comes to helping impoverished kids. After-school programs, mentoring and volunteering as classroom aids are just a few ways religious Americans can help.

If you want to win the war on poverty, then remember this: It's the education, stupid.

Oliver "Buzz" Thomas is a minister, lawyer and author of 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't Because He Needs the Job).