Poverty, Race, and Education in a Capitalist Nation

Author's note: The following article is based on dataLearners in the Providence school district, or 17% of
from 2006 and before. One can only imagine howthe total district population. In fact, Providence boasts
much more dire the situation has become in the wake53% of the state's English Language Learning
of the recent recession.population. The first language of 75% of Rhode Island's
Central High School: The Failure of a CityEnglish Language Learners is Spanish.
Central Career and Technical High School is located inEducation and Economic Outcomes
and draws its students from Providence, Rhode Island.Both economic status and race have an enormous
The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerceinfluence over the type of education that children can
boasts of Providence's recent inclusions in three majorexpect to receive. The facts could not be more black
lists of top places in the nation to live or do business.and white: In Rhode Island, 12% of White high school
Providence was Rhode Island's first permanentstudents attend schools identified by the state as in
settlement, on land purchased from the Narragansetts,need of improvement, and 63% attend high performing
and was later established as the state capital. The cityschools. These numbers are inverted for Latino
is home to several universities and has long been achildren: 69% attend schools in need of improvement
center of wealth and commerce in New England.and 17% attend high performing schools. African
However, even with the loudly touted downtownAmerican students are not much better off in than
improvements of the last several years, the rate thatLatinos in this regard: 55% are attending high schools in
children under the age of 18 lived in poverty inneed of improvement and 22% are enrolled in high
providence was a shocking 40.5% in 2000. Nearlyperforming schools.
20% of Providence children under 18 lived in extremePoverty and inferior educational opportunities conspire
poverty in 2000. Children are said to live in extremeto drive African Americans and Latinos out of high
poverty when their family income is below 50% of theschool at rates higher than that of White students, and
federal threshold that defines poverty. The percentagegrim financial prospects await those who leave without
of Providence children under six years old who live ingraduating: Low income workers are three times more
poverty is even higher than for those under 18: 42.5%likely to have dropped out of high school. Thus,
in poverty and 22.5% in extreme poverty in 2000. Thegenerations are stuck in a malevolent cycle of poor
overall child poverty rate in Rhode Island increasededucation and perpetual poverty.
from 16% to 21% from 2000 to 2004 - the highest childCentral Career and Technical High School
poverty rate in New England. This suggests that theIt is in this context that Central High School finds itself.
current child poverty rates in Providence are alsoThe region from which Central High School draws its
higher than the reported rates in 2000. The effects ofstudent population was "the second most segregated
growing up with such deprivation is devastating. Rhodelarge metropolitan area in the nation for Hispanics in
Island Kids Count (2006) puts it succinctly: "Children in2000, and was also the metropolitan area with the
poverty, especially those in poverty for extendedlargest increase in segregation between 1980 and
periods of time, are more likely to have health and2000" (Rhode Island Kids Count, 2006). The term
behavioral problems, experience difficulty in school,"minority" is a misnomer in several areas of
become teen parents, earn less as adults, and beProvidence, where children of color account for over
unemployed more frequently."90% of the student population, "with some of the
The racial and ethnic disparities of wealth and health inhighest child poverty rates in the state" (Rhode Island
Rhode Island are so obscene as to give theKids Count, 2006). Indeed, according to Information
impression of an apartheid social system. Race andWorks, 2004, 90% of Central High School's students
ethnicity are unambiguous indicators of a child's chanceare students of color.
of living in poverty in Rhode Island. While 11% of WhiteCentral's assessment results in mathematics and
Rhode Island children live below the poverty level, 38%English language arts are frightening. The percentage
of Asian American children and about half of Rhodeof Central students achieving the state standard in
Island's African American, Native American, and LatinoMathematical skills, concepts, and problem solving are
children - 48%, 51%, and 52% respectively, live in12, 3, and 2, respectively. By far, the highest score is in
poverty. Although staggering in and of themselves,the writing conventions category of English language
these official figures fail to convey the full scope of thearts assessment, where 44% of the students met the
crisis. The federal poverty threshold for a family ofstandard. However, that compares with 71%
three with two children is $15,735. However, thestate-wide.
Poverty Institute (2003) estimates that a more realisticThe state target for graduation rate is a modest
income required by a Rhode Island family of three to73.3%. Sadly, only 59.8% of Central students graduate.
meet basic needs is $23,000, or $48,096 for aEven those who graduate are highly unlikely to see
two-parent, two-child family, with the addition of childcollege as a realistic option; although 49% of
care and other government subsidies. The medianProvidence students take the SATs, only 39% of
income for African American families in Rhode Island isCentral seniors bother to take the test.
$24,872, and for Latino families it is $22,872 (theSchool Climate
lowest median income for Latinos in the country). ByResults from the School Accountability for Learning
contrast, the median income for White Rhode Islandersand Teaching (SALT) survey of students' perceptions
is nearly triple that amount: $65,208. For a furtherreveal a chilling school climate at Central. When
sense of the enormity of the problem, one canstudents were asked if they would feel comfortable
examine unemployment rates for African Americansspeaking to a teacher about personal or family
and Latinos 16 and over in the Providence-Fallproblems, only 10% replied in the affirmative. Just 23%
River-Warwick area. U.S. Census figures from 2000replied that they can talk to a teacher about academic
reveal that among African American men, 45.5% arematters. This indicates an alarming absence of a key
unemployed. For African American women, the figurecomponent of community: trust. Although academic
is 48%. Among Latino men, 41.6% are unemployed,failure statistics suggest that Central students need
and among Latina women, the unemployment rate ismore help from teachers than do students from other
an astounding 54.7%. In the same region of Rhodeschools, fewer than 20% report that they often get
Island, 31.7% of White men 16 and over are notindividual help or advising. Trust among students would
employed, as are 41% of White women. While thisalso be difficult considering that 18% report having
data at first may suggest a high unemployment ratebeen robbed in school.
for White Rhode Islanders, it should be noted that theIn her seminal book SchoolKids/Street Kids, Nilda
enormous gulf in median income between White andFlores-González explains that one of the most
other Rhode Islanders means that most Whitecritical predictors of student success is a sense of
teenagers included in this data have the luxury of beingbelonging in order for an individual to develop a school
comfortably supported by their parents, while that isidentity. At Central High School, only about a third of
simply not possible for approximately 50% of thethe students report a feeling of belonging. In 1999, the
African American and Latino teenage population whoschool was visited by a SALT team. Their report to
even by conservative federal measures, live in direthe school concluded, "the dreary entrances, the
economic circumstances. To put these numbers inlocked and curtained doors, and the tired looking main
perspective, one might consider that during the Greatoffice space of the Central High School building belie
Depression, the overall unemployment rate in the nationthe warmth and openness of many of the school's
peaked in 1933 at just under 25%.students, teachers, and staff. They also contribute to
The People of Providencethe perception that Central High School is not a good
Of Providence's approximately 160,000 residents,place to be."
Census data indicate that about half self-identify asFurther Contrasts: Central and Classical
White, 37% as Latino of any race, 14% as AfricanAs if the oppressive nature of Providence's system of
American, and 7% as Asian. Twenty-nine percent ofeconomic, racial and ethnic division were not obvious
the population is foreign born, and 45% of foreign bornenough, Central High School is located adjacent to one
children in Rhode Island come from Latin America. Theof the city's premier high schools, Classical. Classical
twentieth century saw a huge influx of immigrants toHigh School has a 45% White population, and just 18%
Rhode Island. From 1898 to 1932, 20,000 Portugueseof students are African American, and 23% are Latino.
and 54,975 Italians made Rhode Island their home. InBoth are public schools, yet families must apply for
1980, there were 185,000 Rhode Islanders of Italianadmission to Classical while any child in the district can
descent, many of whom live in the Providencebe sent to Central.
neighborhoods of Federal Hill. Silver Lake, and theAs one might expect from the clear correlation
North End. Many of the 90,000 Rhode Islanders ofbetween school performance and student race and
Portuguese ancestry live in the Fox Point, Eastethnicity, Central High School has been classified as
Providence, and Washington Park neighborhoods. A"making insufficient progress and [being] in need of
large immigrant population also arrived from Poland inimprovement" for the past two years, whereas
the early 20th century; in 1980, their descendantsClassical High School is identified as "high performing
numbered 42,715, and many reside in the Olneyville,and sustaining". At Central, there were 260
Manton, Valley, and West River sections ofout-of-school suspensions for disorderly conduct last
Providence. Jews escaping persecution in Easternyear, while next door at Classical, there were five.
Europe began to arrive in the decades before theCONCLUSION
20th century, largely settling in South Providence, SmithThe SALT team that visited Central High School put
Hill, and North End neighborhoods, and in 1980, 27,000the blame for low performance, chronic absenteeism,
Jews lived in Rhode Island. The Immigration andtardiness, and high drop out rate on "the low
Nationality Act of 1965 lifted ethnocentric barriers toexpectations of district and school administrators,
immigration, and many more Portuguese, Latinos, andfaculty and students about what students can
Southeast Asians began to emigrate to Rhode Island.accomplish." Students can not be expected to achieve
In the second half of the 20th century, Colombiansif we do not expect them to achieve. A belief in the
started arriving to work in Rhode Island's mills, and inability of all students to achieve as well as hope for
the past 40 years, Dominicans, Cambodians, Liberians,the future must be inculcated into the professional
Mexicans, Guatemalans, Puerto Ricans, Nigerians,culture at Central. However, the catastrophe of
Laotians, Haitians, and Cape Verdeans, and othersProvidence's alleged public school system has
have come, some fleeing persecution and otherssystemic roots in the structural violence of poverty
seeking employment. These newer immigrants alsoand institutional racism. The faculty, staff, and students
tend to reside in specific neighborhoods, clustering withof Central High School can not be expected to solve
others of the same national origins.their educational problems without the citizens of
Providence School DistrictRhode Island simultaneously addressing the appalling
Providence's de-facto racial and ethnic segregation isconditions of life for so many of the state's residents.
reflected in its schools as well as in its residentialIs it possible that the abhorrent deprivation of huge
neighborhoods. Although Whites comprise roughly 50%numbers of our citizens has existed for so long as to
of the district's population, only 14% of students inbe accepted as normal? Perhaps the injustice of
Providence public schools are White. Fully 75% ofwidespread poverty in the midst of a wealthy city and
students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch, anation is just too overwhelming for people who are not
figure not surprising considering the child poverty ratestrapped in poverty to allow themselves to see. As Phil
for the population that attends public schools. Over halfOches, the great chronicler of the American
of the schools are currently identified as in need ofExperience, sang, "This is a land full of power and
improvement, and have been so for between one andglory, beauty that words cannot recall... Yet, she's only
five years. Eleven of Providence's 54 schools are inas rich as the poorest of the poor, only as free as a
their second year of such identification. The drop outpadlocked prison door, only as strong as our love for
rate for the providence school district is 27% asthis land, only as tall as we stand." If we do not
compared to 15% for the state. One-fourth ofaddress the basic needs of people in our community,
Providence's students do not graduate from highthen all of the triumphs of Providence, from the new
school, and a woeful 49% take the SAT.downtown construction and infrastructure to the
There are 4,369 children who are English Languagepopular WaterFire, are illusions built on sand.