|
|
The tensions in our local and national communities over the extent of the problems with public education have existed for decades if not centuries. Perhaps the more important issue is how to keep this a healthy tension focused on the best interests of children, instead of regressing into the more commonplace wasted time ad hominem attacks. Some of the debate and some of the resources to address the issues can be found in the links below. Opinion polls, as in the 1996 Yankelovich poll to the left, would indicate the debate is not over whether but over how to better support children. |
|
"Department of Health, May, 1996 Report: The percentage of children in "extreme poverty" (with a family income less than half the official poverty level) has doubled since 1975. It now stands at 10% or 6.3 million children." "It may well be that the nation cannot survive - as a decent place to live, as a world class power or even as a democracy - with such high rates of children growing into adulthood unprepared to parent, unprepared to be productively employed and unprepared to share in mainstream aspirations." Douglas Nelson, executive director of the Annie E. Casey Foundation (quoted in Time Magazine, 6/3/96 p.33). |
"The fact is that schools have done a fabulous job on the supply side - providing business and industry with greater numbers of highly productive workers than they can use." Gerald Bracey, Phi Delta Kappan, 10/96, p. 138. |
Foundations
Other
"Those who live in poverty have lower school test scores, poorer
health, and often live in substandard housing. The effects of childhood poverty
often translate into lower adult wages and a cycle of poverty."
http://www.ncruralcenter.org/
To stay current with new resources for children and family issues as they arrive on the Internet, use the numerous search engines to find sites. Try these terms in your search: family issues; children's issues; family advocacy; child advocacy; home schooling; digital divide; digital equity.