A Worthy Resolution

by Ruth A. Sheets

I am currently in my 18^th year teaching in one of the poorest school districts in the state of Pennsylvania.  Poverty and its implications are a constant shadow which my students and their families must face every day.  Parents here try to get for their kids all the things that other kids have:  iPhones, Droids, X-boxes, etc., even if it means a big financial sacrifice.

What I know from being here is that having things, even the things that more wealthy people have, does not necessarily provide the advantages one might expect.  Learning how to text, access FaceBook anywhere, and playing “Call to Duty” may provide something of a common language, but the drive for success as determined by the society at large does not necessarily accompany these shared activities for poor children.

I have very intelligent, creative students who could match ability with anyone.  Despite the daily challenges just to get through, they must also find time to babysit for younger siblings, help out older relatives, volunteer in their churches.  These tasks are not rated highly as extra-curricular activities.  They often take a lot of time and effort.  They rarely win points on college applications, if a student even feels worthy of going to college. 

Our district has cut out nearly everything that enhances life and builds self-esteem.  That is, except sports.  Basketball and football are big, so if a student has athletic ability, there are options.   Music and the arts, even though all kinds of research shows high value in these areas for students are now gone.  There is some effort to get private funding to add these as after school activities, but where does that leave those baby-sitting, elder care-giving, volunteering students?  They still miss out.

People on the outside looking in think of poverty as a personal choice, a desire to be lazy, a lack of commitment to a job, to be a “taker” as many Republicans would call it.  Not true, of course, but if the society can keep this understanding of poverty alive, it means that little or nothing has to be done for poor folks.  Teachers can be blamed for low test scores.  Parents can be blamed for not taking care of their kids properly.  Mismanagement of cities and school districts can be blamed for a lack of resources.  No one has to really look at poverty and what it actually does to individuals, communities, and societies.  No restructuring is required.  No middle or upper class people will be expected to address poverty and their role in it.

If people understood poverty even at its most basic level, the “Fiscal Cliff” nonsense would not even be looming.  The tax loopholes would have already been closed.  The wealthy would be paying their fair share.  Capital gains would be properly recognized as income.  Businesses would be striving to produce quality products and not be dumping their junk in poor communities, the quality of the environment in poor neighborhoods would not be permitted to deteriorate.

To rethink poverty is too much work.  There are no instant fixes.  We need someone in power with courage to reimagine what we as Americans can do to seriously eliminate poverty .  This is a worthy New Year’s Resolution, but whose resolution?