POVERTY AND EDUCATIONAL

INEQUITY IN LOUISIANA

Erica Tisdale – HSP 495

Louisiana is ranked as the seventh poorest state in the United States (Sauter)

As of September 2012 the median household income

for Louisiana was $41,734.00 (median

household income for the U.S. is $50,100)

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With a population of 4,574,836

An unemployment rate of 7.3%

And 20.4% of it’s residents living below the poverty line (3rd highest in the

country). (Sauter)

The four poorest counties in Louisiana

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County-Population-Med. IncomeE. Carroll – 7,964 - $24,038

Madison - 12,286 -$26,441

Tensas - 5,430 - $27,157

Concordia - 20,502 - $30,062

(usa.com)

This area of Louisiana is the

most impoverished and under-resourced

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Between 35-42% of the population does NOT have a high school diploma or GED.

Between 44-54% of the children

in these counties live in poverty.

Between 77-96% of the students

in these counties participate in

the free/reduced lunch program (TeachForAmerica).

When the highest level of poverty rates are isolated in a specific area of a state, this can result in a negative

stigma being associated with that area. (Boston)

This negative stigma can result in viewing the area as an unattractive prospect for highly qualified teachers,

expanding businesses, and medical professionals (Boston).

These poverty stricken parishes rank among the lowest scores on state and

national tests (TeachForAmerica)

O Average ACT score for the nation: 21.1 (out of 36)

O Average ACT score for the state of Louisiana: 20.2 (out of 36)

O Average ACT score for Madison, Concordia, and Tensas parishes: 15.9 (out of 36)

Poverty Comes With It’s Own Set Of Problems That Wealthier Families Don’t Have To Deal With

Overcrowded living arrangements – mother, father, older child, and new baby sharing a one bedroom apartment because it’s all the family can afford.

Constant worrying about being evicted if new baby cries too much or too loud (Klass).

Obesity – An overweight child who loved karate had to quit going

because it was too expensive (Klass).

Lack of affordable quality childcare – A new mother has to go back to work too

soon after having her baby and is forced to leave her newborn with the cheapest sitter

she can find (Klass).

Affording healthy groceries or buying the cheapest fast food

Secure housing and access to medical prescriptions

Language deficit in poorer homes – By the time a child is 1 year old, they have already fallen behind middle

class children in the ability to talk (Rosenberg).

Children from families who were on welfare heard about

600 words per hourChildren from middle-class families heard 1200 words per hour

Children from professional families heard 2100 words

per hour

O By the time a child in a family who is on welfare is 3 years old, they have heard 30,000,000 fewer words in their home than a child from a professional family.

O Talk heard from the television did not help, in fact, it was detrimental (Rosenberg).

On average, children from rich families perform better than children from working class families or families who

live in poverty (Reardon).On average children from

wealthy families have:

A families income is now a better predictor of children’s success in school than race.

O Better gradesO Higher standardized test

scoresO Higher rates of participation

in extracurricular activities and school leadership positions

O Higher graduation ratesO Higher college enrollment

and completion (Reardon)

O WHY?

The academic gap between children from wealthy families and the working class and poor families is continuing to widen because

children from wealthier families are consistently entering kindergarten better prepared to succeed. This difference in preparedness continues

into elementary and high school (Reardon).

O The incomes of the wealthy have grown faster over the past thirty years, than the income of both the middle class and poor.

O Money helps to provide more cognitively stimulating experiences for their children.

O Increasingly, families with higher incomes are choosing to focus their time, money, and knowledge on what it takes to be successful in school (Reardon)

Money helps families provide cognitively stimulating experiences for their children.

Money provides:

O More stable home environmentO More time for parents to read to their

childrenO More access to higher quality child-

care and pre-schoolO Access to tutors or more time for the

parent to act as a tutor (Reardon).

March 2013 Unemployment Rates (FRED)

O E Carroll Parish: 15.9%O Madison Parish: 10.7%O Concordia Parish: 10% O Tensas Parish: 8.9%

O These figures don’t lend much hope to the students living in poverty.

What Can Be Done To Close The Gap Of

Educational Inequality

Expand and Improve pre-school and childcare

Invest in parents so they can invest more in their children

O Help parents become better teachersO Strategies for added support to working families

so they can read to their children more oftenO Expand programs and research geared towards

helping single parents educate their childrenO More support could be given by businesses,

government, and community to maternity, paternity leave and daycare. This would allow the working class and poor to have some of the same benefits as the wealthy when it comes to early academic intervention (Reardon)

We need to rethink the notion that educational problems

should be solved by the schools alone (Reardon)O The more we can do to make sure

our children share in a similar cognitively stimulating early childhood, the less we will have to spend our time, efforts, and resources worrying about our failing schools.

O In turn, our schools will then be able to focus on teaching complex problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration skills to our children (Reardon).

Fin

References

Boston, D. (2013, July 20). Poverty Rates in Louisiana | Suite101. Retrieved May 15, 2013, from http://suite101.com/article/poverty-in-louisiana-a61101

Economic Research - St. Louis Fed. (2013, March). Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://research.stlouisfed.org/

Klass, P. (2013, May 13). Poverty as a childhood disease. The New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/poverty-as-a-childhood-disease/?src=rechp

Louisiana Median Household Income County Rank Based on ACS 2006-2010 data*. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2013, from http://www.usa.com/rank/louisiana-state--median-household-income--county-rank.htm?yr=3000&sb=ASC&tag=Poorest+Counties+by+Income+in+LA

Reardon, S. F. (2013, April 27). No rich child left behind. The New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/27/no-rich-child-left-behind/

Rosenberg, T. (2013, April 10). The power of talking to your baby. The New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/the-power-of-talking-to-your-baby/

Sauter, M. B., Weigley, S., Zajac, B., & Hess, A. (2012, September 20). America's poorest states. 24/7 Wall st. Retrieved from http://247wallst.com/2012/09/20/americas-poorest-states-2/2/

Teach For America | Home. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2013, from http://www.teachforamerica.org