Giving Compass' Take:

• The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy calls attention to the fact that many education initiatives don't address the root causes of inequalities in the system.

• The call here is to make sure that any funding strategy seeks to balance the scales in poverty, health, immigration and more. And the methods will require close intersectional relationships. Are we equipped to follow through?

• Here's more on why poor school districts are often left stranded.


As stated in As the South Grows: Bearing Fruit, poverty is a product of structural inequality, racism, discrimination and the disinvestment of social safeguards like public education, health care and services that protect marginalized and vulnerable people.

At SEF, we believe that we have to do more to address these realities in the American South, especially the Deep South.

A big challenge in this work is the view among some policymakers and community leaders that there is little that can be done about poverty — that the problem is largely one of personal responsibility.

SEF rejects this premise and points to the overwhelming evidence that education is a key driver of upward mobility. Accordingly, SEF believes investing in education is one of the most powerful strategies to combat poverty in the region.

We are challenged by how to help public schools address the implications of poverty for student learning and development.

Education is an intersectional issue. All of the issues raised in Bearing Fruit — health, housing, economic developmental, environmental justice — affect the education of our children.

Family income is a proxy for a range of conditions and circumstances that shape the daily lives of students.

We know that children from low-income families more often endure acute illnesses that lead to chronic absenteeism and lost instructional time.

 

We know that students who fear deportation, racism or violence cannot concentrate in school.

 

We know that housing status affects the resources that neighborhood schools receive.

So we need to figure out ways to forge more effective collaboration and coordination between these sectors.

Read the full article about why funders should shift education dollars to address human issues by Leah Austin at ncrp.org.