Unequal Childhoods/Online Assignment

2. Turn to the NJRCL report and pay specific attention to the information provided about Essex County, and the concerns, challenges, and recommendations in the report. Review the eight families in Unequal Childhoods, and make connections between the NJRCL report and the realities these families might face if they lived in Essex County, NJ.

In Essex County, the self-sufficiency wage varies between $33,074 and $61,017, depending on the number of adults and children in the household. Many of the poorer families in Unequal Childhoods have only one parent at the head, with several children. Families such as the Taylors, Yanellis and Drivers all have a much lower income than would allow them to be self sufficient given the number of children they have. The Yanellis, while lucky enough to have healthy insurance, are still struggling with the expenses of healthcare. Clearly, Essex County is a more expensive area than where they currently reside. Neither the Taylors nor the Drivers would be able to find housing for the $650 a month they are currently spending on rent, the extra $400 (minimum) would be a substantial extra burden on their already slim earnings.

In an even worse situation are the Brindles and McAllisters, both of whom require public assistance and would be completely unable to live comfortably in Essex County and would, in fact, be regarded as below the poverty line. They are already struggling to afford food even with food stamps, so the minimum monthly cost of food - $639 – would prove devastating to them.

Only the middle class families, the Tallingers, Williams’, Marshalls and Handlons are above Essex County’s self sufficiency wage. However, with the extra expenses several of these middle class families have, most notably the Tallingers, the added expense of Essex County compared to their current residence would force even these comparably well off families to tighten their purse straps somewhat.

The NJRCL report, offers several suggestions in order to close the gap between incomes and the self-sufficiency wage that may be of help to some of the struggling families. The report argues that enhanced adult education services, including job training, would give many poorer families more options and the ability to earn higher wages. However, given the fact that many of the poor and working class families Unequal Childhoods are struggling to make ends meet in existing jobs, as well as raising their children, very few of them would be able to make the time for extra classes. One suggestion that would help a lot of the families would be to encourage low-wage jobs to introduce subsidized child care and paid family leave. This would give more options to parents, like CiCi Brindle, who are waiting until their youngest child is of school age before trying to find employment.

3. Look at the two reports from the LSNJ on living in poverty. What further information can you glean from the reports regarding the struggles the poor families in Unequal Childhoods might face if they lived in NJ?

As previously stated, the Brindles and the McAllisters would fall below the poverty line, the federal poverty wage being $17,600. Even with the public assistance they receive, the higher cost of living in New Jersey would make it almost impossible to get by. Both families being headed by single mothers, they fall into a large proportion of families below the poverty line. Their problems are compounded by the fact that, according to the LSNJ report Not Enough to Live On, “women and people of color need more education to achieve the same level of economic self-sufficiency as white males.” Quite simply, they have an extra barrier in order to climb out of poverty and become self-sufficient just because of their gender and race. As depressing as it may sound to those of us entering education in order to give children all backgrounds a chance to succeed, CiCi Brindle’s GED, and the high school diplomas of the Taylor, Driver McAllister mothers would, by these standards, do very little to aid them.

It is also important to note that according to Not Enough to Live On, the 2008 Federal poverty level for a family of more than two would be closer to $21,000. This would place the Taylors with their four children, who were already below the self-sufficiency wage, below the poverty level. Their lives would be that much harder if they lived in New Jersey with all the extra costs.

The availability of public transport in NJ’s cities may reduce the need of families like the Brindles from owning and maintaining a car, however it would still prove an additional cost when only one of their children is young enough to qualify for free rides. They would be effectively trapped in the city in which they live.

4. Finally, turn inward and think about who you are as a budding urban educator. In what ways is this information useful (or not) for you? In terms of better understanding a community? What do you need to learn, or what skills and dispositions (frames of mind) do you need to develop related to demographics and economics to be a successful urban educator?

Whether teaching in an urban environment or not, it is essential to gain a greater understanding of the community in which one is teaching. Knowing the problems that students’ families face on a daily basis is essential to ensuring that each and every one of them gains the best education that you can possibly give them. While each individual student is unique, each and every one of them is the product of the community in which they have been raised. As a teacher who will be an outsider within any community in the United States, I will have to do all that I can to gain a greater appreciation of the problems that face students and their families.

Knowing the demographics and economic background of an area will help me, as an educator, to develop the curriculum that speaks to the students. All too often, a white middle class ideology permeates the education system and it will be my job to make the material that I present easy to relate to for my students. This will involve putting any examples that textbooks, essay questions and journal topics into a context with which they are familiar. If I am not willing to understand and appreciate the lives of my students this will simply not be possible.

Similarly, I will need to develop the skills that allow me to reach out into the community, to communicate with the families of my students. It is clear from Unequal Childhoods that many poor and working class parents find it hard to relate to their children’s teachers. Doing all that I can to foster a relationship that would make such parents feel comfortable confronting me about issues their children are facing would be incredibly beneficial. It is one thing to develop an effective relationship with a student, but in order to do the same with parents is another matter entirely. It will require a greater open-mindedness; an awareness that I will encounter situations in homes with which I am completely unfamiliar. Understanding the unique aspects of the community in which I work will prevent me from being judgmental, as I hope to create a working relationship with families that will, in turn, aid my students’ achievement.